teaching flycasting to a 12 year old

[rainbowchaser]

I tried it this past weekend and now my analyst says I may be able to live a normal life despite post traumatic stress disorder if I will just put it behind me. I just want to try and fix his casting problems first. He's quite athletic and casts accurately with a spin-cast outfit. He did quite well while I stood by his side and kept repeating "not so far back", "slower" "stop sooner in front" etc. with the occasional "good, do it that way again". As soon as I turned away he was bringing the rod parallel to the ground on the backcast and going forward well before the loop had formed on the back on those occasions when he did stop. His grandparents won't let me beat him with the rod and I'm out of other ideas. I told him to practice the way I showed him and let it go at that. I know he had some difficulty stopping the heavy glass rod he had found but I think mostly he just kept trying to use his spin-cast skills inappropriately. When I left he hadn't caught a fish on the flyrod yet but he was still trying as I pulled out to drive home. I'll probably see him again in a couple of weeks. Maybe he'll have forgotten about the fly rod ( he does that sort of thing) but if not does any one have any ideas on how to get through to him?

[ducksterman]

The spinning cast is wristy...maybe you can get him to understand to keep his wrist straight....also if he can understand the straight line thing.....

[TyroneFly]

I have heard it said that it takes some 15 to 20 hours to train the muscle to perform a task adequately. Work with him on a routine that includes no more than 15 - 20 minute casting exercises a few times a week. In a month or two he'll be casting like an old hand compared to where he is now. Your part in all of this is to teach him well and be patient and available.

[PAangler]

LOL Your post looked like something I would have written a year ago while teaching my 12 year old to cast. Like your son he got that big looping swirl in his line. I think I finally got through to him when I told him to stand quartering toward his back cast so he could see that his leader had straightened out before he pushed the rod forward. The other solution was to get him to imagine that his back cast was aimed at the tree tops (he tended to use too much side arm and not hold the rod vertical enough). Believe it or not he actually catches fish on occassion. Although he still decorates most the trees along the creek banks with my flies.

[nighthawk]

You have been given great advice here. Above all be patient. Perhaps buying him a casting DVD will help.

[MontanaMoose]

A wrist lock may be helpful, i.e. some kind of strap or even a piece of heavy yarn to secure the rod butt to his wrist. In this way, it will be more difficult to 'break' his wrist on the backcast.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

[jeffnles1]

Rainbowchaser,
I can relate. My boy is 12 and we've had pretty much the same discussions. Patience is the key. They won't get it the first time out (or the second or the third, etc.). Each time they get a little better you just gotta keep working with them.

I've been working with my son since February. He's finally catching fish and on Monday, he actually out fished me (caught more and caught the largest fish of the day). This was with wild trout in small clear small streams in the Smokey Mountains.

He still brings the rod back too far sometimes and sometimes moves it forward before the line has formed a loop. He gets some nasty tangles in his leaders and lands his fair share of flies in the trees.

But to be fair, I do the same things, just not as frequently. I have to remember, I've been doing this longer than he has. The sobering thing here is he's already pretty good and it is just a matter of time before he's giving me pointers.

Again Rainbowcaser, keep with it and be patient. Take the kid fishing, spend time with them and who cares if you catch fish. Spending time with the child is the important thing. I couldn't tell from the message, and it's none of my business so I'm not asking, but it does not matter if this is your child, a friend's child, or just a child you're helping, spending time with them and being a positive role model is the most important part of this whole thing. It ain't about catching fish.

I heard a person say once "your presence is far more important than your presents" and I think that pretty well sums it up.

You're doing a good thing.

Here are a couple photos of my son fly fishing. When he concentrates on what he's doing, he really does have a pretty casting stroke. (Proud dad speaking there!!!)

Also, remember a 12 year old does not have the attention span as you or I. Check out the photo of him looking at butterflies

I don't claim to have a lock on fatherhood. Indeed, far from it, but I do know that time I spend with him is a good investment and time he's with me fishing, is time he's not doing something to get in trouble.

And for the record, there have been times I wanted to smack him with the butt end of the fly rod but I haven't done that (yet).

Jeff

[url=http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/jeffnles1/fishing/HPIM0122.jpg:0eee5][/url:0eee5]
[url=http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/jeffnles1/fishing/HPIM0067.jpg:0eee5][/url:0eee5]
[url=http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/jeffnles1/fishing/HPIM0049.jpg:0eee5][/url:0eee5]

[J Castwell]

It takes 30 seconds to teach casting, a lifetime to refine it. I see that you did not use the 'How to Cast' from here. It would have worked. Now,,, he has practiced many mistakes for a long time and will need to work at unlearning all of them as well as learning how to do it correctly. Makes it a lot harder now.

[nighthawk]

"And for the record, there have been times I wanted to smack him with the butt end of the fly rod but I haven't done that (yet)."

L.O.L. My dad used to call those attention getter's. They worked too.

Both of you guys deserve a pat on the back. Well done and keep up the good work! Your rewards will be many times the effort invested.

[rainbowchaser]

thanks guys. It's my brother's wife's grandson who I don't see all that often so the two half hour sessions we had Sunday will be it until near the end of this month. He was casting pretty good while I worked with him but lost it in the time it took me to walk up the hill to the cabin. I cut off the first lesson when I could see he was tired and having trouble stopping the rod as abruptly as he had been. The second session didn't take long to get back to where we had been and I thought he was getting the right idea until I was called up to the cabin to help with rebuilding the deck. When I looked back from the top of the hill he was casting just like he showed me before we started the first time (" I saw how to do it on T.V." He said they were salmon fishing and it looks like they may have been lobbing one of those slinky rigs with five or six #4 shot in them instead of casting the line. Of course the guy on T.V. may have been casting beautifully and he just didn't pick up on the right things.) I agree that several short sessions over a span of time would help, especially if I fitted him out with the dog's e-collar to keep his attention. I can only hope he has forgotten the darn show and will be ready to pay attention to what I show him the next time.