Rick's latest article
As usual, it's a good one. I was throwing out some old fishing magazines recently, some of them going back to the early '80's. I found one "Field and Stream" that made the exact same argument: we're not teaching kids to fish or, at least, we're not teaching them well.
I think one reason is we try to get kids to do what we're now doing, not what we started doing. For example, several years ago Fish Fishburne (a BASS pro) had a "kid's" fishing show. It mainly centered on him giving fishing tips from the deck of a $30,000 bass boat. Mercifully, it had a short life. I've seen fly guys do similar things, like trying to get a six-year old to master fly casting. On one occasion, the kid was obviously struggling and could've actually caught some fish with simpler tackle, but the father soldiered on, intent on improving the kid's loops.
I'm thankful my dad started me out with a canepole and crickets. I caught fish and had fun. That's how I still teach kids today.
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