Teaching kids?

[bwagner]

Ok...I'm going to be taking my nephew out this Saturday for a day of hanging out and doing "Big Boy" stuff. He's eight years old now, and getting "Too Big" for toys at christmas (so he says). I promised him that I'd take him out after Christmas was over and we could hang out for a day together. I plan on taking him to the local Bass Pro Shops to get some fishing gear. Should I even bother with trying to get him to try my fly rod? Or just go for the usual Spinning gear and just be happy to have him out with me? I think he'd be interested in Fly fishing because he's a smart, and technically oriented kid, but do you think it would overwhelm a kid his age? I wish I had gotten into it much earlier, and I know I would have been interested had someone showed it to me when I was a kid. Just the Lure of fooling fish into attacking a bunch of feathers on a hook would have attracted me. How does everyone feel on this topic?

[WarrenP]

bwagner,

I have worked with children that were 10 and 11 years and they took to learning a fly rod real fast. I think a fly rod would be easier to learn to cast than a spinning rod. No bail to open, buttons to push and hold,etc. The young people I worked with met me at the river, I showed them how to string up a fly rod, had them casting a short line and had them to close their eyes while moving the line backward and forward and told them to remember the feel as the rod loaded. Within 30 minutes they were in the river catching bluegill and trout. They had a ball and so did I watching them.

------------------
Warren

[Al Beatty]

Hi bwagner,

After teaching fly casting/tying for 30+ years I can offer a thought. It's been my experience that children under 10 can really struggle with fly casting but there is alway an exception. I remember one young lady (7 as I remember) who was casting a nice loop in about an hour. Only you can answer the question as to how developed your young person's hand/eye coordination may be. Good luck and let us know how things go. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - Al Beatty [url=http://www.btsflyfishing.com:ed78a]www.btsflyfishing.com[/url:ed78a]

[lthrnk]

Funny this should come up now. I just signed up my granddaughter, aged 9 1/2, for the begginers fly fishing class at my local Bass Pro. She has been spin fishing for a while and I thought this would be great for her to get it from a different perspective rather than just me. Should be interesting to say the least and who knows, you're never too old to learn. Might be a way for you to get him more interested in a great sport.

------------------

[Crotalus]

call Bass Pro, our local Bass Pro has free indoor casting lessons every Satuday and Sunday.

I plan on taking my son there one of these weekends to let him try some casting.

For now, as far as gear goes, i would start him with spinning gear, then as his interest grows you can steer him towards fly fishing and tying.

[nemoblack]

I wasn't going to get my son on a fly rod until he was a few years older - he's six, now.

However, this summer we saw a little girl and her grandfather down at the local kid's fishing pond and she could cast a decent loop about 15-20', which is plenty for the local trout and panfish ponds. She couldn't have been more than a year older than my son.

I've also seen an article for teaching youngsters that emphasizes learning a two-handed roll-cast. I'm thinking of starting my son on that method once the ponds thaw this spring.

[bwagner]

Crotalus...Are you speaking of my local Bass Pro (hanover md.), or do you have one in Pa. also?

[fcch]

(my 0.02$)

I agree with warren on this. imho, ... it's easier to teach fly casting than spin casting.

Later (possibly) it is also simpler to teach spin casting to a flyfisher than vise versa.

Use a short line (15-20 ft), teach 'em to keep the line in the air and you'll be pleasantly suprised.

Ann Smith's little girl got a MONSTER salmon and I think she was 6-8 at the time

Oh, ... a note, ... when you're fishing with the kids, remember it's more for them. You might consider not even stringing up a rod for yourself.

What age to start at, ... I've seen 5-6 year olds that learned right quick and their parents needed special extra lessons. Kids have less "bad" muscle memory and seem to catch on to many activities as soon as someone is willing to take the time to show them how it's done.


------------------
Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/Forum1/HTML/015738.html:9d621]2006 FishIn Ste-Marguerite River[/url:9d621]

[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:9d621]Fishing the Ste-Marguerite[/url:9d621]


[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 19 January 2006).]

[FisherKid93]

bwagner-

I now from experince, 2 years ago my dad showed me a fly rod and I have been hooked ever since. But I would have liked to have gone to bass pro and get alot of fishing gear the day I started. The first rod I got was a 5wt from wal-mart. I got it for cristmas then I started geting my dads old fly rods. So go for it show him how to really fish. FLY FISH!!!

Thanks,
cody

PS: Post what you catch.

------------------
"SWEET!!"

[bwagner]

Hey Thanks a lot Fisherkid for the advice.

To most others, my first post was slightly misleading, or may I say miscommunicated. My nephew already has a spinning rod, and a few spincast rods I might add. I was more trying to guage the concensus on whether or not he was too young to start fly fishing. Not really meant to pose the question about the spinning gear. When I said"go for the usual spinning gear", I meant to say get him some more spinning gear. I think my mind is made up, I'll let him try my three or four weight, and if he any interest, I'm gonna go with a new fly rig to start him on a long and wonderful journey that will hopefully last him(and us) a lifetime. Thanks for all of the suggestions, and maybe we'll see some of you on the Gunpowder someday this year!