Quote Originally Posted by papaguss View Post
after spending time with my son and watching him get frustrated with a regular fly rod I am thinking more and more that I need to get him a tenkara rod just to simplify things a lot and give hium less to think about, you know? I love the look of it and I am planning on actually getting myself one here in the near future, but I am going after a sage smallmouth or bluegill rod real fast before ( I'm a shore stomper and those things jsut answer the call for nailing the shadows of an island the fish like to hide around....)

It's so simple even my baby girl of two can fly cast a leader tied to stik. ( alright it's a furled leader made from yarn, but she still gets a kick " fishing' our living room. and yet, I'm dying to get one for my trips out to the rivers i have out here in the desert. simple is best.

That would make it easier, but if you want them to fly fish, the frustration comes with the LEARNING. Getting them into Tenkara could kill any idea of ever learning the Traditional.
One thing I learned on Traditional, is screw the over head, that is asking for trouble. Point the rod at the water, shake the tip and feed line out. Lift rod tip straight up with line dropping slightly behind forming a "D" and flip.
No wind knots, not stuck in shrubs not to mention much safer casting Split Shot and Indicators.
Plus, isn't that basically what you are doing with a Tenkara?