My husband Trav mentioned last week our trip down to West Yellowstone for the FFF Fly Fair, which would have been the week just before the Labor Day weekend. I?m not associated with FFF an more and so I have no way of knowing how they decided on that date, but it pretty much assures there aren?t going to be very many young people (as in kids) in attendance. And there weren?t, and it didn?t seem like there was much aimed at them either.
Ladyfisher has a point, but youth will find a way: here around Our Nation’s Capital, there are several TU chapters. they are good places to begin if you’re new to the area. you can meet neighbors who fish and go on free monthly Fish With A Member trips.
however, the average age is, well, gray.
lately a new organization has popped up, called Tidal Potomac Flyrodders. they fish mostly the Potomac because it is close to work and home and offers some really great fishing (thank you, Clean Water Act!). because boats are expensive and a bother in a city, spey casting has taken off amongst this group. the average age is, well, not gray.
it’s important for organizations that want to grow and prosper to remember the youth. it’s great to offer stuff to kids–they remember it and grow up and join clubs. youth is more than Boy Scouts doing fishing badges though; you need the 25-40s as well. they are your immediate future! they will make sure there is something for the kids when they grow up.
A friend and I attended one day of the Conclave and he made the same observation - practically no one under 60 years old in attendance, other than some of the vendors and a couple of the fly tyers.
I felt better though when I talked to my 7 year old grandson on the telephone last week. I asked him what we were going to do when I see him in a couple weeks and he said “take me fishing”.
John
Granted that I am only slightly younger than dirt, but I do not see many people older than me when I go to the Chattahoochee River on the north side of metro Atlanta. I typically see guys from their teens to their 50’s out there fishing. The last time I fished with someone the “Kid” was 26, the other guys were early and late 40’s. If I have to chose (especially as a younger man) to go to the FFF conclave or go on a fishing trip, it will be sorry I missed you but let me tell you about the big one that didn’t get away. I exhibited my company’s goods at a trade show last year in CA, everyone said the attendance was down considerably from past years. Money is tight and worse than tight.
Young guys may look at conclaves, etc., like I do NFL football, “I can watch that when I’m too old to fish.”
While i still consider myself a very young 46:^)…I do often find even myself as being the youngest person at fly fishing gatherings. I did notice however, a good unumber of younger folks at the Somerset NJ show this winter. And alot of 30’ish women too. So maybe it’s not all bad?
Wow ladyfisher… it’s sad but you’ve hit the nail on the head. There are young-uns, but not many. We have the opportunity to teach many kiddos in our club, and do so, but the fact is… who is going to turn loose a ten year old with a $200 rod $150 reel etc. etc… when they can go to wal-mart at get a $25 spinning rod and fish?
Personally I think that $ is most of the problem. If we could get the price down, I think we could catch younger fishers…
I have a pretty good crew of 4 or five guys around my age that I fish with but outside of that we are definitely surrounded by the “gray” crowd. I almost prefer it that way though because it seems most guys my age are strictly “chuck and duck” from the boat their dad bought them kind of guys. It may have to do with the over abundance of fly fisherman here in S.E. Idaho, i dunno:wink: Price is the most common road block i encounter when trying to get new people to go. They have fun but aren’t willing to pitch out $100 or so to really get started. my $.02
I gotta observe here, and you ain’t gonna like it:
This is kinda like the fish ins. Late Sept, Late May, October, etc. You ain’t agonna get many people like me with kids, etc to make these kinda things. AND I have another reason to go to Idaho (family), AND would be happy to make a trip of it. AND my 8 year old fishes, AND my 3 year old does too. BUT not in Late Sept, nor in Late May.
maodiver, the dates for the various fish ins across the country and set by the folks who usually start that local fish in and they make the date choices based on quality of fishing, access, hatches and availability of accommodations. The Idaho Fish-In dates have been chosen to take advantage of the October Caddis. And to date, everyone who has attended has caught fish! If I were planning a trip to Idaho with kids I think I’d want them to see the absolute beauty of that region in the fall - my kids are all grown up, but I’m told homework can be arranged and taking even a week out of schools just isn’t anything in today’s world. Sorry, we are not intentionally keeping kids from attending and we have had kids at most of the fish- ins.
I didn’t say it was intentional, any more than the varous conclaves are intentional. I didn’t think your article was saying that the one you attended was purposely trying to keep young people away.
As far as taking kids out of school for a week, as a teacher I gotta say that there is nothing worse you could do for your kids, especially the older they get. With the amount of information society says we have to cram down their throats, especially if you have an Honors student or a kid taking an AP class, a week can be a killer. If you have a student with marginal grades it is the same thing, because if they aren’t getting good grades, it’s because they don’t do the work. What makes you think they are going to do it when they are on vacation? If they have poor grades because they don’t understand the material, and don’t seek extra help, you are murdering their chances if you take them away from available help and expect them to do it on their own AND comprehend the information. My kid is a 3rd grader. Last week, they introduced multiplication by 2s and 5s in the same week. In addition, he had a dozen new words to learn, reading to do, and social studies and science (these last 2 were done in class only). It would have made a real problem to take him out.
These ain’t the same schools we all went to anymore. Accountability is the new buzzword…but most people who are down on education don’t seem to realize that accountability goes both ways.
Sorry if this came off as a rant, I don’ t mean it that way. I appreciate what you are trying to say, LF, and I would love to be able to do it. I realize that fishing and school don’t meet up very well when it comes to the calendar. I guess this is the crux of the issue, so it’s hard to get kids into the non-water and camaraderie aspects of our sport. Some day, my kids will be out of school, and I will finally get a chance to meet a bunch of the great people here. Until then, I hope to remain ether-friends with all of you.
I am not going to tell anyone you can get started flyfishing for $25, although with enough hunting you might, you certainly don’t have to spend $300 for a rod and reel to fly fish for trout, bass, bream and the fish most of us chase. Cabelas and BPS both have perfect fine rod for under $75 everyday, Albright sells rods regularly for for around $50. Cabelas and BPS have good reels starting at around $30 with disk drags, I think the BPS Dogwood Canyon reel had the record for a redfish caught on fly tackle.
When I fell in love with the flinging of line there was no such thing as a video game or an ipod, text message which kids seem to have plenty of money to buy. But I think people still got telegrams when the message was real important, using the morse code sent with a key, not a keyboard.
Mao, you would have severe challenges as a teacher in Wyoming, Montana, or Idaho. We are comin’ up on the most sacred season of all in those parts, ELK Season! There are cities in Wyoming that nearly shut down for Elk season. Schools are at least 25-30% down on attendance at a minimum! Teachers and schools are expected to deal with it.
While I appreciate the challenges you face, as well as your opinions on this even though they are educated opinions (pun intended), educators can accommodate something like this.
What would your opinion be if this was a school sponsored biological study?
We can agree, I think that things are learned best when the lessons can be applied. Think of how many potenial applied lessons there might be in a fly fishing expedition. We can start with biological identification of various fish species, where they live, how they feed, what they feed on. How about the entomology involved? The stages of a bug’s life, etc. Now let’s go back to camp and fighure out how to make that fantastic camp recipe for 4 feed 10. Last, how about a written report on the trip when it’s over requiring outlining, references, quotes, and learned experiences? The learned experience from that one week while they were out having kicks and giggles could possibly be more than you could pound into them over a month’s time in a conventional classroom setting.
Make it a plus, a learning experience. It’s a blessing, not a curse. 
Well Deanna, you are right on the money again.
I can say a few things on this subject, having coordinated two youth fly fishing clubs for a period of eight years. Price is a big factor. Honestly what kid can afford to lay out the $$$ in start up that most clerks in the fly shops pitch. What parent is will to lay out those $$$ for what they see a fleeting fancy. Parents will put out the money for hockey or football because in their mind they see scholarships.
As I see it the industy has priced themself out of the market of young people while catering to a select few. When I was coordinating the youth clubs, I looked for wholesalers who were willing to work with me in group buying. I sent letters to the parents informing them of this option and we did three big orders a year (the pre-christmas order was always the biggest). That way the kids got reasonable equipment (not the best) and the parents didn’t mind the bill. Everybody would like to own a Caddilac someday, but need to see no shame in and be satified to start out with the old family car.
I was going to post something like this earlier.
I see no reason that a starter fly fishing outfit has to cost more than a starter spinning outfit. There is little difference in the construction of the rods themselves. A fly reel is a lot simpler than a spinning reel. The line is a bit more expensive, but that should be offset by the less expensive reel.
I think I am going to do some digging.
You can buy a starter outfit fron Cortland for about thirty dollars at Wal-mart. Martin also ofers a complete outfit in that price range. I don’t think these glass rods are very good but they will let you get started very economically. Another option is the Fenwick gt rods selling on e-bay for about $40. They are outstanding rods for the price and matched with a $20 reel and $12 line from wal-mart would give you an excellent trout/panfish outfit.