Thinking about an introductory fly fishing course, I’ve now come to the point of thinking about investments.
I am planning to have 12-16 kids but still don’t know if I should have one set of rod, reel, line, etc. for each kid.
As it probably will be a 3-5 days long course I think it can be a little anoying for the kids having to wait for someone to complete a fish # quota (or what ever method I choose to decide when kids should give their rod to another kid). What do you guys think about that?
Dave
ps. How do you guys insert the emoticons on your texts?
I agree one kid -one rod BUT if you have 5 rods teach five at a time. I’m lucky to have a club and all the rods I need. Our state department natural resources would also loan me rods if I need them. Do you have some type of a government fishing office or fishing club to help?
kids will lose interest and forget to learn if they spend too much time standing around, and not enough fishing. i suggest 1 rod per kid. it will be easier and more productive for you and them. check with your local shops or other clubs/groups/friends to see if anyone is interested in donating rods to the cause.
as for the emoticons: : )= ; )= : D = : (=
just leave out the space between punctuation marks.
Hey there Dave;
Seems to my that inasmuch as flyfishing is a hands-on experience with little theory involved, each student should have his or her own “stuff”. I can’t even picture ( no pun int.) a class with only ONE rod to be shared by all. Word could get around that you’re a cheapskate- perish the thought!
dphotoco;
Just did one with 24 kids. Did not have enough rods for everyone. Divided them up into teams of three, One fishing, one measuring and one spotting. The rod was passed after 2 fish which in this instance was about 15 min. About 20% lost interest after a couple of hours but I think was due to not having enough mentors to work with each team.
It can be very frustrating for a youngster trying to learn on their own, especially with a fly rod.
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
Cactus AKA “Lucky Dog (Pirate Name)”
[This message has been edited by Jack Hise (edited 14 July 2005).]
[This message has been edited by Jack Hise (edited 14 July 2005).]
I was just that one rod-one kid. But just as jack did, I think I will have to divide them in groups, but still wanted to “hear” your opinions.
As for having help from any club, association or similar: it is simply imposible. I think in Colombia, a 40 million people country, there are not a hundred fly rods. And that’s counting the few ones that are in the few stores that carry some FF equipment. So I’ll have to buy them. That’s why I think I’m going to divide the kids into groups.
well Greg, here in my country there are some kind of summer camps called “recreational vacations” (in spanish but that’s a close translation). They are created for school kids whose parents can’t afford to have them at home cause they’ll be left alone. Kids attend and learn a lot of things but none really in depth. So I thought about creating a similar aproach. Contacting schools and offering the service but teaching only one thing, that is fly fishing.
Of course i hope it will also help my finances. So a group of 12-16 will have a balance between the ease of “herding” them and the $ reward. I think I can recruit a friend who is new to the sport but has worked with kids in the outdoors. great combination imho
how about talking to some of the people involved in these other camps about simply adding FF’ing as another program option? it might help to save you overhead costs, and also get you at least 1 other adult to help wrangle the kids?
just a suggestion…
Everyone dies. Only the lucky ever truly Live. Take your time.
I think I will research a little on that. The idea came to me because of the great amount of people that asks if I’d teach them or their kids. I rather teach the kids for many reasons, but that will fill pages. Still I always thought about doing it all by my own. Now I have ideas of joinning forces with scout groups or the like.
Get a rod & reel for everyone. If I were you I’d try to find a little help. I teach clinics as well as one-on-one lessons. I like to keep my clinics to 8 or less, 12-16 kids is a big class to do alone.
As the post continues to grow I have reconsidered the idea of a 12-16 class and am planning to reduce it. It is now more of an economics equation: number of students to earnings. I’d love to see more people every day fly fishing down here in Colombia but still, I will have to invest some $$ in rods, reels lines… and would love to see some of that $ back soon.
Being a one person endeavour I will have to carefully consider all of the variables. Even more when I’m planning to give each student a set of “tools”.
Also, I have already talked to a friend who will help me in the field. But it can’t grow any bigger, at least not for a while.
; )= 
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