Learning to flyfish
- Thread starter George D
- Start date
4-h
4-h
George, If you have access to a 4-H group they might be able to help. Also try calling ADF&G, they try to foster young sport fishermen as well. My advice is to get gear sized for the youngster; if you get him a 9 ft , 10wt rod it will be hard for him to learn the mechanics correctly, if at all. Start him on grayling, they are easy and fun to catch. Use a big dry so he can see the fish take, it is a big part of the fun for most kids. If he needs a "learner " reel, PM me, I picked up a bunch of South Bend reels from ebay for just such an occasion. Regards, Kid
4-h
George, If you have access to a 4-H group they might be able to help. Also try calling ADF&G, they try to foster young sport fishermen as well. My advice is to get gear sized for the youngster; if you get him a 9 ft , 10wt rod it will be hard for him to learn the mechanics correctly, if at all. Start him on grayling, they are easy and fun to catch. Use a big dry so he can see the fish take, it is a big part of the fun for most kids. If he needs a "learner " reel, PM me, I picked up a bunch of South Bend reels from ebay for just such an occasion. Regards, Kid
Kids
Kids
Kids post is right on the money. Youngsters are very viusal and need results. Grayling would be great. Several rod companies offer youth rods. They are shorter and much better for kids. Sportsmans should have these rods and be able to help get the little guy started. Good luck
Kids
Kids post is right on the money. Youngsters are very viusal and need results. Grayling would be great. Several rod companies offer youth rods. They are shorter and much better for kids. Sportsmans should have these rods and be able to help get the little guy started. Good luck
Learning to flyfish
Thanks again for the posts, I agree with getting kids set up right if they get off on the wrong foot and get bored or think that it is to hard they will miss out on somthing that later in life they could really enjoy.
Thanks again for the posts, I agree with getting kids set up right if they get off on the wrong foot and get bored or think that it is to hard they will miss out on somthing that later in life they could really enjoy.
I have a child that I tried to teach to fly fishing at 7. There were several problems. Mine had a hard time handling a 9 foot 5wt rod at that age. The arm strength just isn't there. You may need to get him a 3 or 4 wt rod, maybe 8 feet long. At that age a 20 foot cast is an accomplishment.
The other problem was (strange as it may seem) waders. The smallest waders I could find were for kids with shoes sizes 2-3, which is about a 9 or 10 year old. And you really can't flyfish effectively unless you get into the water.
My son is 10 now and approaching the strength and coordination for flyfishing. Like someone said those grayling are made for kids. Any presentation will work. Another thing that's easy to master is dragging the wooly bugger behind a float tube. It's easy, fun, and it does catch fish. They paddle around and hook one now and then. No casting required. Just feed the line out.
The other problem was (strange as it may seem) waders. The smallest waders I could find were for kids with shoes sizes 2-3, which is about a 9 or 10 year old. And you really can't flyfish effectively unless you get into the water.
My son is 10 now and approaching the strength and coordination for flyfishing. Like someone said those grayling are made for kids. Any presentation will work. Another thing that's easy to master is dragging the wooly bugger behind a float tube. It's easy, fun, and it does catch fish. They paddle around and hook one now and then. No casting required. Just feed the line out.
floridafisherman
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kids and fly fishing
kids and fly fishing
Last summer I had the pleasure of having three of my grandsons ages 11, 9, 6, with me for two weeks in Alaska. We rented an RV and started our trip at Hope fishing Resurection Creek for Pinks. There were a lot of fish in the river and the boys had no difficulty in catching them (all on fly rods). My goal at the onset of the trip was to teach the boys to be self sustaining, that is, tying thier own flys on, casting, and releasing with little to no help from myself or my adult son. I cannot describe the pleasure I had watching them learn. After the first day I was able to sit back and watch these guys catch fish after fish. They learned right away it was easier to help each other (teamwork) than it was to ask for help. Yes, they lost a lot of flies and leaders but soon learned it was easier to try and unsnag a hung up fly than to tie on a new one. From Hope we graduated to the Kenai for Reds and although we didn't exactly rack up big numbers we caught enough to keep us happy and the hike into the river provided us with tales of the "grizz" that they will remember forever. From the Kenai we headed for the Parks highway and did some exploring on various creeks eventually finding what we were looking for...that is a kid friendly creek loaded with fish. Mostly pinks again but enough chums to keep it very interesting. From the Parks highway we did a drop off on the little Su for three marvelous days. Silvers, Pinks, Kings were all there. I will not claim they can all do a double haul, or a roll cast, or even get beyond 30 feet but I take great satisfaction in knowing they all have had an exposure to the most sporting way of pursuing fish. We released most of what we caught, keeping only legaly caught fish for our dinner, we spent a portion of each day picking up other peoples trash, and they all learned the lesson of teamwork! My advise to teaching kids to flyfish..keep it simple, put them on a lot of easy fish, and above all else keep it fun!
kids and fly fishing
Last summer I had the pleasure of having three of my grandsons ages 11, 9, 6, with me for two weeks in Alaska. We rented an RV and started our trip at Hope fishing Resurection Creek for Pinks. There were a lot of fish in the river and the boys had no difficulty in catching them (all on fly rods). My goal at the onset of the trip was to teach the boys to be self sustaining, that is, tying thier own flys on, casting, and releasing with little to no help from myself or my adult son. I cannot describe the pleasure I had watching them learn. After the first day I was able to sit back and watch these guys catch fish after fish. They learned right away it was easier to help each other (teamwork) than it was to ask for help. Yes, they lost a lot of flies and leaders but soon learned it was easier to try and unsnag a hung up fly than to tie on a new one. From Hope we graduated to the Kenai for Reds and although we didn't exactly rack up big numbers we caught enough to keep us happy and the hike into the river provided us with tales of the "grizz" that they will remember forever. From the Kenai we headed for the Parks highway and did some exploring on various creeks eventually finding what we were looking for...that is a kid friendly creek loaded with fish. Mostly pinks again but enough chums to keep it very interesting. From the Parks highway we did a drop off on the little Su for three marvelous days. Silvers, Pinks, Kings were all there. I will not claim they can all do a double haul, or a roll cast, or even get beyond 30 feet but I take great satisfaction in knowing they all have had an exposure to the most sporting way of pursuing fish. We released most of what we caught, keeping only legaly caught fish for our dinner, we spent a portion of each day picking up other peoples trash, and they all learned the lesson of teamwork! My advise to teaching kids to flyfish..keep it simple, put them on a lot of easy fish, and above all else keep it fun!
akprideinvegas
New member
shoot, i was probably 10 when i first picked up a fly rod. and it was with a cheap wall mart rod with a real with no drag. my older friend took me to one of the base lakes on EAFB that was freshly stocked. i did not learn too much technique until later but he got me hooked for life. pardon the pun. i will remember that 99 fish day bbetween me and him for ever. i recommend a stocked lake where the rainbows will hit a rick thrown into the lake. also at a lake there will be no need for waders. also if you cant get them hooked on flyfishing try putting a worm on a flyrod. always a shure thing just my 2 cents.... vegas
