Teaching kids to fish

[troutbumm]

I just saw this on another post and it triggered a question:

"The VERY BEST way to teach a kid how to handle a fly rod , catch fish and not get bored and spark that interest we ALL talk about is to go out on a trout stream with a can of worms and be prepared to be the baiter (put the worms on for em) and you keep and handle the bait , let them fish. Do that once or twice and then introduce them to doin it themselves and then go to a fly and "see how easy that is?" BINGO you got a fisher for life."

We have a 4 1/2 year old that lives with us and I am dying to teach him to fish. Just enjoy fishing first. There is plenty of time to convert him to fly fishing later

I have fished for 40 years and fly fished for about 30, but have not taught little ones. Got any tips, tricks, advice, etc. to help me bring the little guy along right?

 

[gfen]

troutbumm wrote:
Got any tips, tricks, advice, etc. to help me bring the little guy along right?

I went to a presentation where a girl, Heather Seitz, who was a member of the competitive youth team and parlayed that into a summer job guiding in Russia was talking.

I remember speaking with her father, and I asked him how exactly he managed to get his little girl to end up quite so successful, and I said that I didn't care abotu success, but I wanted my kids to take up and enjoy fishing.

He told me, quite simply, to go out with them and fish with them, and when they were bored, go home. You should fish too so they watch and emulate, but you're there for them.

That was all.

 

[Bruno]

Go find a blue gill pond and take the kid there. My two year old catch blue gills on a fly rod. Actually he is pretty good at it. I have 2 6ft 3wts that I let the kids use. I also mix it up by bringing lunch and a bunch of treats.

I agree when they are done they are done. Go feed the ducks.

 

[gfen]

Yeah, that's true. When they were littlier, we'd goto the streamside park and I'd fish while they'd take a walk with mom, then come over and do things like the above.

But, easier than that is putting bread on a hook on a Spongebob rod and plucking 2" gills out of a pond. The fish are willing, and the kids remain interested the whole time.

 

[jdaddy]

He told me, quite simply, to go out with them and fish with them, and when they were bored, go home. You should fish too so they watch and emulate, but you're there for them.

This. Understand nothing keeps a 4.5 year old attention for more than 30 minutes to an hour. Don't start at 6:00 AM, wait until mid-morning. Fish an hour. Pack a picnic, enjoy lunch. Fish an hour. Go for a hike. Fish a bit. Stack a bunch of rocks like Stonehenge then stomp through them like Godzilla. Then fish a bit.

 

[Maurice]

teaching kids to fish is a totally over-rated experience.

but someone has to do it so have AT IT.

 

[ratgunner]

Yes they will have short attention spans and get bored quick. Take them for something like panfish and take them home before they want to go home. That way they will be wanting to go again soon and will not have had time to get bored.

 

[troutbumm]

Great Advise all - thanks very much!!

 

[osprey]

My daughters were about 6 and 8 when they first showed interest , i've taught many young ones. And yes bluegills are a good bet. You will be surprised at how some young ones will stay interested for a lifetime. Very rewarding sidetrip.

 

[afishinado]

osprey wrote:
My daughters were about 6 and 8 when they first showed interest , i've taught many young ones. And yes bluegills are a good bet. You will be surprised at how some young ones will stay interested for a lifetime. Very rewarding sidetrip.

Yup. My Dad took me fishin' when I was 5 years old. From the first day out I was never bored and stood on the old wooden dock at Lake Winola for hours on end trying to outwit those bluegills. I used to cry when I had to go home (and sometimes still do...).

I guess that explains why I get up at 5am every morning to read about FFing on PAFF..... :roll:

 

[ant]

I started to teach my daughter over the summer; she was 2 at the time. I'd take her Dora the Explorer rod/reel and a can of corn and hit the trout stream in the middle of the park. There's a deep pool where the trout love to lay, and boy do they love corn!

I'd rig it and help her cast it put she would usually reel in in herself. After about 30 she was done and then I would fish for a bit while she chased butterflies and whatnot.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I started teaching my boy last year, he is 4 and he caught his first stocked trout this past spring on a fly rod and several bluegill and sunnies with a closed faced reel.

It is really tough sometimes with young kids. The hardest part is getting them to pay attention to their line and rod tip and not getting them tangled in branches. One thing to consider is only bringing one rod. That way you have more control over what is happening.

Trust me I've tried to do the whole "Hey kids, daddy is going to be fishing right over here". It does not work that way. The only thing that happens is you being distracted from fishing, and kids fighting with each other, and a completely tangled unusable rod and reel combo dangling from a tree where the hook is embedded in a tree limb.

So too simplify things,

1. I bring one rod

2. 1 bring one kid, or I let them take turns with the one rod.

3. I cast for them, but occassionally let them cast with guidance.

4. Most often I let them reel the lure in, which is usually a light jig or wooley bugger. But often I will take a turn.

5. I always, always let them reel in the fish, even if I hook it.

6. I usually fish where I know there will be fish, and there are large numbers of smaller fish such as bluegills and sunnies.

 

[pratt]

make sure the kids are actually going to catch something...getting skunked isn't fun (we all know how that feels!)

I started both of my boys with bobbers & worms....taught them to bait the hook and cast - and we're at the point where all 3 of us can go fishing now - and both kids are semi-independent....(my boys are 10 & 8)

this year I may start the older on a fly rod and see what he can do.

another thing that I've done to raise interest is taken them out on party boats bottom fishing.... I'm trying to instill the 'fun' of the catch in them hopefully to make those slow days more tolerable (and less likely to discourage them)

 

[ratgunner]

Ohh yeah take snacks and drinks along,anything to keep 'em from getting bored. Boredom and getting skunked will make them not like fishing.