Thoughts on Introducing my Daughter to Fly Fishing?

[Curmudgeon]

I think it is time to introduce my eight-year-old daughter to fly fishing.

She has been on small boats since she was eight weeks old and has fished with kiddie spincasting reels from before she could cast one. That said, I always tried to keep things appropriate to a short kiddie attention span. We'd go out on the boat, drop a line, and if she wasn't getting into fish within 30 minutes, I'd pull up anchor and we'd head someplace for ice cream. If the weather was less than perfect or the water was choppy, we'd stay home. I wanted to avoid having a bad experience that might turn her off from boats and/or fishing for life.

We live in the desert right now, so she hasn't been fishing lately, and there's no opportunity for fishing close to home or appropriate for introducing a kid, but we're going to be back in the US (maybe in the mountains of North Carolina) for a visit at Easter. I asked her if she wanted to learn to fly fish and she gave me an enthusiastic yes. She loves the outdoors and going on safari (she says she wants to grow up to be a wildlife biologist), so I'm optimistic this could work out well.

My inclination is to call a local fly shop and see if they can arrange for a kid-friendly guide to give her a little casting instruction on a local pond with panfish. I could teach her to cast myself, but I'd rather not doom her to a lifetime of my casting mediocrity, and I generally believe that it is better not to try to teach these kinds of skills to people you love.

Have any of you been through this yourselves? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?

I really want my daughter to love fly fishing. I have these visions of taking her with me on fly fishing trips around the world. On the other hand, I also know that maybe she just won't love it as much as I do. If that's the case, I will bottle up my disappointment and accept it with good grace. But I certainly want to stack the deck as much as I can...

 

[dennyk]

"My inclination is to call a local fly shop and see if they can arrange for a kid-friendly guide to give her a little casting instruction on a local pond with panfish. I could teach her to cast myself, but I'd rather not doom her to a lifetime of my casting mediocrity, and I generally believe that it is better not to try to teach these kinds of skills to people you love."

I think you are on the right track in contacting a fly shop for a guide and casting instruction. They could probably put your daughter on a sweet little Bluegill pond where she could have some steady action without the boredom. If she's catching fish on a fly rod I think the torch will be lit!

Hope it works out for you both, it would be great to have your daughter as a fly fishin' buddy!

Denny

 

[joe_strummer]

I started my daughter fly fishing at 5. She'd had a little toy bamboo rod a rod maker friend had made for her at 3 but by 5 she knew it wasn't real like Daddy's. So I got her a TFO Finesse 7'-9" 3wt and got her started. We lived on a small trout pond at that time and it was easy to go down and fish for 15 or 20 minutes -- whatever she had attention span for. She's 16 now and doesn't fish a lot but we go into the national park in the summer and she'll stick five or six fish and fish with quite a bit of patience and smoothness and then be done, hour or two on the water. We ran into three otters on our last outing this summer. It was very cool. I love to watch her fish. I tell her I spend all day trying to get grown men to do what she does very well.

I've also guided a lot of young kids, as young as 5. I guided one client's three grandsons over a series of summers starting when they were 5 and 6. A couple of those three are still fishing, one pretty seriously. Feels good to have a hand in that.

My thinking on it is give them as long of a rod as they can handle, keep things simple (pick it up and lay it down), and get them in a spot where they have a real chance to reach and catch fish (while keeping them safe).

 

[ifitswims]

Girls are funny about it...most seem to really like the adventure at the time but I have seen many not pursue it beyond that. My daughter is now 15 and still very much enjoys to fish but she rarely if ever comes and asks me if I can take her. When she comes along she enjoys it and maybe after awhile she will decide to pursue it on her own accord.

She took it up at 5 and one thing's for certain Girls are wayyyy better than boys...No matter the age. Women listen so much better and are not clogged with the notion that they can do anything. 8 is an ideal age to get the young lad on the water with a fly rod and if nothing else you will always have a grand fishing companion to tag along with you.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Like you my daughter ahs been exposed to fishing from birth. I recall wading the Yellowstone with her in a Gerri Kiddie Pack when she was about a year and a half and her mother being peeved as she had, without my awareness thrown her sun hat into the drink. She fished with a child's spin cast rod baited with worms and a red and white when little and has enjoyed the outdoors all her life. She took a fly casting lesson from a professional instructor as a teen (a good idea) but young women have other interest besides hanging out with daddy on some river.

Now she is grown and again like you, lives in East Africa. We thought about taking a cast on the Mara River but there where just too many hippos and crocs. So we flew to the Seychelles and fished there and she and her now novice fly fisher boyfriend had a blast. Last summer they visited us in Montana and they just loved fly fishing for trout. I just had to wait for her to grow up but she casts quite well now.

 

[silver creek]

I think it is time to introduce my eight-year-old daughter to fly fishing.

She has been on small boats since she was eight weeks old and has fished with kiddie spincasting reels from before she could cast one. That said, I always tried to keep things appropriate to a short kiddie attention span. We'd go out on the boat, drop a line, and if she wasn't getting into fish within 30 minutes, I'd pull up anchor and we'd head someplace for ice cream. If the weather was less than perfect or the water was choppy, we'd stay home. I wanted to avoid having a bad experience that might turn her off from boats and/or fishing for life.

We live in the desert right now, so she hasn't been fishing lately, and there's no opportunity for fishing close to home or appropriate for introducing a kid, but we're going to be back in the US (maybe in the mountains of North Carolina) for a visit at Easter. I asked her if she wanted to learn to fly fish and she gave me an enthusiastic yes. She loves the outdoors and going on safari (she says she wants to grow up to be a wildlife biologist), so I'm optimistic this could work out well.

My inclination is to call a local fly shop and see if they can arrange for a kid-friendly guide to give her a little casting instruction on a local pond with panfish. I could teach her to cast myself, but I'd rather not doom her to a lifetime of my casting mediocrity, and I generally believe that it is better not to try to teach these kinds of skills to people you love.

Have any of you been through this yourselves? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?

I really want my daughter to love fly fishing. I have these visions of taking her with me on fly fishing trips around the world. On the other hand, I also know that maybe she just won't love it as much as I do. If that's the case, I will bottle up my disappointment and accept it with good grace. But I certainly want to stack the deck as much as I can...

I suggest you read these two articles by Tom Rosenbauer. I think the first article will be especially helpful, especially about teaching kids under 10 years old.

Tackle Tips for Kids

Family Friendly Fly Fishing by Tom Rosenbauer

 

[joe_strummer]

Girls are wayyyy better than boys...No matter the age. Women listen so much better and are not clogged with the notion that they can do anything.

This is as true as anything you can say about fly fishing. I tell people men must fish more to compensate.

 

[sweetandsalt]

My wife too who took up fly fishing as an adult was a very fast and attentive learner. She took lessons both at a fishing school owned by friends of mine and then a private instructor who has magnificent form, a beautiful caster. Now she fishes spring creeks and bonefish flats. So she is casting to this fish and I say, "Where did you develop that cast? That's not the way Chouinard taught you". "I was imitating you", she informed me. Oh.

 

[pho_phizzat]

It definitely takes a whole new level of patience. That being said it is incredible to watch them hook up on their own.

 

[joe_strummer]

Coincidentally, what made the biggest impression on me, of the FFS's Denver stop, was what seemed to be a big jump in the number of women attending, presenting, and repping for manufacturers.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Coincidentally, what made the biggest impression on me, of the FFS's Denver stop, was what seemed to be a big jump in the number of women attending, presenting, and repping for manufacturers.

Last year at Edison when I was preforming my "research" on the current crop of #8 bonefish rods, I was out on a stretch of lawn with a couple of fine casting buddies comparing rods. One, an IFF Master brought a young woman outside to cast with us. She was repping a major US rod company at the Show and when she picked up one after another of the few rods we had out, I had to just stop and watch. My Master friend said, "Not too bad, right?" She was just a thrill to watch, grace and power effortlessly enriching perfection of form. No way have I ever when younger or will I ever in my maturity cast as impeccably as this woman. And her comments on the rods where spot on I though too.

 

[duker]

Confession: my wife and I don't have kids. However, I was a kid, and will offer this in addition to the other great advice in this thread.

Introduce your daughter to fly fishing but leave it up to her whether it's something she wants to do for the rest of her life. Put another way, you can help her discover the sport, but she will have to discover her own passion for it.

Oh, and don't forget to tell her to join the forum and start posting stories of her adventures.

Scott

 

[joe_strummer]

Last year at Edison when I was preforming my "research" on the current crop of #8 bonefish rods, I was out on a stretch of lawn with a couple of fine casting buddies comparing rods. One, an IFF Master brought a young woman outside to cast with us. She was repping a major US rod company at the Show and when she picked up one after another of the few rods we had out, I had to just stop and watch. My Master friend said, "Not too bad, right?" She was just a thrill to watch, grace and power effortlessly enriching perfection of form. No way have I ever when younger or will I ever in my maturity cast as impeccably as this woman. And her comments on the rods where spot on I though too.

May have encountered the same person. At the booth for "a major US rod company", there was a guy who didn't seem to know much about the rod lines, and young woman with whom I had a good conversation about their rods.

 

[ryc72]

my girls are 6yo and 8yo and they both enjoy fishing. sounds like you have a good handle on the attention span portion of it. my girls enjoy fishing but theyve never wanted to do it for longer than 2 hours. that being said when they are done fishing they enjoy playing in the water or by the banks, searching for critters, throwing rocks, etc. before we go fishing i let each of them fill up their own fly box with whatever flies they want to fish so they get to partake in the setting up. what person regardless of age/gender doesnt enjoy setting up a fly box in anticipation of an upcoming trip???

 

[planettrout]

I started my youngest daughter out on fishing when she was 3. She trailed along with her older brother and me along numerous creeks, streams, rivers and lakes in the Eastern Sierra. She really got interested in fly fishing when she was nine and I took her up to Montana for a month in 1998. Here she is on the Stillwater River at Buffalo Jump:

Since that time, she has fly fished in a lot of different locations around the U.S. About 6 weeks ago, she got up real early on a very frosty morning for a trip down to the Grande Ronde:

She is currently getting her degree in Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University here in Pullman. Our next adventure together, with her dog Hero, will be a trip over to Rocky Ford for some chunky Rainbows in a couple of weeks...

Hero on bug recon with Ally on the St. Joe River in Idaho...I have let my kids decide for themselves what they wanted to do and when they want to do it when it comes to the outdoor activities I and they pursue. It seems to work out better than my insisting that they do it because I want them to...



PT/TB

 

[CutThroat Leaders]

Fly Fishing with your kids can be an amazing experience.

I tend not have much patience with many things in life, but when there is a fly rod involved, I learn to have unlimited amounts of patience. Keep in mind, many of your first trips will be helping her…. Not fishing much yourself. But in the end, the reward for both is truly something to treasure.

My advice at the beginning. Take her to a place that she will hook lots of fish. Kids do not care about species or size… Just having fun catching.

As mentioned, youngsters tend to lose interest fast if they are not actively hooking fish. I did this with my son years ago, (brought him to a mountain stream with lots of hungry eager trout) he got hooked on fly fishing. Now he can go a whole day of fishing tough spring fed waters and get skunked, but he still enjoyed himself.
Best of luck and enjoy creating those memories.

 

[corn fed fins]

I've only read a couple of comments but I agree with them about getting her lessons. You can try teaching but don't be disappointed if you you end up buying lessons for the sake of the relationship. My dad taught me but thinking back it was no joy ride many times. As a result, I didn't teach my wife to shoot, my brother in law's weapons guy did. (She pointed one of my bad habits one day.) The teacher-student relationship is the only one that should be present. I personally believe it's more effecient and will save you from being the escape goat from frustration. But not all relationships are the same and it may work for you teaching.

Just remember....
Not all parents are good teachers and not all students are good students.

Not all teachers can teach.

"Guide" is not synonymous with "casting instructor"

You are the man she looks up to for approval and that positive feedback.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[mcnerney]

My advice at the beginning. Take her to a place that she will hook lots of fish. Kids do not care about species or size… Just having fun catching.

As mentioned, youngsters tend to lose interest fast if they are not actively hooking fish. I did this with my son years ago, (brought him to a mountain stream with lots of hungry eager trout) he got hooked on fly fishing. Now he can go a whole day of fishing tough spring fed waters and get skunked, but he still enjoyed himself.
Best of luck and enjoy creating those memories.

[/IMG]

That is solid advice! I take my grandson to a private bass pond near Loveland, CO. If you can get a fly in the water, the fish will eagerly grab it. Kids just love that kind of action.

 

[zjory]

That is solid advice! I take my grandson to a private bass pond near Loveland, CO. If you can get a fly in the water, the fish will eagerly grab it. Kids just love that kind of action.

I thought you are in Wyoming?

 

[zjory]

Both my kids have been on the river since they were two. My daughter caught her first fish in November. They both love it. Never too young to start.