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miketipp

How young can you teach a child to fly fish?

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My son is nearly 7 and I have had him in the garden a few times with my lightest fly rod showing him how to cast. The rod is too long at 8.5ft. Is he too young still or is there a suitable light rod that someone can recommend. I have heard that he would be better off fishing with a worm in a lake to get him catching fish first before trying to use a fly rod.

 

Any advice most welcome.

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If they can hold a rod, they can fish. I've had kids 5-7 out and they did just fine. Some of them learn to set the hook on their own even!

 

Yes, I would start them off with a spin rod, that's my opinion

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It really all depends on the child. I do believe that worm fishing for bluegills and sun fish is a good way to get the child interested in fishing. If you take a kid fishing and he/she doesn't catch any fish, they can lose interest fast. After getting him onto fish (and they don't have to be big fish, just fish) you can gradually introduce fly fishing. Sometimes it takes a while for the child to develop the coordination and timing necessary for fly fishing (mainly the casting part of it). Then, something in a light 4 weight, 7.5 to 8 feet should work fine. Just be patient and don't rush him.

Joe

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It really all depends on the child.

Joe

I have to totally agree, depends on the child. My son never got interested in fishing of any kind, except ice fishing when he was 5 or 6 and that didn't last long. However my grandson showed a genuine interest in fly fishing at age 4, which is when he got started; never went the bait route until much later. He is now 16 and has been my fishing buddy since he was 4; that is until he discovered jeeps and girls. If you introduce fly fishing, you might want to consider an 8 or 9 foot Tenkara rod as the child will learn the casting strokes without having to manage line as well. Lot of people will disagree with that as they consider Tenkara nothing more than cane pole fishing but there is a definite casting stroke and has been recommended as a way to start anybody (young and old) out in learning fly casting.

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I started fishing when I was 4 or 5, took my daughter a few times last year she's only three and a half now she loves it. Probably get her fly fishing when she's 7 or 8 if she wants to.

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Six year old twin Grandkids here. They both love catching rock bass off of the dock with kid sized spincast gear but I would hesitate to frustrate them with flycasting yet. I think when they are ready they will ask if they can try Grandpa's fishing rod. I would suggest letting them make the decision but every kid is different.

 

Les

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My dad, A life long fly fishermen took us bait fishing. As we got old enough to tie, cast and bait a hook he still took us fishing but he would take his fly rod. If we wanted to try we could. If we wanted to learn he would show us. If we didn't want to learn we could fish however we wanted or we could stay home with mom. I wanted to catch fish so I stepped away from the fly rod and continued to use spin gear. My younger brother loved the fly rod. This is how we fished together for his entire life. We went fishing for fun not for lessons or coaching but we still learned a lot from him and could have learned more if we wanted. I loved how there were no negative connotations or stigmas attached to whatever form of fishing you preferred and is no doubt why I have nothing but pure distain for the fly fishing elitists among us.

 

I never fly fished with my dad and I don't feel I missed a thing because we did a lot of fishing together and we enjoyed ourselves. I didn't get into fly fishing until I inherited his gear. Get them interested in fishing and let them go where their hearts desire wether it's fly fishing, bait fishing or no fishing. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed fishing so much if it was more coaching and less catching.

 

My daughters loved fishing until they discovered boys then they stopped because the boys they run with don't fish or know how to back a trailer up. They prefer triathlons and other physically demanding things. I'm not really sure where they got that from but that's their way of enjoying the outdoors and I'm all for it.

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People, thank you for the replies. My son seems to have a small interest probably to to my over interest about fishing. I think I will bring him to a pond and try and get him catching a few course fish and keep practising casting with a fly rod in the garden. Hopefully he will follow down the same path because fishing give so much back to the angler that can ever be explained. My 4 older bothers all passed fishing on to me and its the one thing I hope that I can pass on to my kids.

 

Really happy I found this website, excellent information and very helpful anglers. Greetings for Ireland lads and lassies.

 

Michael

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One son learned at five and one daughter wanted lessons at twenty five. Each is different, make it available and see what happens.

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Started tying at 6. At that time I used an ultralight spinning rod. By the time I was 8 I was able to cast a proper fly rod to varying degrees. Just found my first fly rod (Wright & Mcgill) and reel in one of dads closets.

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I started to fly fish(spinning rod & a bubble)and to tie flies between the summer of first grade and the second grade...so what 8-9?

I am 60 now.

Never too early

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I think that spinning gear with the bobber and sinkers and baits that fall/fly off from centrifugal force are more difficult for youngsters than a simple roll cast.

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