MrsDucky Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Well, the Ducky family went fishing yesterday, and the good news is we had fun! Much thanks to Tim, who hates to see a Possum Child without his own equipment, and gave us a GREAT deal. Devon was over the moon with his very own fly rod, which we complemented with an Altoids fly box with his own special assortment of flies. He had fun trying to figure out how it all works. Note to anyone who tries to teach a child to fly fish and reads this forum: If your spouse tells you to teach your child to strip, check and see who else might hear the conversation before saying "You unbutton your jacket like this!" Devon did not get too badly tangled, but he also didn't manage to land one. He did learn what it feels like to get a bite, and he fought a couple, trying to land one. He also spent some time building rock dams around the walkways in zone 1. John and I managed to decorate some fish with our flies. (If anyone finds the trout that stole my new one, make sure you scold it! Rotten thief fish!) We did land a few, but didn't bring any home. The ones we landed were too small, and the others were thieves! I will have John post a couple of pictures of Devon. I can't find the camera right now, and he knows exactly how to post them. The fish seemed to be biting on gnats, which were abundant! They also liked anything that had "wings" and was brown/tan. It was the first time I caught anything on my fly rod, and with my very own flies. I was very satisfied! I can bring home the trout...fry it up in a pan...and never let you forget I caught it! 'Cause I'm a woman!
Flysmallie Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Good job Ducky family, all fly fisherpeople too. (Did you catch that MrsDucky, I didn't call you a fisherMAN ). Got a 8 year old girl that is begging me to teach her to fly fish. She's not educated enough to know that I have no idea what I'm doing. Gonna try to take her to Roaring River next week to see if she can catch a trout on her zebco first.
Members AZ_Trout Posted March 13, 2007 Members Posted March 13, 2007 My personal opinion is you can never start a kid with a fly rod too soon. My oldest - Chris - now almost 28, and I started a Thanksgiving tradition of going to RRSP for the C&R session, when he was in 2nd grade. We camped at RRSP 6-8 times every summer, and he could handle a spinning rod with most of the folks on the bank. So a winter trip seemed like a great plan, it was. Tim hooked a nice trout and handed the long rod to my son. He was addicted for life. From that point on I doubt I ever saw Chris fishing with a spinning rod - if the fly rod was an option. For some reason the young ones are gifted at using a strike indicator. It was always a blast to see some 10 or 11 year old, walk up to hole, pause, look it over, lay out a nice cast and hook up a trout. It would drive the adults that were being shut out - just crazy. Then he'd release the trout, they all but would lose it. Tightlines Thighlines & Singing Reels
Terry Beeson Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Mrs Ducky, Flysmallie and anyone else with youngsters who want to learn to fly fish... First, CONGRATS on your fish with your own fly and rig, Mrs Ducky. Ain't NUTHIN' like catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself.... I agree that you can start working with kids at a young age. Flysmallie, even though you think you can't teach them anything, you might be surprised. They have no preconceived notions about casting a plug yet, so those "bad habits" that sneak into our fly casting (those of us who were/are old dogs learning new tricks) don't affect them like it does us. Case in point... I went to the BassPro fly casting class last Saturday in an attempt to re-learn some things I had forgotten in my hiatus from fishing this winter. (By the way... it DID help a lot... NEVER think you can't get SOMEthing from ANY casting class...) Anyway, there were 10 or 12 of us "old farts" and one youngster - a girl about 9 or so. By the end of the class, there were a bunch of old farts flailing away, cracking leaders, and still struggling to get the basic fly cast down. And... there was a 9 year old girl DOUBLE HAULING!!!! I was so impressed! I was working on MY haul and looked over at this kid forming really pretty loops and doing a really fine job with the haul! Anyway... Down to what I really want to say.... I know it's 6 months away... but.... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE plan on bringing your kids to the SOCFFF Conclave in Mountain Home, AR this October. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get them registered for the Youth Conclave on that Saturday. Al Crise is a GREAT casting instructor...well... FLY FISHING instructor in general... ESPECIALLY with kids. He will teach them some entomology then some fly tying then some casting... Then... we take them and the flies they tied to Dry Run Creek for the afternoon. WHAT A BLAST! You will have as much fun as the kids do if you volunteer to help. It is something to witness a kid who is catching big trout the first time they cast a fly into the waters... and it's a fly they TIED THEMSELVES! Even if by this October the kids have got some fly fishing under their belts, it will pay to have them go through Ol' Al's class. Again... Any of you who would volunteer to help out... YOU will have a blast... GUARANTEED!!! TIGHT LINES, YA'LL "There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O’Neil
Flysmallie Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Thanks for the info Terry. I've often thought about doing the casting class at Bass Pro. Would be good for the girls too. I have never taken a casting class, I'm self taught that's why I'm so good at it . Do you have the dates for the conclave? And what are the age limits? I have a 13 year old daughter that would probably enjoy this as well.
Steve Smith Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Hey Flysmallie. Take those kids to the river and park them on one of the outlets or falls in front of the hatchery. They won't have to cast very far [just kind of flip cast into the current], and use a gray, brown, or green jig, wooley or leech pattern. Tim Homesley probably has some better suggestions. Usually, the hatchery feeds between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning and that turns the trout on. That's the way I taught my young ones. ___________________________ AKA Flysmith - Cassville MO
Terry Beeson Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Conclave is October 4-6 if I'm not mistaken. The Youth Conclave would be that Saturday the 6th. The age limit is simply the fact that Dry Run Creek is limited to those UNDER 16. I've seen them as young as 7 or 8 up to 15. In fact, I helped net a 27 inch Brown for a 15 year old girl in '05. It was her first trout fishing trip... The only thing asked is that you do not just drop off your kids and expect the volunteers to "baby sit" while you go off somewhere. Some do that, but it can be a pain if there are not enough volunteers to help... especially with the younger ones... the teens are OK... Click here and click on the Youth Conclave photo links to see pictures of the '06 Youth Conclave. TIGHT LINES, YA'LL "There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O’Neil
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