Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Teaching kids to fly fish...


Corey Bechtold

Recommended Posts

My son Cole is asking a lot of questions about fly fishing. He wants to learn how to cast but having him try my 9' rod isn't helping. I have seen some practice rods but I can't remember if it was just a light weight spinning rod with yarn? Maybe there is an actual combo for kids with all the hardware to get them started?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Corey Bechtold

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a old fly rod amd break it down and thread about 10-12ft of yard through the top half all the way to the bottom and sit on your living room floor and teach him how to cast. You can set up targets and make a game out of it. You be suprised on how well yarn casts loops like flyline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How long should the rod be? Would the top half of a 2-piece rod work?

Thanks for the tip,

Corey Bechtold

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How old is your son? I think getting a 7 and a half foot combo and letting him practice with the real thing would be your best bet, practice in the yard, and then when he gets it down go chase some gills to get him excited and confident. I have seen and tried some of the training rods that come with yarn, but personally think a short fly rod would be the best choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Almost 6. I tied some yarn on the end of a 5'6" UL rod and he's been whippin'.

I'll have to look for the real thing next time I go shopping. I'll also have to invest in a face shield. grin.gif

Keep the tips coming,

Corey Bechtold

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7'-8', med to med-slow action, 3-4 wt, works well to learn casting. No matter how much you practice in the yard, the trees, grass, banks, and rocks will still eat flies. My kids (8&9) practice about an hour a week and use their fly rods (8', 5wts) for a couple of hours when we go out, after which they switch to spinning gear (it's good to cover your bases), quietly scout fish, or sit on the bank and read. My daughter did well this past week in the Black Hills. She scouted out the water for me, figured out some of the bugs, and put me on to an 18" trout hiding under a bank - built in guide service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahhh, cheap labor tongue.gif

I am going to look for a smaller fly rod for Cole and the rest of the kids to use.

Thanks for the tips,

Corey Bechtold

Link to comment
Share on other sites

don't know where in mn. you are from, but if you are at all near the cities, the science museum has a fly fishing course for kids in the summers...... i still remember taking it as a little guy...... your son would have a few years to go, as i think i was around 10 or so....

it was taught by a really nice old guy who showed us all a few patterns and taught us to tie up some woolly buggers, foam poppers, caddis, and hare's ears....... then took us down to the local lake and released us for the afternoon..... most of the flies looked like mini disasters on a hook, but they caught fish...... we logged sunnies, crappies, bass, and pike.....

the culmination of the course was a trip to the rush.... i still remember a pack of us trying to fish that river-- we were scrambling all over it spooking every fish within 100 yds..... but i'll never forget stepping into the water by a bank and spooking two really big trout from under the cut bank.....

in a few years it's something to look into-- i know they still offer it..... grab a group of his buddies, sign 'em all up and let 'em go nuts for a few weeks learning to fish..... all my friends still talk about it too....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

How long should the rod be? Would the top half of a 2-piece rod work?

Thanks for the tip,

Corey Bechtold


The top half of a 8ft or 9ft rod. I run the yarn all the way through the guides to the bottom and hold onto it like you would hold a fly line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.