[Fly Boy]

...and he lands 12 native cutties on his own all on a dry fly. The largest was 10" and they were all beautiful. This was the only one (his first ever) that we held out of the water and got a picture of. He insisted we immediately release the others and keep them in the water :thumb:
For the first few fish he caught I was pointing where to cast, but after that it was all him and I had a chance to land 5 of my own.
He went from not wanting to get his feet wet at 8am to not wanting to quit at 5:30pm. Nonstop fishing with my son and he didn't complain once. The crazy thing is he only snagged a branch once and used the same fly for almost 10 hours. The kid's fishy.
View attachment 33060 View attachment 33061

 

[Nick Clayton]

That's great, you must be one proud dad! My son is 8 and I am just starting to get him into a little fly fishing. What type of rod did you start him out with?

Looks like you have one tall 6 year old.

Thanks for sharing.

Nick

 

[orangeradish]

Fishy kids FTW. Nice.

 

[Skysoldier]

Very cool! nothing like a day on the water with your kids.

 

[Fly Boy]

Nick, I got him an Albright A5 7'6" 4 wt on closeout for around $100 which turned out to be perfect. It's very light, easy to cast and I borrow it all the time. He won't out grow it anytime soon. (and if he does, I'll take it.) I set him up with a 6ft leader and he could easily roll cast to the fish. By the end of the day there was actually some false casting going on.

O.R., he's so fishy even I catch more fish when he's around. "Yes!"

 

[Wormonhook]

What a great thing. Now get him his own subscription to all of the right catalogs and fly fishing magazines. The Albright will be replaced in two Christmas's or less. Good job, dad.

 

[Joe Smolt]

Secrets?... secrets... my son is 4 and 1/2. I want him to fish with me but I think he needs a positive first experience and I don't see him holding out for more than a few hours with his energy level. 8-5 is amazing.

Joe

 

[Fly Boy]

My secret: We started with him watching me at Trophy Lake catching fish after fish with a break at the restaurant and numerous hot chocolates and treats from the drink cart (they have beers for dads too.) We only stayed as long as he was having fun and it wasn't a long trip to get there. Next trip we hit a lake with bluegill and bass. He caught 3 bluegill in 1 hour on a nymph and indicator rig. That got him really interested. After that we would bring our rods in the truck at all times and hit lakes when running errands on weekends when we leave the island. An hour or two here and there and always panfish because they are everywhere, easy to catch and close to the shore. On this last trip I had a trout on within the first 5 minutes and told him if he would come by me and cast right where I pointed (just flipping the rod over about ten feet in front of us) he would catch his very first wild trout. I told him no one put these fish there and it was a really special thing to catch them. That's all it took. Now he draws fish, talks fish, probably dreams fish. He loves to go through magazines and catalogs too. He has his own fly box filled with flies he picked out (mostly bright steelhead flies) and a selection of trout flies. He wants to start tying flies now too. Having his own rod and flies makes it really fun for him. He usually picks the fly he wants to use too. He's been pretty good at it. Good thing bluegill will hit anything you throw in the water.
I don't think he would have been ready at 4 1/2. That's a good age to bring them along to do something along side you with the whole family while you fish. We have a rule that he always stands to my left when I'm casting and wears his sunglasses all the time.
Earlier this year he was watching me at the beach alone where I caught one SRC in 2 hours and I had to constantly remind him to stay away from my back cast keeping one eye on my line and one eye on him. That wasn't much fun for him and I had a hard time fishing and watching him, so make sure he has fun and the patience will come in time.

 

[Mumbles]

Fishy Kid mojo is the best!

 

[Lex Story]

My son is 5 and goes fly fishing with me. I first started him out at the age of 2 taking him along in the kayak while he just watched me fish in Lake Sammamish and Pine Lake. This piqued his interest enough that soon he was asking me to go fishing. I took him to put and take lakes and outdoor shows with trout pools, just so that he would have positive catching experiences. The biggest thing I guess is that he saw both ends of the spectrum of me catching some days and not catching on others, but I would always reinforce that it was part of the game. At age 4 we would go out along the SF Snoq and I would hook fish and let him play them in. Pretty soon he was asking for a flyrod as he gravitated towards a fly fishing preference. He's working on his casting with a echo practice rod and he's always up for hitting the forks of the Snoq.

-Lex

 

[Fly Boy]

Lex,
I was thinking about getting that echo practice rod. Do you find it works well?

 

[Lex Story]

I highly endorse the Echo practice rod. I got it just to get my son into the idea of cast mechanics. I have one for the home and one at the office. The best part of it is that it loads like a real rod. I use the one at the office to get the attention of my co workers when they have the earphones on. Just a controlled light flick to the back of the head makes for good practice on being deadly accurate.
My son also sees me using it a least once a week in and around the house casting to playing cards (I have him call out the cards to target) on the floor while the evening news plays on the TV. It gets him into the mindset that practice is on going and never ending.
The roll cast on carpet is the closest thing to a real line on water.
He uses it for practice at least 4 times a week. He's got a good tight loop now. The next step is application.

-Lex