At what age?

[jack1266]

Gentlemen,
What's a good age to start a kid fly fishing. Please don't tell me when they can walk. Seriously, it was a huge task when I was 18 to try and adapt to it. Can a kid go from a Zebco to the fly, or should they learn to use a spinning reel first? Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Trout Nazi]

Gentlemen,
What's a good age to start a kid fly fishing. Please don't tell me when they can walk. Seriously, it was a huge task when I was 18 to try and adapt to it. Can a kid go from a Zebco to the fly, or should they learn to use a spinning reel first? Appreciate your thoughts.

Teach your kid to enjoy fishing first. I would start him/her on a spinning reel, let them learn to cast accurately and consistently, get into some fish. You need to get them to the point where they are bothering you to go fishing. Take the trout fishing with garden hackle or the ol'trout magnet. I don't like the Zebco, they are a tangling nightmare. I started my kid on a quality Shimano spinning reel, haven't moved to fly fishing yet, soon though.

 

[lightenup]

My kid likes to go with me sometimes, but not fish...so I oblige him..he likes to put leaves in the water, and watch them go through the rocks and rapids. If I catch a fish, he runs over and looks, says cool, and tells me to put it back......maybe one day he will want to fish, but if not, I'm O.K. with that.....good luck....I am not giving ages, because all kids are different, especially mine....

 

[golden beetle]

I took my older son to Molder's Fish Farm.

My son spent the morning studying the worms in the bait box.

We didn't catch any fish, but I felt like a little kid again staring at those worms with a little boy who was truly fascinated by them.

 

[Pete]

When he wants to....
If you force it, it's not going to happen.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

I've seen first time anglers start in fly fishing and do great and stick with it and I've seen long term spin anglers try fly fishing and give up on it. I think the majority of kids, regardless of age, need to start with the old worm and bobber for sunnies to keep their interest. I know that's how I started. But when I was around 7, my dad bought a new LL Bean fly rod and I fell in love with the notion of fly fishing. He bought me a fly rod and reel and I would mostly catch sunnies and small bass on it in between my baitcaster for largemouth and my spin rods for most everything else. Over time, I found myself reaching for the fly rod more and more until my spin and baitcast gear began to take on inches of dust.

So the quick answer is that there is not specific age; it all depends on the kid and his/her interest. I started my daughter at 7 with the fly rod after 4 years with her spin outfit, but she only wants to fish with a fly rod now when she does want to fish which isn't that often. I don't pressure her and she knows I'll drop everything if she says she wants to spend some time with daddy on a local trout stream. She'll be 14 next month.

 

[flyI4]

I think a good "start age" is 10-12 years old for flyfishing, however I agree with others here that exposing your kid to regular fishing first and making sure they have success is key. Sunnys and/or a good bass pond is the way to go. Even for fly fishing, I think sunnies and bass are a good place to start since they are aggressive and will take a fly well. Learning a stream and the types of water a fish hold in, ect comes last and is something a kid needs to be a little older to grasp. If u go hit the stream, hiring a guide is a good way to go since you know you'll be on the fish and in a situation to succeed. Lastly, remember that the amount of time you go fishing for matters too. Too many times, I took a dad and his son fishing and the kid was in to it for the first few hours, but was shot and hated it by the end of the evening( and of course right when the hatch was starting to come off). Time your time on the water well and limit it to a few hrs to make sure fishing doesnt become associated with a long boring day to them. Once your kid gets really into it- the long 8+ hour days will come easily on there own.

 

[McRiffle]

I take my kids to do all kinds of "fishing". When they were toddlers I'd throw an umbrella net and sometimes a casting net in the bay and have them pick up the minnows, shrimp, little crabs and put them in a bucket which would eventually get dumped back in. Still do that with them and they love it (now 4, 7 and 9). Also got them decent spinning gear but I usually have a fly rod along and they switch between the two. Now the 7 and 9 year olds can cast spinning rods and to a lesser extent the fly rod. The older one can false cast a little but most of the ponds or streams we fish near us for sunnies or bass you don't need to false cast, it's all roll casting. Also, last year we had multiple times while on the beach in summer and fall on Long Island where there were blues chasing bait fish right up to shore and the older two hooked and reeled in bluefish!

They haven't come trout fishing yet mostly because except for the Croton system, it's a long drive and all day event and even the 9 year old isn't up for that. Might take him into a certain gorge which I think he would enjoy because its a hike and fishing experience plus you can see mountain lions.

After writing this I realize we spend a lot of time around water! So to me introducing a kid to fly fishing starts with a bucket, moves on to a spinning rod then a fly rod. Not planned but I haven't said "we're going fly fishing", we just go fishing and they use what they want.

 

[jack1266]

I took my older son to Molder's Fish Farm.

My son spent the morning studying the worms in the bait box.

We didn't catch any fish, but I felt like a little kid again staring at those worms with a little boy who was truly fascinated by them.

I think I am still banned from Molder's for an incident 30 years ago involving smuggling out a trout disguised as a Ruffles potato chip bag.

 

[jack1266]

All good advice. Thanks for answering. I think I will get a small spinning reel outfit. I forgot about the Zebco tangling issues and how much it frustrated me as a kid. The gear is for my nephew who turns 8 on Friday. I promised to take him to a fishing derby on Saturday since my brother in law is in the hospital after surgery. Worms and bobbers will be the order of the day. It seems like mostly sunfish and bass get caught at this pond. He is pretty interested in my fly fishing so I have a feeling it wont be long before I give him my old Cortland rod to mess around with in his yard.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

All good advice. Thanks for answering. I think I will get a small spinning reel outfit. I forgot about the Zebco tangling issues and how much it frustrated me as a kid. The gear is for my nephew who turns 8 on Friday. I promised to take him to a fishing derby on Saturday since my brother in law is in the hospital after surgery. Worms and bobbers will be the order of the day. It seems like mostly sunfish and bass get caught at this pond. He is pretty interested in my fly fishing so I have a feeling it wont be long before I give him my old Cortland rod to mess around with in his yard.

Bring both rods! If he's clearly "hooked" on fishing after the bobber and worm thing, hand him the Cortland and let him catch a sunny with it. You'll know if he's ready or not.

When my brother and I got our kids fishing, it was always at our parents' house off their dock on the lake we grew up on. The cousins were having a blast until one by one they got bored as the fish stopped biting (because they caught every one in the lake). Inevitably it would just be my brother and I, Barbie/Superman rods and reels in our hands, a can full of freshly dug earthworms, and a 12 pack minus 9 or 10 beers



And no, there are no pictures. At least not any that I would show to you heathens. :crap::fish::beer1:

 

[PRomano]

Jack1266,

I noticed you're from Bergen County. The state is stocking some huge Brook Trout in 2 bergen County lakes this week. Dahnert's Lake (Bergen), Indian Lake (Bergen), I'm not sure what townships these 2 lakes are in but if you google them I'm sure you can find them. I'll bet these brookies are a sucker for those worm and bobber rigs.

 

[jack1266]

Garfield and Little Ferry. Thanks

 

[mob201]

I started fly fishing when I was really young, and here's how it went down. Every fish my granddad hooked, he would hand me the rod and let me land or lose the fish. Everybody wins - he got to have fun trying to fool the fish, which we all know is the challenging and addictive part of fly fishing, and if he hooked one, I got to fight it, which is the part kids like best anyway. He'd net it. We'd look it over and throw it back or bonk it on the head and put it in the cooler. A team effort from start to finish.

I learned to be comfortable with the line and the reel and I learned how fun it was to wage hand-to-hand combat with a rampaging fourteen inch rainbow. So I was learning to fish by myself using a bobber and worms in the pond out back, but I also always had the impression that fly fishing was the big leagues, and couldn't wait to learn to cast and mend. That's how I'll teach my son when he's a little bit older.

 

[strike proof]

I may be going against the grain a little bit, but I am planning younger. My son's first fly rod is in a box waiting for him. He will turn six in June. We fish together pretty frequently, at least as work and weather allow, and most of our trips are hiking or bushwhacking trips along small streams. There's lots of rock-turning, crayfish and frog catching, and stick-racing. My son knows the informal distinction between fly-rod water and spinning water, where he fishes his own rod and now baits and casts by himself.

This season he has been asking for a fly rod. It is frustrating for him when I am on a fly rod and he is spinning, and he knows that fly fishing is varsity level (even if my skills are mostly JV). I found a close-out 8-foot 5 weight Orvis outfit this winter and it is sitting in a box waiting for his birthday and summer weather. I think the biggest challenge for a six-year-old would be line management on moving water. Roll-casting in a pond or lake should be fun and productive for him. The whole outfit cost around $150 in their winter sale, and it has a warranty, so even if he steps on it, it won't be tragic. Who knows, he may have it forever.

If I can get him a smallmouth in a river this summer, he'll be one happy kid.

 

[GARYB]

All good advice. Thanks for answering. I think I will get a small spinning reel outfit. I forgot about the Zebco tangling issues and how much it frustrated me as a kid. The gear is for my nephew who turns 8 on Friday. I promised to take him to a fishing derby on Saturday since my brother in law is in the hospital after surgery. Worms and bobbers will be the order of the day. It seems like mostly sunfish and bass get caught at this pond. He is pretty interested in my fly fishing so I have a feeling it wont be long before I give him my old Cortland rod to mess around with in his yard.

You can get a decent spin outfit complete and ready to fish from local tackle shop for $30 to $40. That's what I did for my granddaughter last year.

 

[WBDluver]

This guy was 9 when i took this picture. Shortly afterward he landed a 18 brown

 

[Petergoodman]

I started my daughter about age 3 with a bobber and worms on sunnies - when we got back home from the first expedition and my wife asked her what she learned, the answer was "Daddy showed me how to tinkle on a rock!". But as she progressed, she put the worm on the hook herself, etc. and when she caught her first fish (a smallmouth) wanted to take it home to show mom. Told her that fish would die, and you only killl what you want to eat - did she like to eat fish sticks? Answer was along the line of yuck. So then told her that if she put the fish back she could catch it again when it was even bigger, or catch all of it's babies for years to come - which made sense to her, and she tossed it back. We stuck to worms, and kept sessions to about an hour max - about as long as any little kid has an attention span. She had a taste for arts and crafts, and at one point was watching me tie some flies and asked how to do it herself - so showed her how to wrap a hook with yarn and then palmer a hackle over it - sort of a poor mans Griffiths Gnat, supersized. Next time we went fishing she wanted to see if she could use her new fly, so standing with her and holding her arm, made some short casts - and caught a sunnie. She liked the idea of catching fish on things she made herself, and made a lot of flies with purple and pink in them. As time went on, she got better, and began to look through some of my tying books. If I could figure out how to include a picture, would show her with an 18" brown on Beaverkill caught on a #18 Griffiths Gnat she tied at age 7. Anyway, wrapping up freshman year of college now as Pre-Med, maybe gets a fishing trip in with me 1-2 times a year, but still a father-daughter thing. Here is the key - take them, leave them alone, keep it short, and have them ask you what you are doing - kids tend to mimic like chimps. Then you have them hooked.

 

[Thursthouse]

I don't have kids, and not convinced that I want them yet...but these stories are awseome and are swaying me to want to eventually have some little tricycle motors of my own and teaching them about the outdoors. Keep the stories coming!

You all get father of the year awards btw...

 

[lightenup]

I don't have kids, and not convinced that I want them yet...but these stories are awseome and are swaying me to want to eventually have some little tricycle motors of my own and teaching them about the outdoors. Keep the stories coming!

You all get father of the year awards btw...

Thanks.....

Wear a condom if you enjoy your life....

 

[CTobias]

It's never to early. My four and a half month old son went steelhead fishing with us yesterday. Of course I had to carry him the whole time and reel in all his fish. But, he was enjoying looking around at all the new things.

 

[JOE.T]

Gentlemen,
What's a good age to start a kid fly fishing. Please don't tell me when they can walk. Seriously, it was a huge task when I was 18 to try and adapt to it. Can a kid go from a Zebco to the fly, or should they learn to use a spinning reel first? Appreciate your thoughts.

I really think they need to catch fish with a spinning rod first , bass, sunnies, pickerel and of course trout..

I have 3 boys and all of them started to learn how to cast at about 7 years old..A lot depends there interest level.They would come with me to the Neversink and wet wade..at that age they collected tadpoles and frogs more so than trying to fish..I made them spotters for rising fish and that helped with there interest

My oldest is 13 and he's really getting into it big time..His casting is very good, he can throw about 50 ft with his glx very accurately..My younger 2 boys, 7 and 11 try hard but I just don't think there into it like there older brother yet or maybe they never will be.

I made sure they caught fish, so I'd either catch them with a dry and let the reel em in or took em to the Bkill and had them nymph certain areas I know are chock full of stocked trout..

My oldest son has gotten to the point where I think he'll catch his first Delaware trout on a dry this year.

The other thing was last year both of my older to sons caught some slobs nymphing off the boat on the WB, problem was they don't know how to fight a large fish like that yet and broke all of them off..They had a blast though.

I think it's like deciding when they can shoot a shotgun with skeet..If the child is into it and not scared of the gun there fine at 5 (with a 20 )

My older 2 shoot a lot of skeet with me and both started at 5 , my youngest is 7 and doesn't shoot unless I help him hold the gun.

I guess the point is if they really want to do it, it's much easier to teach them.My middle son is more interested in trying to catch frogs at the Neversink, or wander into the woods along the bank looking for deer sign and thinks he's going to be the first to find a Sasquatch..Told him his chances are better at catching 50 trout with a dry fly.