Maybe you have never gotten around to taking your teenager fly fishing. Maybe your six-year-old has just demonstrated enough patience and focus to spend an afternoon on the water. Maybe you just got into the sport, and you want to bring your kids along for the ride.
Maybe you’ve been thinking: “All I need to do is give them this fly rod, and they’ll figure it out.”
Let me humbly chime in and offer my opinion. That is a terrible idea.
To be fair, I don’t have it completely figured out. I’ve made my mistakes. With my own kids and with other young people I’ve been too hands-off or too intense. I’ve tried to put them on spooky spring creek trout and I’ve assured them that more bluegill was the pathway to success. All that said, through trial and error, I think I have figured out some principles for getting kids – be they your children, grandchildren, or someone else in your life – into fly fishing.
Here are three pieces that cover the topic. Two are practical tips for fishing, and one is just about being outside. Have a read by clicking on the titles of each article:
How to Get Your Kids to Love Fly Fishing, Part I
There are a lot of non-fishing things you can do to get children excited about going fishing. It isn’t some “bait and switch.” It is about passing on more than just fishing, but the love of fishing. The right attitude is vital for new anglers. Perhaps more than in adults, that is true for children. Fostering that positivity will pay off dividends as they finally hit the water.
How to Get Your Kids to Love Fly Fishing, Part II
Now, once they are on the water you have to pay attention to them. You have to be their guide. Any grand intentions of you having a normal day fly fishing (albeit with your child in tow) need to be discarded. That will happen one day in the future if you get today right. And the next day, and the next day. But that means that today you have to focus on these three things.
No one is going to want to go fly fishing if they don’t like being outside. If you can win your kids to the wonders of nature, you have already planted a seed in their minds that being outdoors is fun. Walking and exploring are the gateways into further wild pursuits. Take your kids for a hike. Take them to look at a stream. And don’t be afraid to talk about fly fishing while you’re doing it.