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Walter & Group...
[GH] From Gary Kell:
Gordy
Good discussion...... as I read through your thoughts a common thread came through .. ....age is not an issue if the youngster has both the desire and a good mentor/coach. The problem with teaching casting to a 6 or 8 year old is follow-up .... sure we can get them to make good casts during a "school" or in a private lesson but once they go home, do they have that all important mentor or coach that can continue to work with them?
As noted, attention spans of young kids are short, so many brief lessons are better than fewer longer ones! Those kids that make great accomplishment at an early age came to it through a great coach. This is no different than many "childhood" stars in other sports/music endeavors. These cases are the 1%!!
However, many of the kids I have worked with do not have that mentor or coach! Times have changed, even in the rural area I live, way over half of the students come from single parent families or families with non-fly fishing backgrounds. Once they leave my presence there is no support system or fly fishing mentor to nurture them. Most want to learn about fly fishing -- (we tend to over emphasize casting because that is what we do but most students including kids want to learn to fly fish which is much more than casting!!)
That does not mean we should not "teach" that age ... if just means our "goal" or "objective" of the lesson may change? My goal, now, for most youngsters from 5 to 14 is to make them "aware" of the skills and knowledge related to fly fishing and to let them "experience" them. I figure I am planting a seed that may bloom at a later time when they are more mature and more able to carry through on their own. I may let them experience casting, tie a fly, seine insects, tie a knot, feel/play with the equipment, watch a demonstration, play a casting game, etc..
That approach is opposed to a goal/objective of actually "learning" to accomplish an efficient overhead, false and roll cast or "learning" to identify the the nymph and adult stage of the mayfly, caddis and stonefly insect orders, that I might do for an adult class. However, some adult classes can be built around the same objectives of "awareness & "experience".... especially mixed crowds like a service, conservation or corporate group that is generally interested in finding out about fly fishing.
Being a good instructor is all about understanding your "student(s)" and tailoring your lesson to meet their needs and objectives whether it be a 5 year old or a 50 year old. If I have a youngster come to me with a good mentor with knowledge of fly fishing I change my objectives... who knows they may be the next "Lefty" or "Gordy" and I would not want to miss the chance to have a part in their development!!
Gary Kell
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[GH] Gary,
Good advice.
Fortunate, indeed, are the youngsters who have parents and grandparents to emulate and who are willing and motivated to teach.
One way or another, the youngster has to be motivated.
Sometimes that comes from an older kid who has learned to catch fish that way .... the younger ones see him able to do what they can't. That has set many a spark. Then the goal may be nothing more than to "be like the big guys".
Occasionally one of a group of young friends who are about the same age has learned to fly fish. This can serve as a sort of "peer pressure" to have the others want to do the same.
Gordy
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[GH] From Steve Smith :
Gordie,
I saw something on the Miramichi that was of interest.
Rodney Colford, a very experienced guide got both his son and daughter into the sport very early on.His daughter is about 11 and she walks out onto the nearest rock with here flip flops on ,and casters with both her hands on the rod,one above the reel and one below the reelShe easily gets about 40-45 feet of line out ,even with her very small arms.She has hooked and landed more than 1-20 lbs salmon in her day! Again with using both her arms she is able to load her rod that I would guess is about 8'.
Steve
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[GH] I was waiting for some of you to bring up the technique of teaching younger kids to use both hands on the rod.
This is often the way to go with very young and/or small youngsters.
Joan Wulff does this, and has written about it in her books. * **
In her schools, she teaches the simple on-the-water roll cast to youngsters. Her reasons: 1. It doesn't require a back cast. 2. It leads to rapid success. Once learned, she tells the students, "... Now, you can go out and catch a fish".
Gary Eaton discussed the use of very light rods as well as rods no longer than 8 feet. He also mentioned the teaching technique of over-lining the rod. This allows the youngster to feel the resistance of the line and rod loading.
Lighter rods make good sense when teaching kids to cast.
I'd like to know if any fly rod company offers such light short (and inexpensive) rods specifically for teaching youngsters. Michael Gallart mentioned using the TFO 4 wt. 7' "Bug Launcher" (Temple Fork Co.). I'll look into that.
REMEMBER: Two fly rods can weight the same on a scale. The shorter one always feels lighter to the caster, Reason? Less of the weight is out farther from the hand. That leads to less strain to the casting arm & hand.
* Joan Wulff's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 1987, pp. 228-230.
** Joan Wulff's NEW FLY-CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 2012, Chapter 30, pp. 179-181.
Gordy
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