Flexibility in teaching

While we do need to be able to come up with teaching plans and outlines for any class or even individual instruction, there is great value in being flexible enough to tailor fly casting instruction to special situations including the individual problems which each student brings. Our very best teachers have learned this lesson well. It's one of the many things which make them as good as they are.

I read with interest the E-mail of Walters and want to make a couple of points which I hope shall add to our growing ways of teaching.

I had four gentlemen, Father and two sons in their late thirties from San Deigo and my brother-in-law from West Palm Beach. One son had fly fished in the past. The first two days we were trying to learn in 20 to 30 mile and hour winds.

Flexibility is the point I wish to make. I think by having many ways to teach from my bag of tricks I was able to adapt to the conditions. Wind does not affect pantomiming so this was the way I started, pretty much taken form Jason Borger's book, "The Nature of Fly Casting" while discussing the essential of a good stroke. I made the point that a lot of their learning could be done in their motel room via pantomiming and encouraged practicing that evening. It show up the next day!

I also made the point at how fortunate we were to have wind in which to learn since most likely calm days fishing would be the exception. They liked this idea and did not get discouraged. I placed them in casting positions least affect by the wind as we learned. We did not spend a lot of time on over head false casting using the low to the ground exercises you described in your response to Walter. I limited the over head casting in the strong wind to mostly to pantomiming.

Because the wind increased in intensity I proceed to the "anchored yarn fly" roll casting teaching and was pleased with their efforts. In other words, we were doing the best we could adapting to challenging and changing conditions.

Having four people with one intermediate caster I ask the intermediate caster if he minded helping me teach to which he responded with relish, so team teaching really helped me in getting them ready for the days on the water.

The theme I use, something I learned from Mac at Conclave, was that he wrote his book "Casting Angles" with casting situations he had learned from others as well as himself and used on streams. Each cast I taught was with a specific fishing situation, I pointed out, that I would be placing them in while fishing and I think this really added to their motivation. Thanks Mac.

On the water I started with two folk dry fly fishing, with my assistant teaching one, and I with the weakest, on nymph fishing, which really helped him understand slack control, rod loading, plus always aiming to a target while using the water tension cast. Even taught him an underpowered negative curve in the upstream presentation along with mending techniques. I followed this with the roll cast and lastly with the pick up and lay down cast. I think from the tension cast he learned rod loading and slack control which he applied very well to the the pick up and lay down cast. My assistant teacher covered all the bases well and had his partner casting well.

My brother-in-law was four months out of heart surgery so I had him sit in a folding chair on the bank along with some standing for short periods of time and he caught fish and casted very well for the seated position.

Summary, in this short period of time teaching and adapting, three people had an understanding and casting foundation to build upon. By using a variety of teaching methods and techniques we accomplished more that I thought possible. I credit this to four highly motivated folk who never lost sight of I am going to fish the next day so I had better learn. I also know that the "bag of tricks" at my disposal saved my bacon!

To date I have found that being able to adapt to people and teaching conditions is the norm because the best layed teaching plans will always have variables thrown in that requires a large bag of teaching tricks and adaptation--love the challenge! Use them as need I say! Thanks to all who share and teach on this privileged E-mail group