On Jan 23, 6:13*am, "Tim Apple" wrote:
My boys are asking about fishing, and though I want them to be elitist
bamboo flinging, dry fly snobs. I know this is not very realistic at three.
I have some old heddon glass rods I could rig up, and maybe just use a hook
and corn and go after bluegill, or would it be better to just get them some
lil' zebcos and give in to the spinning rod. If anyone has gone through
this, any advice on being successful without making the children hate
fishing please share.

Tim Apple

My $0.02. Don't go the zebco route. I started mine out when
they were 2 years old (they are now 7). They don't know that there
is any way to fish other than fly-fishing.

Mine had their own fly-rods, which they still use, waiting for them
when they came home from the hospital. What I did at first, was
take some old line, cut it to the right length, wrap it around the
butt
of the rod and at the tip. (a cane rod would work well too) Give
them
just enough line that they can flip the fly out and dap. I'm not a
big
fan of barbless, but make sure the fly is barbless and they are
wearing
sunglasses or some other protective eyewear.

Take the kid somewhere they will catch fish. Bluegills ponds are
great. Pay to fish places. Anywhere they are likely to catch
fish. They won't care how big the fish are, but not catching anything
is boring. Don't try to fish yourself the first several/many times.
Don't
even bring your rod. Whatever you do, don't get mad or impatient.
If they want to stop, stop. If they want to skip rocks or chase
grasshoppers, let them. It's all about making it a fun experience.
Even if they fish for 5 minutes, don't catch anything, but throw
rocks the rest of the time. If they had a good time they'll want to
go again and then they are hooked.

Proud parent of a pair of 7 year olds who regularly beg him to take
them fishing.
- Ken