Imagine a newbie...or 20

On Oct 27, 2:39 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:
Myron,

I have contacted a friend who teaches middle school in Maine. He is
an avid fly fisher and a couple of years ago he took on the daunting
task of teaching his kids fly fishing. I gave him a couple of old
rods and reels, and many roffians also donated stuff. In fact, each
fly swap for over a year had the participants tying one extra fly for
his students.

He is also active in helping to teach kids fly fishing in the summer
with a program sponsored by the guide association and other givers.
He should be a good source for some dos and donts, and good advice on
where to start and what to include.

Will forward his e-mail.

Dave

Thanks Dave, and all.
I agree that the cerebral aspect will be a big part of the whole
thing. I expect that it will be infused all the time...the pre-trip
fishing preparation, the on-river days, and around the campfire at
night. But starting up by talking about the difference in philosphy
sounds like the right thing.

Joe: you are correct...HS kids ranging from 13-17 years old. Its a
voluntary sign up, and I've already heard from several kids who have
the passion already...they've done some canoeing in the past and are
dying to get on this trip. A couple of them will really influence the
vibe. :-)

The river will be fairly generous, at least by NZ standards. Its the
upper and midsection of the Mohaka; if you google some old roff posts,
its just upstream from a stretch that Roger and I fished a couple of
years back. Gin clear water, with long choppy riffles. Roger strung up
a copper john and caught about a dozen of the largest browns he had
ever seen in one long riffle, working his way along, shortcasting from
the edge with long sweeping drifts. I think the kids will master that
technique quickly, and we can fish all the riffles as we go
downstream. I just need them to be able to get the line out 30-40
feet.

Just to get them addicted to having a fish on, before the trip we are
visiting a fish hatchery near Taupo where they can cast into a well-
stocked pond. I can use that experience to help them learn to handle a
fish, C&R safely, as well as get them thinking and talking about the
pros and cons of introduced species.

In addition to getting them prepared to fish, I also will be spending
some time helping them acquire outdoor gear (most of them will be
buying their first sleeping bag), and teaching them some elementary
outdoor skills. I'm quite sure that none of them have ever gone 6
consecutive days without being under a roof. I ran a similar trip last
year (without the fishing: only canoeing and camping) and the kids
loved it.

Gear is, of course, a challenge. I have to get good enough stuff that
it'll be usuable for years to come, but keep it within a $250 pp
budget (pre-discount). Currently, the order is looking like this:
--Rod: LLBean Quest II 9' 5wt, 4pc travel rod ($89).
--Reel: Beans provides a packaged Quest II 5/6 LA reel ($35), but I'm
thinking of upgrading to a Streamlight 3/4/5 LA reel ($59). From here,
it seems that the Quest II might just be a plasticky POS, so a small
upgrade might make a big difference.
--Line: SA Headstart WF5F. This is actually 5.5 wt, for beginners to
be able to cast better. ($39.95)
--Gear: Bean's has a Loaded Lanyard deal: $50 for a lanyard with 3x
and 4x tippet, nipper, strike indicators, floatant and forecepts. I
might toss in a zinger for the nippers.
Fly box: keeping it simple, each kid will get a basic large LLBeans
plastic box with foam on one side and ripple foam under the lid. $10.
Leaders: each kid will get 3 pack of 4x tapered leaders ($10). They
will probably burn out one leader while learning to cast.

That gets me in at $258 per kid, but with no flies. Maybe I can get
you guys pitching in...anyone interested in tying up some flies for
us? I can provide a list of flies, and if people want to tie up sets
of 20, I'll have the school send you an official 'Thank You'
certificate, suitable for framing. :-) Otherwise, I'll downgrade back
to the Qwest II reel, squeeze some money out of another part of the
budget, and allocate $20 per kid to get 10-12 flies per kid.

Any insights on my gear order? Of course, this topic is a bottomless
pit, but keep in mind that Beans is giving me a 30% discount, so if
you have suggestions for competitive gear, it has to be priced 30%
less than these prices.
--riverman