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

Count me in for 20 flies, Myron. Please give us a list. I'll either
tie or buy.

Dave

On Oct 28, 9:48 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:
Count me in for 20 flies, Myron. Please give us a list. I'll either
tie or buy.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! As soon as this nailbiter Sox-Rox game is over, I'll
post a list of flies. I think it would be so cool if I could tell the
kids that some fishermen from all over the world pitched in to tie up
some flies for them. Please don't feel obligated to buy any...we can
afford to buy them if we need to. Its that 'personally hand tied'
aspect that would be special for them, I think.

Meanwhile, how the hell did I end up with both posts above making it
to the NG?? I had posted one of them a day ago, and after several
hours it had not appeared so I tried rewriting it. Suddenly they BOTH
show up...I feel sort of like a grubber. Sorry about that.

--riverman

On Oct 28, 12:00 pm, riverman wrote:
On Oct 28, 9:48 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:

Count me in for 20 flies, Myron. Please give us a list. I'll either
tie or buy.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! As soon as this nailbiter Sox-Rox game is over, I'll
post a list of flies. I think it would be so cool if I could tell the
kids that some fishermen from all over the world pitched in to tie up
some flies for them. Please don't feel obligated to buy any...we can
afford to buy them if we need to. Its that 'personally hand tied'
aspect that would be special for them, I think.

Meanwhile, how the hell did I end up with both posts above making it
to the NG?? I had posted one of them a day ago, and after several
hours it had not appeared so I tried rewriting it. Suddenly they BOTH
show up...I feel sort of like a grubber. Sorry about that.

--riverman

OK, a list of flies...

You know, instead of providing a specific list, why not do it this
way? I'm thinking that the plan is to get them started with stocking a
good all-around fly box: any river specific flies we'll get in NZ. So
if you can think of a 'must-have' fly for a beginner (think: trout
fishing), why not just post what you are tying and send it along.
There will be 17 kids and 2 teachers, so 18 or 20 of something would
go around.

Try to keep it limited to easy to tie flies, ones that are pretty
universal. The majority of these will inevitably end up in trees or
tangled in river weeds anyway. grin

If anyone feels so motivated, and sends along some, I'll send an
official 'thank you' on school letterhead, and maybe even get the kids
to sign it.

Thanks, Dave

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message
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. :-)

Count me in for a set. If there are any tips, etc. for the international
shipping to HK, post that at the same time as the fly list. Cool idea, btw.

Joe F.

riverman wrote:

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.



myron - i'll donate a few bucks to help with the adventure. post a
mailing address.

"jeff" wrote in message
...
riverman wrote:

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.



myron - i'll donate a few bucks to help with the adventure. post a
mailing address.

What Jeff said. I figure I can send ya money to buy flies in NZ better than
I can tie certain patterns.

Op

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:06:14 -0700, riverman
wrote:

On Oct 28, 12:00 pm, riverman wrote:
On Oct 28, 9:48 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:

Count me in for 20 flies, Myron. Please give us a list. I'll either
tie or buy.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! As soon as this nailbiter Sox-Rox game is over, I'll
post a list of flies. I think it would be so cool if I could tell the
kids that some fishermen from all over the world pitched in to tie up
some flies for them. Please don't feel obligated to buy any...we can
afford to buy them if we need to. Its that 'personally hand tied'
aspect that would be special for them, I think.

Meanwhile, how the hell did I end up with both posts above making it
to the NG?? I had posted one of them a day ago, and after several
hours it had not appeared so I tried rewriting it. Suddenly they BOTH
show up...I feel sort of like a grubber. Sorry about that.

--riverman

OK, a list of flies...

You know, instead of providing a specific list, why not do it this
way? I'm thinking that the plan is to get them started with stocking a
good all-around fly box: any river specific flies we'll get in NZ. So
if you can think of a 'must-have' fly for a beginner (think: trout
fishing), why not just post what you are tying and send it along.
There will be 17 kids and 2 teachers, so 18 or 20 of something would
go around.

Try to keep it limited to easy to tie flies, ones that are pretty
universal. The majority of these will inevitably end up in trees or
tangled in river weeds anyway. grin

If anyone feels so motivated, and sends along some, I'll send an
official 'thank you' on school letterhead, and maybe even get the kids
to sign it.

Thanks, Dave

--riverman


I think I could find few...any prefrences?

On Oct 28, 9:33 pm, "Opus--Mark H. Bowen"
wrote:
"jeff" wrote in message

...

riverman wrote:

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.

myron - i'll donate a few bucks to help with the adventure. post a
mailing address.

What Jeff said. I figure I can send ya money to buy flies in NZ better than
I can tie certain patterns.

Op

How great of you guys, but I really can't accept any money, as it
probably goes against some school rules somewhere for me to accept
cash. And we're not a poor school...I just have a fixed budget that I
have to work within.

If you really want to contribute (and THANK YOU if you do), and you
don't want to tie up something really basic (even some #10 Wooly
Buggers would be completely acceptable), then you can just stop by a
fly shop and pick up something and send it. That will leave more money
in my budget for NZ flies when I get to Auckland, and they will still
have the beginnings of a basic box at this end.

I'm hearing some requests for a wish list, so okay. The kids will
probably be swinging nymphs through pools with strike indicators on,
dragging Wooly Buggers across eddy lines, and casting highly buoyant
dries to pools, so think along those lines. I'm thinking of starting
the kids off with some basics: Beaded Wooly Buggers, GRHEs, Pheasant
Tails, Elk Hair Caddises, Adamses (or some other upright dry), maybe
some Humpies. Think along the larger sizes (nymphs in the #14-16
range, dries in the #12-14 range). I know that #16 Copper Johns were
the secret weapon last time I was there, and they were slurping these
#14 BWO-like things off the top. Anything like that would be
wonderful.

There are no special packaging rules...just put them in a ziplock and
put that in an envelope and send them regular post. You are welcome to
pick flies specifically because they mail well.

Thank you for wanting to pitch in. You can send things regular post to
me at this address:
c/o HKIS
1 Red Hill Rd
Tai Tam, HK

Be sure to include your return address.

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message
oups.com...
How great of you guys, but I really can't accept any money, as it
probably goes against some school rules somewhere for me to accept
cash. And we're not a poor school...I just have a fixed budget that I
have to work within.

If you really want to contribute (and THANK YOU if you do), and you
don't want to tie up something really basic (even some #10 Wooly
Buggers would be completely acceptable), then you can just stop by a
fly shop and pick up something and send it. That will leave more money
in my budget for NZ flies when I get to Auckland, and they will still
have the beginnings of a basic box at this end.

I'm hearing some requests for a wish list, so okay. The kids will
probably be swinging nymphs through pools with strike indicators on,
dragging Wooly Buggers across eddy lines, and casting highly buoyant
dries to pools, so think along those lines. I'm thinking of starting
the kids off with some basics: Beaded Wooly Buggers, GRHEs, Pheasant
Tails, Elk Hair Caddises, Adamses (or some other upright dry), maybe
some Humpies. Think along the larger sizes (nymphs in the #14-16
range, dries in the #12-14 range). I know that #16 Copper Johns were
the secret weapon last time I was there, and they were slurping these
#14 BWO-like things off the top. Anything like that would be
wonderful.

There are no special packaging rules...just put them in a ziplock and
put that in an envelope and send them regular post. You are welcome to
pick flies specifically because they mail well.

Thank you for wanting to pitch in. You can send things regular post to
me at this address:
c/o HKIS
1 Red Hill Rd
Tai Tam, HK

Be sure to include your return address.

--riverman

Will do! I have a credit account over at Uncle Wally's place, on account
that a William Josepsh's chest pack I bought came apart the same day I
bought it :~^ ( I never collected on the return, so now is as good a time
as any.

Remind me of when this is going down, so that I make sure to get the stuff
to ya in plenty of time.

Op