Friday, December 26, 2008

Padawan Fly Fisher


Yesterday, Christmas day, my 11 year old son received his first fly rod. It was a combo I put together from an Albright 5wt rod and reel I purchased back in October when they were on sale. He was very pleased with it. Today we started the first casting lesson.

Of course, as luck would have it, the wind today is gusting to 29 mph so it was an added challenge among all the other challenges of learning to cast with a fly rod. We started with the basics such as starting with the tip low to pickup the line, making a short speedup and a hard stop to load the rod, getting the line moving and making the forward cast then making a hard stop and as the line shoots forward and the loop begins to unroll, dropping the tip a bit. Easier said than done.

I myself am a visual learner. I have to see how it is done to get a good grasp of the concept so I demonstrated the cast to him while highlighting what all is going on. I also held his arm so he could feel what I meant by a short speedup followed by a hard stop. I then placed my hand behind him at the point where his should stop so he hit it and would know not to over travel.

Teaching someone to cast, particularly a child, is not as easy as it seems. We spent maybe 20 or 30 minutes practicing before stopping. I didn't want to overdo it as the lessons will continue over time. I expect he will pick it up soon enough but the lessons are also helping me in concentrating on places where I have gotten lazy in my own casting.

Maybe one day when he is older and masters the fly casting arts, he will take on his own apprentice. In the meantime, I will resist the urge to talk like Yoda as I continue his education.

6 comments:

Rick said...

Luciano,

The best teacher is not necessarily the one with the most knowledge, but the one who constantly yearns and desires to keep learning.

The key is knowing when the particular moment at hand (whether fishing or parenting), is a "teachable moment." You seem to have a firm understanding of this.

Bless you for that!

We had wind of 35 mph today in the DFW area. I went fishing on my "Wii." I have a bass fishing tournament game ... I have a lot to learn about video games . . .

I understand the Joan Wulffe has a very good fly casting DVD out. Been meaning to check if Amazon.com has it.

I appreciate you mi amigo. Hope to fish with you this spring. Do the white bass still make a run up the San Gabriel like they used to back in the 70's when I was at Southwestern University (north fork(?

texasflyfisher said...

Thanks Rick! It seems like another windy day so I'm not venturing out in the kayak today again but will hopefully get out soon.

The San Gabriel is but a stagnant trickle at the moment due to this year's drought. Sadly, I doubt that the white bass will be able to travel up into it this coming year. We need to pray for rain.

Have a good one!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a good father son moment.

Anonymous said...

I was just checking out your blog. My oldest daughter is six years old. She has been on several different rivers. I cannot wait until she is strong enough to cast a fly rod. I bought her a little Scott Voyager (6 ft 3wt.) She can kinda cast it with two hands. I am thinking about getting her a small switch rod. I enjoyed your term Padawan Fly Fisher. I have a couple of Padawans and I can't wait until they start to understand the fly fishing force. Oh and you talking like Yoda..is hilarious!
Take it easy
Marcus Rodriguez
The Guides of Texas

Anonymous said...

I was just checking out your blog. My oldest daughter is six years old. She has been on several different rivers. I cannot wait until she is strong enough to cast a fly rod. I bought her a little Scott Voyager (6 ft 3wt.) She can kinda cast it with two hands. I am thinking about getting her a small switch rod. I enjoyed your term Padawan Fly Fisher. I have a couple of Padawans and I can't wait until they start to understand the fly fishing force. Oh and you talking like Yoda..is hilarious!
Take it easy
Marcus Rodriguez
The Guides of Texas

texasflyfisher said...

Howdy Marcus,

Good to see you popping in. I enjoyed your http://texaslighttackleadventures.com/ site which I will add to the blogroll. I especially the photos.

I hope you and yours have a great and prosperous New Year!