I'm pretty new to fly fishing. June 17 I am going to take my 6 YO on a llama fly fishing pack trip with my uncle-in-law. We will hike in to a remote lake that is very easy to catch rainbow trout on...I went with him last year, and I caught probably 20+ fish over 1.5 days. It was my second time fly fishing.

Anyone have recommendations for gear for a 6 YO?

Also, any general advice for teaching a child to fish?

I recommend that Dad (aka the OP) wear kevlar gloves, thick long sleeved shirt, thick pants (not shorts), and safety glasses. As a youngster learning to fish, I certainly caught my Dad much more frequently than I caught a fish.

You're kidding, right? Seriously, if you want to get a 6 yr old into fishing, fly fishing would be a disaster. Start him/her out with a closed face spinning outfit with a bobber and a worm where they will catch a fish or two. Geesh!!

Jim

Let your Uncle-in-law teach him.

When I was learning up on the Platte southwest of Denver, I hooked my buddy from New York in the eyelid. I had warned him multiple times not to walk behind me. He didn't listen of course, and was very lucky I didn't cause him great harm.

If you have the patience, you can probably pull off fishing with the youngster. But go very slow and make it fun.

The lake I am taking him to is very desolate. I bet we will be the only people on the lake. The hardest part will be the 3 mile hike in, but we have llamas to carry our gear. Last year while I was there 3 other people showed up with spinner rods. They didn't catch a single fish. I would not even bother with a hook, worm and bobber.

There's also not a tree within 100 yards of where we fish from. If I was able to catch 20+ fish on my second time fly fishing, I am pretty sure my boy will catch a couple...Even if I have to cast the line then give him the rod to hold.

He just needs to get his line out in the water 20 feet. I've watched a bunch of Orvis videos on Youtube tonight and the main theme is to keep things simple. He will need waders though as the water is cold.

I'll keep looking for a starter kit, I think Orvis has some.

My dad/uncles started me off with a regular spinning rod - and a dry fly with a small bobber. This was when we were really young. I honestly can't recall when I learned how to cast an actual flyrod. I do remember cutting off the hook of a large kind of wet fly like a wooly-buger and casting it in the yard. But that was in my early teens or there about...

I am going to practice in the back yard before we go. A dry fly with the hook barb cut off.

To be honest, I think you're asking too much of a 6 year old to be able to handle and stay interested in something as complicated as fly fishing.

As someone else stated, get them a little ultralight rig with the push button reel and a bobber and they will be happy as can be.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
To be honest, I think you're asking too much of a 6 year old to be able to handle and stay interested in something as complicated as fly fishing.

As someone else stated, get them a little ultralight rig with the push button reel and a bobber and they will be happy as can be.

I second this.

You could use floating leader with dry flies on the end. With a push button closed face real.

When I was about six or seven years old my father took a small fishing rod and tied a little rubber ball onto the line. He sat a small bucket in the yard and had me practice casting. The object was to cast and place the ball into the bucket. (Did the same with golfing and chipping into a bucket later).

It worked tremendously well and as a result I can pretty much drop a lure, weighted fishing rig or whatever where I want it. I adapted the same with fly fishing later.

As a Boy Scout Den Leader/Scoutmaster later in life I used my dads’ training principles as some other forum folks have as well. I had kids who had never fished or handled any type of fishing rod or reel. It’s a steep learning curve but once they pick it up it goes fast in this environment. I had a line of kids and I had found closed-face spinners for starting. They got points for how many times they could cast into the bucket. We have very few that didn’t pick up on it. Hit the dollar store and they have useful buckets and small balls.

It’s a very effective way to teach rod and reel principles without getting hit and hooked.

Try it first without a fly, piece of whatever, no hook. Hit the child to try putting the object in a target. See how many times there possible accidents where a hook would be a problem. Now go get a zebco kiddie rod and real, a bobber and a baited hook with you doing the casting or get a cane pole much safer!

Most closed-faced thumb release kids rod and reel combos come with a casting plug. (A little rubber fish in our case) Our granddaughters learned to cast pretty well in the living room using them. Made it even more fun when the cat would grab the fish and try to run the other way

I agree with the others who are advising to start out with a spinning rod.

If you want to go with the fly rod though, I would recommend a rod with more of a medium to full flex action that can match the pace a 6 year old would be able to cast a rod to....maybe something in a 3 or 4 weight and less than 9 feet.

I would think dry flies for a 6 year old are almost out of the question, especially if the fish are picky. Presentation with a dry fly is everything and a 6 year old will not have the finesse. You might be better served rigging up some woolly buggers and san juan worms. If you insisted on going with dry flies I would get some smaller royal coachmans , adams, and some ant patterns. Obviously you would also want to find out what is hatching in that region at this time of year and buy some of those flies as well.

There is a reason so few people become fly fisherman and stay fly fisherman for the long haul. It is very technical and requires a lot of time and patience to become good at it. Even those who have been fishing for years know to expect days on the river where you may not catch even one fish. Most of us who have stuck with it enjoy not only the fishing but everything else associated with it, entomology, the gear, the peace of being on the water, planning out a strategy, and the satisfaction of mastering something that is difficult, just to name a few.

I truly wish you luck and that your 6 year old enjoys the experience. In all honesty maybe just the adventure of the trip and time in the great outdoors with dad will be more than enough to keep him/her smiling and wanting to do it again.

I don't know if they even still make them or not, but when I was that age, Eagle Claw used to make a combination fly/spinning rod. That would be my suggestion for him. Pick up a cheapo fly reel for $20 and closed face spinning reel for about the same. That way he can do one or the other or both.

No sense in spending a few hundred bucks on Orvis gear for a 6 y/o who is going to get frustrated and end up potentially not liking it at all.

You could buy a copy of The Curtis Creek Manifesto, a comic book style guide for beginning fly fishermen. Amazon sells it for $7.00 or so. You can read it with your son. I think 6 is pretty young (and short)!to start wading and fly casting, but it may work out, if it's HIS idea to do it. If I was going to outfit a kid to fly fish, I'd probably try to find a graphite 7 1/2' or 8' 5/6 rod and reel combo. WalMart sometimes has some reasonably satisfactory setups for a beginner. Plan on having the rod tip get broken several times. Years ago Orvis combos were warranteed against tip breakage. I have no idea if that's still the case, but their combos were priced high enough to allow Orvis to replace broken tip sections a couple times and still come out ahead.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
You could buy a copy of The Curtis Creek Manifesto, a comic book style guide for beginning fly fishermen. Amazon sells it for $7.00 or so. You can read it with your son. I think 6 is pretty young (and short)!to start wading and fly casting, but it may work out, if it's HIS idea to do it. If I was going to outfit a kid to fly fish, I'd probably try to find a graphite 7 1/2' or 8' 5/6 rod and reel combo. WalMart sometimes has some reasonably satisfactory setups for a beginner. Plan on having the rod tip get broken several times. Years ago Orvis combos were warranteed against tip breakage. I have no idea if that's still the case, but their combos were priced high enough to allow Orvis to replace broken tip sections a couple times and still come out ahead.

The Curtiss Creek Manifesto is a great idea. I own a copy and I still enjoy flipping through it from time to time.

Orvis still has the 25 year guarantee on their rods and they are very good about replacing broken rods, no questions asked.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I am going to practice in the back yard before we go. A dry fly with the hook barb cut off.

Don't even bother with a fly, just a line indicator or a piece of yarn. You're not casting the fly, you're casting the line.

ETA
There are combo spin/fly rods eagle claw makes the one I have, if you get him one of those, if the fly experience goes south, he can switch to spin casting and do better.
When you start to teach him fly fishing, start with a roll cast that's the easiest for a novice to master which will stimulate his interest.

Is this the first time your boy is fly fishing?

I think your really setting yourself up for disaster. While it sounds good hiking in the mountain with your boy and catching fish, I can see a lot of problems. I dont know many 6 yr olds who have the patience or skills for fly fishing. As you already know there are many technical aspects to fly fishing which I dont think a 6 yr old will grasp.

I dont think you have enough time to get him familiar with a rod and line. There is the possibility of both of you having a miserable time if things do not go right.

quote:

Originally posted by Neel:

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I am going to practice in the back yard before we go. A dry fly with the hook barb cut off.

Don't even bother with a fly, just a line indicator or a piece of yarn. You're not casting the fly, you're casting the line.

ETA
There are combo spin/fly rods eagle claw makes the one I have, if you get him one of those, if the fly experience goes south, he can switch to spin casting and do better.
When you start to teach him fly fishing, start with a roll cast that's the easiest for a novice to master which will stimulate his interest.

The bolded above. We use hoola hoops as the target when teaching folks new to fishing.

I worry a little about a 6 year old in waders should he fall.

If it was me I would go with the spinner rod as well. I think my goal to start would be to catch some fish and try and let him land them.

We fish a friend who brings his grandson who is that age. He gets distracted pretty quickly but gets really excited when landing a fish - even though his Grandpa hooked it.