Taking youngsters fishing

[Streamhound]

Hey MC1
I live in Bowling Green, mom lives in Paducah

[MC1]

There's some great deer hunting near Paducah. I try to get up that way at least a couple times during the fall.

[Carlito]

Originally Posted by Crockett

I have found with my son Jack who will be 5 in August that he isn't ready for a fly rod but what I do is I took his little short kids zebco (spider man) rod and removed the spinning reel and line from it. Then I tied on about 4 feet of heavier tippet to the rod tip end like 6x and a very small nymph with the barb mashed down real good. I let him get behind a rock and fling it over into the pool. He hasn't caught any yet trying this but only did it once for a couple of minutes. I think it will work good though and I did catch a fish with it using that technique while he was looking for salamanders and then I let him hold and release the fish which he got a huge kick out of. Like these other guys have said if he and I fish for an hour it really is about 5 mins of fishing and 55 minutes of playing, looking for salamanders or crawdads, and or throwing rocks. Another tip is don't bring your rod just his. It is really too hard to try and fish when watching after a kid of that age. I find that I have to hold his rod most of the time anyway so I just fish together with him using it if I fish at all. Its all fun though! We will be staying at Smokemont tomorrow night and maybe will fish a few minutes on bradley fork. He likes to hike and explore more right now.

Maybe a good use for one of those "Eagle Claw" units...

[Streamhound]

Ducks and Geese too

Glad to see the info on this thread, got a 4 yo nephew that I have been wondering about

[jeffnles1]

Originally Posted by MC1

Jeff,

I grew up about 30 minutes outside Louisville and my folks now live near Paducah. My grandparents and some other family still reside in Mt. Vernon. How about yourself? Where do you call home?

MCI,
I'm up in Florence KY (about an hour north / east of Louisville). I have family in Oldham County.

Jeff

[MC1]

Jeff,

Small world, for sure. I grew up outside LaGrange and graduated from Oldham County High in '94.

Matt

[Knothead]

Glad that you spend quality time with your son. Attention span is short, especialy if action is slow. Show them the world around the stream. Lots of things to see and do. A ride through Cade's Cove is great, allowing them to see real animals like the deer, bear, turkeys, etc.
Today, my wife and I took two of our grandsons to a small pond loaded with bluegill. The bread was too hard to keep on the hook so I tied some old, cheapo flies on their line. They caught a bunch, so many we didn't count them. And.....they are ready to go back.

[jeffnles1]

Originally Posted by MC1

Jeff,

Small world, for sure. I grew up outside LaGrange and graduated from Oldham County High in '94.

Matt

Matt,
You know any of the Cundiff family?

[DarrinG]

I'm the proud Dad of three beautiful daughters. I have been taking them to the woods-n-water since they were all old enough to trample around with me. My oldest (15) loves being outdoors but isnt that much of a fisherlady. She loves to go with me and take photo's and hike, but rather watch me fish.
My middle daughter (11) already fly fishes and loves it. She's a die-hard fisherlady. I bought her her own fly rig about 2 years ago and she does quite well with it.
My youngest daughter (9) is also a die-hard fisherlady. She hasnt graduated fully to a fly rod yet but is learning. She recently landed her first spec on the fly and is hooked! She's been doing very well with a spinning rig for a couple years now. Both my middle and youngest daughters seem to be "big fish magnets". Every time we go, they always seem to catch the biggest fish of the day. Their enthusiasm and love for life is a real inspiration for me and they love the outdoors. I take it easy with them and go at their pace. We've spent some awesome times together in the woods and streams and it's times I'l never, ever forget.

My youngest, on a backcountry stream:




My middle daughter:




The oldest:


I love my girls!

[Jim Casada]

DarrinG--Great stuff and delightful photos. If only more parents traveled a road similar to yours we wouldn't have to worry about "Last Child in the Woods." Along with marking what is potentially a lifetime path of pleasure for your daughters to travel, you are building up a rich storehouse of memories.

Does you missus fish? Mine doesn't but loves the outdoors. In fact, years ago she broke an ankle while we were camped at Bumgardner Branch (the lowest campsite on Deep Creek), and the ensuing ordeal gave me new insight on dealing with emergencies in the backcountry. Basically, I made a sort of crutch, took a bit of a shortcut involving two old fords, and by carrying her pack a way and leaving it, then going back and helping her (our dauther, who was aobut 10 at the time, helped a bit as well), we made the three-mile trek out. Now it's a fond memory.
Keep up the good work with the girls.
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com