I read a wonderful post yesterday over at Kiwi’s The North River Blog. Please go over there and read it, but the quick synopsis is that his 4-1/2 year old daughter was intrigued by his fly tying, and wanted to help her Dad tie a bug. She picked out all of the colors and Dad tied her one heck of a bug. The “Isabella” is an instant classic sure to catch fish for years to come.
The post really hit home with me as my 4-1/2 year old daughter Lilly took a similar interest in my tying a few weekends ago – the weekend I was tying up the orange woolly bugger for Halloween. Lilly came over to my little fishing nook in our basement and said “Daddy, I want you to tie me a fly.” I love the fact that she calls pretty much anything we put on the end of her Barbie rod a fly.
Of course I said OK, how could I not, and I asked her what she wanted it to look like. She was adamant that she wanted it to have “a pink tail and be furry like Caesar (our dog).” I gently pushed a few bags of materials in front of her to choose from and she quickly picked out the tinsel and plastic ribbing.
Is it the tightest tie I’ve ever done? No. Lilly literally sat on my lap (fidgeting like a 4 year old does) while I tied this up, so neatness wasn’t a top priority. The priority was a pink tail, and if you hold it in the light just right…you know that tinsel does in fact shine a pretty shade of pink.
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| Lilly’s Bug |
Anybody else tie flies (or make lures) for/with their kids?
Would love to hear about it either in the comments below; or heck even better, if you’ve got a blog write & share your own post about it.
sure! My boy ties flies, sometimes without me around. He is always trying to get one to come out good enough that it will catch a trout, He approves them his self and then flicks them in to the bluegill flybox, His dad is kind of a jerk about the flies used for trout, they need to be perfect. keep practacing kido.
Lily has got some style 🙂 Good looking fly, kiddo! We don't have kids, but the dogs like to contribute their hair to the cause.
That is a great looking bug Lilly! I could easily see a brookie inhaling that little guy. Keep up the good work.
Great story. I love it when the kids take an interest in your hobby. A great way to pass on (or create) a family tradition. She'll be whipping a tippet around in no time.
Fly tying sure seems like a nice thing to get into when old man winter is out and about. I sure plane to further my fly fishing for trout exploits further in the spring.Whitetail Woods Blog / Deer Hunting and Blackpowder Shooting at it’s best.
Thats a good looking fly. I think you might want to start a whole line of Lily – approved flies!
Good for Lilly and great for you. I jsut started tying over the past year and my 13 year old daughter was sitting on the computer while Iw as tying one night and started askign questions and next thing you know I had her tying up some glo bugs. She had a blast. Then she tied up some wooly buggers and now she has her own little box of flies that when she ties them she places them in the box for use sometime later on. It's been great sharing that with her. congrats.Passinthru Outdoors Blog – Sharing the Passion
Not only chasing the dream, but sharing it too. That's really cool.
You know I think Lilly's fly just might catch a trout or two. Nice post!
Thanks all. For my own selfish reasons, I hope Lilly catches the fishing bug (no pun intended). But if she doesn't, I have no problem with whatever she ends up showing interest in as she gets older – as long as it doesn't involve shopping malls & credit cards.