Last night I let my grand daughter Calli cast my Ayu rod. She can cast a spinning rod pretty well and she can sort of roll cast my 4wt. But after only about 2 or 3 minutes of practice she was getting good loops and putting the line pretty close to where she wanted it to go.

I had clipped off the fly so she wouldn't get stuck with a hook. Since there was no fly I went about 25 feet in front of her, sat down, and made a big loop with my arms. We made up the game of "Try to catch Grandpa". If she could put the line onto me or into the loop of my arms then she "caught" me. I then would grab the line and wiggle it while she would land the fish.

On one hand it was cool to see, as Daniel has said, how kids seem to just get the technique naturally. But it was also interesting to hold that line (when I was mimicking a fish) and to feel how that rod would steer me if I really was a fish. Even a soft 5:5 Ayu rod could really show some power.

Very cool.

We an learn much from the kids around us.

TJ

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Tenkara USA, Director of Customer Service

Tenkara Junkie - Tenkarajankī
Now sporting all of the Tenkara USA Rods!

Way to go grampa. Teaching kids to fish is so fun. Now she needs to catch a nice trout and she'll want to spend fishing time with you.

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Rick

テンカラ。小さなストリームのシンプルさ。
My Tenkara Rods:
13' Ayu, 12' Yamame, 11' with a conversion handle, and an Ito.

My Wife's Tenkara Rods:
12' Ebisu and 13.5' Amago, 12' Iwana with a conversion handle, and an Ito.

That is so cool! I've only got 6 years and 10 months before I can do that!

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My blog: Tenkara Talk
Tenkara USA Rods: Amago, Ayu, Ayu Series II, Ebisu, Ito, Iwana 11', Iwana 12', Yamame
Other Tenkara USA Gear: Tamo, Strap Pack, 3.5 & 4.5 Level Line, 10.5 ft. & 13 ft. Traditional Line, Line Spools

My son Jack is 6 and he does really well with his 11' Iwana. He actually broke his rod a month ago on a 20" rainbow. I'm proud of him, he dove in after the tip sections and continued to fight the fish as the fish was swimming away with it.

So really you only have 6 years to wait.

John

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Tenkara Guides LLC

We went to a little pond in a local park this evening and she caught her very first fish. She used her spinning rod and some yellow power bait to catch 5 bluegills.

Then she asked if I could get out my Tenkara rod. I set it up and we caught 7 more blue gills in way less time. I even have a video of her landing a little blue gill by herself on my Ayu rod.

This was a very good evening.

I'm jealous. That sounds like great fun.

In reverse, I am going camping for a week, and my parents are going to join us for a few days. Neither of my parents have ever caught a trout, but asked if I would fish with them. My parents are getting older, and I am hoping that I we can get at least one fish on for each of them, before they will not be able to walk a river.

Oh the joys of sharing.

Here's a quick video of my Grand daughter landing her 6th fish of the day, but her first fish which was caught all by herself on a Tenkara rod.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOLQEoYvHc

Yeah, I'm pretty proud.

(Now that I watch the video again I think I'm as excited as she is)


Jason: You're too young to have grand children (then again, so am I) Are you and your wife having your first child in 6+ months?

How cool!

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Ashley Valentine
I blog at LearnTenkara.com

Hey Greg. Good job with the Grandkids. Going to be fun with two of us Tenkara guys on the water.

Mark