We started out playing catch with a football. Then tag. Then Will wanted to see how the circular saw worked. So I hacked up a 2 X 4 real well... Then he saw the chain saw. We had to do some pruning on a spruce that blocked a walking path around the house, so I gassed up and let Will hold the blade cover and wear the big hearing protection (and stand well back) while I trimmed some limbs.
After all that fun, He leads me back in the garage and see's my 6wt BVK. I don't know how many of you have cast one of TFO's BVK series... But wholly smokes - they cast like an 800+ dollar rod and cost about 225. Great rods. Any way... Will remembered trying to cast it once before, and asked if we could go cast... So we did.
First we went all Lefty Kreh and I stripped out about 20 feet of line (meaning 20 feet beyond the tip of the rod) and he just had fun making it move horizontal to the ground - swinging the rod left and right. Then he started sort of roll casting on his own. He liked the "loop" so he started just trying to make the line swing round all silly. In the pic, you can see the line is caught up a bit in the apple tree in our front yard...
He'd have me make loops and then he'd make some. Then he realized that if he tied the leader to the apple tree, he could jump over the line when I held the rod. That lasted a few minutes until I lifted the line before he could jump, and thus he "missed". Now we had a new game and we'd go back and forth taking turns lifting the rod so that the other couldn't jump the line.
All in all, it was about 20' of the 4 year old playing with fly casting. It was awesome :). Maybe some day he will find satisfaction in this activity just like I have... Up to him.
Not sure if everyone who may see this celebrates Christmas, so if you don't, happy holidays! But if you do, enjoy Christmas eve and day. And happy New Year to all!
Be well
Will
