My boys and I have fished since they were very small, but they were really bitten by the fishing bug back in 2019! I never fly fished before, however, and they showed interest, so we learned to fly fish and tie flies together last year (starting with those basic Orvis kits). We never fly fished for trout (yet), and until a few weeks ago we were perfectly content fly fishing in streams for panfish and rock, smallmouth and largemouth bass.
I decided to introduce a new challenge for the kids-let's try to target pickerel on the fly rods. We've caught some nice pickerel on spinning rods in the past, but haven't specifically targeted them with the fly rods.
We tied up some clouser minnows and wooly buggers a few weeks ago, and went out and hit a few spots in the Pine Barrens. Below is a picture of the flies. Theirs come out nicer than mine!
Success! What a blast pickerel are on a 5wt rod. These aren't lunkers by any stretch (some of them were the smallest picks we've ever caught) but what a fun day. I didn't get too many pictures because we were busy casting and catching, but 7 pickerel in all for the day.
Side note: I have been told that trout are very sensitive fish, so this was a great gateway experience for the boys. They were taught how to be very careful with them. The fish were out of the water for a minimum amount of time, did not touch the ground (we put the net on a towel when we put it down) and all of them were released unharmed. I taught the boys about the slime layer and how it protects the fish. I think it's good practice for them to get used to this for when we finally go forward with fly fishing for trout.
Thanks for looking!
I decided to introduce a new challenge for the kids-let's try to target pickerel on the fly rods. We've caught some nice pickerel on spinning rods in the past, but haven't specifically targeted them with the fly rods.
We tied up some clouser minnows and wooly buggers a few weeks ago, and went out and hit a few spots in the Pine Barrens. Below is a picture of the flies. Theirs come out nicer than mine!
Success! What a blast pickerel are on a 5wt rod. These aren't lunkers by any stretch (some of them were the smallest picks we've ever caught) but what a fun day. I didn't get too many pictures because we were busy casting and catching, but 7 pickerel in all for the day.
Side note: I have been told that trout are very sensitive fish, so this was a great gateway experience for the boys. They were taught how to be very careful with them. The fish were out of the water for a minimum amount of time, did not touch the ground (we put the net on a towel when we put it down) and all of them were released unharmed. I taught the boys about the slime layer and how it protects the fish. I think it's good practice for them to get used to this for when we finally go forward with fly fishing for trout.
Thanks for looking!
