Most of us were probably introduced to fly fishing through the kind instruction of a father, grandfather, relative, or family friend. Under their watchful eye, we got our first rods, first instruction, learned to cast and picked up some useful and potent curses when lines got tangled and flies were lost. But then there are those who aren’t so lucky.
Talking to friend Amanda the other day, she told me about this young kid she had met on her favorite small water the other day. He’s probably around ten years old, and was fishing with a spinning rod with a broken tip. As the conversation continued, turns out he had always wanted to learn to fly fish, but had no one to teach him.
This little guy apparently doesn’t have a happy home, and has no one to help him out. Amanda decided that she wanted to help this kid out and help get him a rod. Talking about it with her, we agreed that surely someone out there has an old rod and reel that is no longer being used.
Odds are pretty good that your first fly rod was a hand me down from your fishing mentor, whoever that might have been (mine was). Take a look through your gear next time you have it out. If you’ve got an old rod and reel that isn’t getting used much, consider donating it to a kid in need.
Why this particular kid? Because instead of burying himself in video games, drugs, or gangs to escape, he turned to fishing. We can all relate to that.
