It was pointed out to me a few days ago that I've posted fishing pix of all the kids......except my youngest, Jada. She's 5 now, but these pix were taken earlier this year before her birthday. Jada was just a baby when the 4 kids came to stay with us, and had just turned 4 when we adopted her and the other kids. So that being said she has grown up around fishing, and goes every chance she gets.....which sadly isn't as often as I'd like. On the bright side, we live on the water, so any time she feels the urge to wet a line the river is literarily right in her back yard.
This spring, Easter morning actually, right after breakfast she asked if she could learn to use a fly rod. I have an old Eagle claw 8wt glass rod that I once used as a teaching tool in my casting clinics, that I still 20 years later keep rigged and ready for anyone who wants to learn. It's a horrible beast of a rod to fish with, but I've never found anything better to use to teach casting with. Anyway, we stayed out on the water for about an hour and with in 5 minutes she was casting on her own.....telling me "Dad, I got this.....just let me do it!" By the time she was done she could make 40 to 50 foot casts all the way to the opposite bank. Not technically perfect, but who cares? She had fun and maybe, just maybe she'll stick with it.
Jada did end up hooking one really nice brown trout, but wasn't sure how to handle the line and ended up doing a "long distance release".