You’ve probably noticed a few pictures of some pretty young anglers on my website lately.  As a father and grandfather….I love fishing with youngsters!  But how young is too young?  I often get asked about the appropriate age for taking up tenkara, or how young an angler I am willing to take on a guided trip.  As with so many things, there’s no definite answer.  It depends on the child.  Attention span is typically the limiting factor (as opposed to physical skill.)  The ability and willingness to follow directions is also critical, more for safety than for fishing reasons.

There are other considerations as well, specifically getting youngsters into waders and boots.   It’s not practical for me to try to stock children’s sizes in client gear so a Women’s Petite Small wader and men’s size 5 boot are as small as I can go.

These factors all combined usually means around 10 years old is a good, rough number.  The young trout-slayer pictured above was just shy of that but great about following direction and stayed in the game really well through a 1/2 day trip.

I never take youngsters without a parent or guardian, so if you think your son or daughter might be ready…call me up for some great family fun!