Hunter5117":886fnv74 said:
I have fished all my life including about 10 years on the bass fishing circuit back in the 80's. Hadn't done much lately up until 3 years ago when I bought a fly fishing outfit to keep busy in the evenings on some of the local streams, mostly panfish and small bass. For Christmas the wife got me a starter kit for tying my own flies, which I have already exchanged for a more capable set up and am spending too much time on Youtube and other sites, watching and learning the basics of tying my own patterns.
I can't imagine a group of pipe smokers without a good showing of fly fishermen! How many, how long you been at it, and what can you tell me to help me along (other than it is another darn fine way to become parted from your life savings!!!).
Hey there. Fly fishing is a little like pipe smoking. A little knowledge and simple equipment will get you a long way. As you don´t need the expensive Uber-pipe to get a good smoke, you dont need the Winston bamboo Uber-rod to do well either. You can make it as copmplicated and expensive as you want...
A lot of this complication goes into casting. You´ll see videos, classes, and theories about technique (distance casting, doble hauls etc) and a lot of people get lost in this area. Remember the idea is to get the fly where you want it with a decent presentation. The basics are the 10-2 cast (imagining the angle of yout rod according to the clock hands) and knowing where in the water to put it. There will be exceptions and variations to all the casting basics depending on the conditions of the situation. Nost notably trying to get a backcast in on water overgrown with vegetation. Roll casting works in this situation, for example.
Knowing where the fish are in the river is a good idea too. In a nutshell, trout like places where the can expend as little energy as necessary while being able to see as much available food pass by. Cast to where slow water meets fast as they´ll wait in the slower water watching the faster water go by. Behind rocks, protrusions, or anything that wikk break the veocity of the waterflow.
A lot is made of patterns and "matching the hatch" insofar as flies are concerned. While it is awesome to be on the river during a hatch, it´s not the norm and most fishing is done between these events. Good attractor flies (Stimulator, Royal Coachman, Elk hair Caddis) will get you through in a lot of situations. Another thing is to simply go to the local fly shop where you intend to fish and ask what patterns are working.
Tying flies is fun!! I reccomend you take a class if you can. It´s a little easier to get the basic techniques down under the guidance of someone knowledgeable. I learned from a guy who later became a tyer for Orvis! There are some people who tie flies just for the art of it and have never even flyfished. A vice, a bobbin, some floss, and an assortment of basic hackle will get you satrted there.
Basic equipment:
Rod- a 4 wt with as fast action as you can find (the Sages are terrific and quite reasonable)
Reel- just get one, the modest ones work as well as the expensive titanium alloy ones. This is the least important component...
Line- 4wt WF (weight forward) to make casting a little easier as you get the hang of it
Leader- 7 to 9 ft 5x taper ( the 5X stands for the guage of the small end where you tie the fly) perhaps tippet (5x as well) to add on as your leader gets shorter.
Flies- go for a simple assortment based on where you´ll be fishing. Ask at the local shop for an assortment of whats been working. Don´t forget floatant...
That´ll get you started....
Geez, this was long winded even for me.... hope it´s helpful.
:roll: :roll:
