[mad] I have recently baught a pontoon boat as well as a fly rod. I will be fine with the toon. I just cant seem to grasp the whole fly fishing thing. I have wanted to learn for a long time and finally bought a fly rod but dont seem to know exactly how to use it and how to determine what flies to use for specific bodies of water. Does anyone here care to show ne how it is done. PLEASE!!!!![:/][cool]
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I am over in Idaho and have never fished in Utah before but I still think I can probably help a little. A couple flies that will almost always produce some fish are a bead head wooly bugger (size 2-8 in black, olive, or brown) and a bead head hares ear nymph (size 14-20). You can fish both at the same time and can usually catch a lot of fish. If you are going to fishing from a pontoon you should be able to troll wooly buggers and pick up some fish. Hopefully that can help you out a little bit.
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Woolly buggers are what I have fished the majority of the time even occasionally with a spinning outfit, using a bubble. How would one rig a nymph below a woolly bugger. The other trouble I am having is the casting technique of fly fishing. I have watched A River runs thru It pletny of times and still cannot get it down the way I watch it on the rivers when I see other folks fishing.
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Just my 2 cents but practice casting in a park or some wide open space, try to get your timing and rhythm down.
Watch some instructional videos(youtube lefty kreh ) or even hire a guide. Getting your timing and rhythm down will help allot before you sit on water and cast.
As far as fly selection goes as mentioned earlier buggers are always a good go too fly but try to read the water see if there are any rises. Scan the surface and see any insect floating on top Try to mimic any insects you see floating on the water. If no rises Fish deep either a sinking line or a couple split shots to get your fly down to were the fish are.
Always good to have:
BH Hares Ears
BH Prince Nymph
San Juan Worms
Small Egg pattern (Globug)
Wooly Bugger\Crystal Bugger
Sows\Scuds
(Im sure other will add to this list [
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I take you out my self but my pontoon is still in storage still too cold for me [
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Nope, I can't add a thing...you covered it well!
Specially the park thing. I do that every chance I get!
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If you really want to get a head start on fly fishing, try and spend just one full day with just you and a guide somewhere. Location isn't important, but one-on-one time with a teacher will save you hundreds of dollars and countless hours of learning time. The other option is a fly-fishing friend who can teach you, but I assume you don't have that yet since you posed the questions here.
Learn from a pro or someone who has taught others and been doing so for a number of years. The lesson would be priceless.
Flyfishing is
not complicated, only fly fishermen make it so because they can. However, it's very simple, more so than most other types of fishing except for maybe drowning bait. Presentation of the fly is the key, just like any other kind of fishing where Presentation is the key to catching fish. Nearly any fly will work, nearly any rod will work, nearly any line will work. Some better than others at different times, of course. But, keep it simple to start.
I've been fly fishing for 35 years, and I use fewer flies and less equipment today than I ever did, and catch way more fish in almost any setting.
All you need is one box of flies (maybe two if you want to cover everything top to bottom and all in between[
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One day with a guide, on the Green for example, will open up doors to you for many seasons to come. You can read all you want, but seeing is believing.
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Flyfishing is not complicated, only fly fishermen make it so because they can. However, it's very simple, more so than most other types of fishing except for maybe drowning bait.
Can't agree with this at all. The problem is, people THINK it is easy and get frustrated and go back to bait or spin, because it isn't...EASY
I can't believe you said that TJ.
I have been fly fishing all my life with an occasional spinning in there in the past. For the past 30+ years I have been total fly.
I fly fish cause I can achieve more and I am good at it, but, it didn't come easy or overnite, and it can be most complicated. Roll casting, side arm casting, casting into the wind, around a bush, hit the same spot time after time........etc. That is FLY FISHING, if you can't get that then you flog the fly out there and catch a fish now and then but prefer your spinning outfit.
If you learn all that FF has to offer, I bet you never touch any other kind of fishing equipment.
It is you, the LINE, the fly, the rod and the reel. The line is what is going to deliver.
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Joni, I'm sure we both have mutual respect for each other's experiences, and are both more proficient than most with the long rod. In saying that, I think your reply made my point. Yes, while there are SO MANY aspects to fly fishing, the original poster should begin by keeping things simple. An new fly fisherman isn't going to be able to make a side arm cast, into a cross wind, around the bush, with a 4-foot tippet, into the drift lane, with a perfect dead drift, right into the slurping trouts lane. Heck, it may even take me a couple casts to get it "just right"![
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My point was simply for the original poster to get frustrated by reading all the jargon, the latin, and thinking he needed all the gadgets to get started catching trout with a fly rod. Rather, learn to cast, practice, fish with a teacher, and work your way into the activity instead of trying to take it all on from the start. It only gets "complicated" when we want to take further steps. That's what I meant by saying that we, as fishermen, make it complicated. It doesn't have to be that way unless we choose to make it that way.
I still don't believe its complicated at all, but it does take time to learn, and I'm sure you would agree with that. For you and me, its a peice of cake. But think back to your first few years. For me anyway, it was a little overwhelming watching those I fished with catch trout after trout while I untied my latest wind knot or cluster f***. I had some truly great mentors, some of the best in the West and the country, and I still needed thousands of hours on the water to even begin to get good.
I think I've learned and experienced what MOST of flyfishing has to offer, (salt water, freshwater, warm water, rivers, lakes, ponds, tiny streams, spring creeks, steelhead, salmon, bass, etc etc) however, I still pick up a casting rod in certain situations because they too have all the aspects that fly fishing has. I can't say that fly fishing has more aspects to it than choosing and using an artificial on a bait casting or spinning rod. Only the cast is different, all the other aspects are the same as fly fishing. (the fish, the presentation, the offering, the conditions, etc.) Only the means of delivery change.
I'm glad you're a moderator here, and we can actually have a good, lively, intelligent debate! Hopefully others will learn from just peeking in on our back and forths!
Come on now, fly fishing isn't complicated, is it? See fish, cast to fish, catch fish. 1, 2, 3.
I know you're a still water junkie, and I pretty much live to fish moving water, but we need to fish some water sometime, some place. Maybe compromise with a super-slow moving creek/river or something?
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I agree with everything. I just can't bring myself to say, it isn't complicated.
I agree to keep it simple for the beginner, and I agree get a Pro to help get you started in the right direction.
I even agree that the Fly Fisher makes it more complicated. Specially when it comes to line . Seems there is a specialty line for everything anymore.
As you say, we have been doing this for so long it is second nature, which is not to say I don't learn something every time I go out, but we do take it for granted and I forget sometimes what it took for me to get here. Even the things that come second nature to one person, just can't be done by another for some reason.
Casting out a Kastmaster to me is no skill. The lure is all the weight and can fling it a mile. Attracting fish with the bling and movement with the lateral lines on a fishes side being effected. Bait even more easy as you are appealing to the fishes sense of smell and taste.
Fly fishing is mimicking the actual bug. No smell, no taste and only the line to get the fly where it needs to be. Can't help it, it gets complicated[
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Final note, I do fish rivers, in fact I guide on rivers, just never fished the Green which I am working on. Been close with Rock Creek, Yellowstone, etc up that way.
Now as far as Stillwater...get me into a 50lb Laker on an 8 weight at the Gorge (your territory) and I am all over that.[laugh]
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Now as far as Stillwater...get me into a 50lb Laker on an 8 weight at the Gorge (your territory) and I am all over that.[laugh][/quote]
Heck, it took me over 20 years just to get one over 50 with a darn lead head jig! I could put you on some 2-8's with the fastest sink tip line you can get in the fall, but it wouldn't really be worth the effort considering you can catch fish that size that are far more worthy than lowly lake trout. I know of some places in Canada where you can catch 20's and 30's with an 8-wt, but they're nearly as costly as Alaska trips, and again, there are better options for the time and expense than lake trout. For the price of a place to catch big lakers on a fly, consistently, you can go tarpon fishing too, and they put any freshwater fish to shame.
I'm with you on casting out a Kastmaster, and any kind of bait fishing. OK for some and perfectly all right for those who like it, but not my style or interest. Now side-arm skipping a top water plug under a mangrove bush for an exploding 20 pound tarpon or snook with a spinning rod . . . that gets my attention!
I'm just a spoiled rotten, over-fished bum who wants to see the fish I'm going to catch before I catch it, and then have it come to the top of the water when I do catch it, if possible. The so-called "fight" is of least importance. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't as experienced and well-traveled, and still found excitement in some of my old ways and old places. Its harder and harder to find fishing that excites me, although I've still not lost the interest in most any kind of fair, sporting fishing. I just go for different reasons now, often just to get away from my daily guiding pressures. My own catch isn't near as important as it used to be.
As for the original post, just have fun, learn what you can at your own pace, keep it simple to start, and enjoy the ride and learning process. If it becomes a complicated obsession, then you must be liking it, and that's the whole idea! Learn at a pace you can enjoy, try not to make it difficult. You won't become an instant expert. Nobody does.
Joni: got any private spring-creek water you guide on that a moderatly-poor guide can afford? I'll pay to play for some choice dead-drifts! (Used to fish the Livingston creeks and Milesnick's in MT every year)
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No secrets here. Planning a trip to the Green soon, so maybe we can meet up and drown a fly or two.
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I think I get what Tarponjim is saying. The first time I went fly fishing was to the green with my nephew. First, I had a hard time understanding all the different set ups. Having big hands doesn't make tying on flies very easy. Then I was chest deep on the Green with a double nyph set up, an trying to cast into the wind. I was tangled within two casts. The next day I just went in some lower flowing water, put one nymph on an practiced casting an mending. I caught a few fish that day and had a blast. Then I finally read a lot of the basics of set ups and I now understand some of the basics, which allows me to practice and not get frustrated. I am still pretty terrible, but trying to learn more every trip out. I still love spin fishing, especially jigging. I hope to get out with a good instructor this year. I love the Green now, for fishing and camping in general. In fact heading there in two weeks, and again in July and October. I tricked our scouts into going there so I can get some fishing in. Anyway, I think fly fishing has many complicated aspects to it, but keeping it simple at first sure makes things easier. I can't wait to get better and better. Hopefully we will catch a few on the Green when we go.
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Well if you 2 go than from what I have learned resding your posts. I think that The both of you would be excellent teachers![
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You wanna come along[laugh]
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All I can say is that the Green River is a pretty tough river to fly fish as a beginner. I would not start anyone out on that River. I don't care what anyone says. You have to be a very good fly fisherman to catch alot of, and big fish on that River. It offers some good open spaces to a beginner learning to cast, but unless you hit it during one of its signature hatches, it can be one of the most frustrating rivers in the world to fish.
If I were to help someone learn how to fly fish, I would start them out on a river that I was confident they could catch a fish or 2. The Green gets too much pressure and the fish are very smart. Plus the bigger rivers, such as the Green, can be a bit overwhelming to the beginning fly fisherman.
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I been flyfishing for 35 years and still learning new things and different ways of the art. in two weeks I will be heading out to spend a day with a guide
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[quote fish_on75]All I can say is that the Green River is a pretty tough river to fly fish as a beginner. I would not start anyone out on that River. I don't care what anyone says. You have to be a very good fly fisherman to catch alot of, and big fish on that River. It offers some good open spaces to a beginner learning to cast, but unless you hit it during one of its signature hatches, it can be one of the most frustrating rivers in the world to fish.
If I were to help someone learn how to fly fish, I would start them out on a river that I was confident they could catch a fish or 2. The Green gets too much pressure and the fish are very smart. Plus the bigger rivers, such as the Green, can be a bit overwhelming to the beginning fly fisherman.[/quote]
We can agree to disagree respectfully, but it would be a top choice for me, as a former guide there and a fly fishing teacher for a very long time. It has 10,000 trout per mile. If I can't get a beginner into fish there, I can't do it anywhere. I guided people there who had never even held a fly rod, and it was a dream location in which to teach. Everybody caught way more than just "a fish or two." More like several fish every mile the whole way.
Again, just my opinion, from actual experiences. Lots of casting room, trout everywhere, every type of water that could be ever encountered on a river, and not that tough compared to many other western rivers. Its a numbers game, and the Green has numbers, and a great visual aspect in term of being able to actually watch what a trout does and react accordingly. The trout are not at all "very smart."
If you wanna see "smart" fish, try Silver Creek in ID, or the Henry's Fork around Last Chance. Or other rivers with much lower fish counts.
As with most things, differing opinions, but mine are from past experiences with total novices on the Green. Its a dream classroom for a teacher of fly fishing.
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I agree with you...now. The Green is absolutely amazing! I was simply speaking from my past experience when I was a beginner. Having a professional guide would be the best way to do it. I definately agree with you. I did not do it that way, and I remember feeling very frustrated. I was simply pointing out that if a person is trying to figure things out on his or her own, it can be tough. I saw people catching fish all around me, and I just couldn't figure it out. That is why I made the comment I made. If I had used a guide, I'm positive my experience would have been much different.
Now that I have much more experience, I am not near as intimidated by the Green and love to fish it any chance I get.
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Are you kidding? Given the right circumstances and time frame I am all over going to learn from some pro's/ It is sort of difficult for me though because I am a single father of 4 children all of whom are under 10. I would however love to try and learn for a day or 2.
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the green is really quite easy to learn to fish under good circumstances for instance. if your like me you go and float for two days over a weekend . and you would try to hit it before a major holiday. before theres lots of people floating it. which from a fly fishermans point of view is annoying. espicially when your hitting a back eddy and a group of people come down and think there funny when they go right throught the middle of it splashing and yelling. but thats the reason you hit it two days and stay out all day long on the river. ive been going for years. its been a big cousin happening for years. we fish on the upper end .but my uncle screams down to the lower end. and we all no why . its cause hes not a very good dry fly fisherman which could be cause he cant see the flys.
this year i may see some of you down there we are heading out may 28 and were fishing till sunday .
if you head down the river and see a large group of boys covering the same section all the way down youve probly found us.
i cant wait its like going to the super bowl when going to the green
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