11-15-2005, 04:45 PM
I was taught to fly fish by the Pres. of the Washington Fly Fishing Assn. I have never met the man. My brother worked with him and asked if he would teach us and his reply was "sure". Buy a rod and line that are balanced, that is the tapered line matches the "weight" of the rod. The first line should be a fast sinking line (type 2). Go to the river, tie on a streamer pattern, like a bucktail royal coachman, cast across the stream or quartering downstream. Let the current swin the fly across the river and when it gets below you cast across again. After six hr of this you will know hpw to cast and you will catch fish on the first time out. After an afternoon on the river I felt I could cast without thinking about it too much. When that is working then get a floating line.
He was right. My Brother and I went out to the Snoqualimie River, caught several fish each and had a great time, we have been flyfishing ever since.
The sinking line was perfect because it automatically "loaded" the rod when fished the way he suggested and gave a good feel for what "loading" is and how it works, before I even knew the term or what it was supposed to do. I could then feel it better, the loading, when I went to the floating line. It is best to have both lines anyway and I would suggest everyone starting out flyfishing start with a sinking line and streamers until they get the feel. Even if you have a bad cast the river will take your line out and get you ready for the next cast.
I bought an Eagle Claw 7 weight (hoping to use it for steelhead) for $9 and a Scientific Anglers Fast sinking line for $9.60 (this was the late 1960's) and a Pfleuger reel for $14.95. He said the line was most important followed by the reel and last was the rod. That was a few rods ago.
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He was right. My Brother and I went out to the Snoqualimie River, caught several fish each and had a great time, we have been flyfishing ever since.
The sinking line was perfect because it automatically "loaded" the rod when fished the way he suggested and gave a good feel for what "loading" is and how it works, before I even knew the term or what it was supposed to do. I could then feel it better, the loading, when I went to the floating line. It is best to have both lines anyway and I would suggest everyone starting out flyfishing start with a sinking line and streamers until they get the feel. Even if you have a bad cast the river will take your line out and get you ready for the next cast.
I bought an Eagle Claw 7 weight (hoping to use it for steelhead) for $9 and a Scientific Anglers Fast sinking line for $9.60 (this was the late 1960's) and a Pfleuger reel for $14.95. He said the line was most important followed by the reel and last was the rod. That was a few rods ago.
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