I know posting this is something akin to "I want to buy a gun" on here. I also know that S/F pretty much has all the right answers, and there's probably more than enough people between "expert" and "I know what I'm doing" here that will point me in the right direction.


I've come up with some interesting ideas in my time. One of the better ones was- "I'll teach myself how to fly fish when I retire."

WOW! Talk about asinine!
Why wait until then?!?
(Especially since that plan got kicked back a few years)

Thinking about it, I've fished a few different ways- I didn't say that I was good at it, and somewhere south of mediocre when it comes to "catching". I also learned the secret of "just enjoying the time outdoors" many years ago.
I also know that if I jump into this stream headlong with what I know, one of you is going to find me dead and bloated, downstream because I choked myself out (maybe even accidentally) with the fishing line.


I think that now(ish) is as good as time as any to start the new avenue to angling.
I realize that I know about > < this much when it comes to fly fishing, which is also enough to get my ass into trouble.
To wit:
Flies can be anything from $ to $$$! Flies mimic whatever bug said fish is eating during that period of time.
Rods, reels and line- anywhere from $ to $$$!
Casting- "it's all in the wrist"

Outside of that, I got nothing, and I don't know if I even got the above correct.
Where's a good starting point?
What are the "absolute needs" and "this makes life easier" stuff? (I already have decent forceps for removing hooks in mouths, scissors, leatherman and medical tape for when the hook gets stuck in me... )
Price point- I don't know. What's enough for "decent" equipment? Think "Glock" / Remmington 870/ Mossberg 500 type stuff, reliable, durable...

Guide me old wise men of the waters, you Sages of the streams!

quote:

Guide me old wise men of the waters, you Sages of the streams!

I see what you did there...

Find a local fly shop that offers classes and take an introductory one on your day off. They'll likely be able to loan, or at least rent, you all the gear you'll need. That's what I did and it made it all make so much more sense. I have a neurological condition (tremor in my hands) that makes it all but impossible for me to tie little tiny knots on little tiny flies, so I don't do it anymore. I wish I could.

quote:

Casting- "it's all in the wrist"

First lesson. In fly fishing it’s not “in the wrist” at all, breaking your wrist screws up your cast. Think of your fly rod and your arm, up to the elbow, as one (as Master Po would say).

If you have an ORVIS nearby they are a great place to start IMHO. I also recommend becoming a member of Trout Unlimited

You can get a quality rod for $200, and fly reels don't have to be expensive compared to other kinds, as they are more just line holders. Think $100 to $150 to pair with your $200 rod. You can even spend $100 less, and still not have a crappy rod and reel. Reddington is a brand that makes good-quality, less expensive gear.

The fly line isn't cheap either, running $40 to well over $100. This is the main fly line - you'll need some backing and leaders, too, but those are inexpensive-ish.

And, of course, all the flies, and the myriad of other gear, but that can be added as you go.

Of course you can spend $600 to $1000 for a rod, too, if you have a rich uncle.

Figure out what you are fishing for, and choose line weight for those fish. The rod and reel you need will follow from that choice. Small stream trout call for light gear - three or four weight. Bigger trout might want four or five weight gear. Bass on smaller flies can be handled with five weight gear, and bigger bass flies and bugs might call for six or maybe seven weight gear. Salt water is a whole other thing.

Find a local shop. They will bore you to death with the details. Orvis is good, and they have a range of less expensive rods and reels, too.

Both Orvis and Cortland offer starter kits that included a reasonably good matched rod, reel, backing, and line at a decent price. I fly fished for my first couple of years using one of the Orvis Clearwater kits.

https://www.orvis.com/fly-fishing-gear-for-beginners

https://www.cortlandline.com/p...-series-combo-outfit

I retired a year ago…and took up fly fishing at that point. Pretty much being self taught while stopping in fly shops asking for advice, bending anyone’s ear for advice on the river and of course a little you-tube casting directions along with practice and Im at the mediocre stage right now….may not be pretty but I do catch a few fish. (I rely on there being at least some dumb fish in the river)
It’s the journey thats fun

I used to fly fish once in a while,

was taught by an older guy that I fished with and was pretty good with it,

we fished for panfish, no trout in this area, and bought the flies pre made from the local fishing shops

this was 30 yrs ago, but then Orvis had a small shop 'on the Avenues' a trendy part of the RVA metro area, and I stopped by to look at the lures and was going to buy some,

mind you, this was pre internet,

so I pop buy, looking for some Black Ants (they are killer locally for bream, shell crackers , blue gills etc) and a gent that worked there came up to me and started conversing,

when I told him I was looking for the Black Ants or similar flies, and what type of fish I was catching, he stopped, turned and walked off,

literally left me standing there, so I politely left and never went back,

they have a bigger store in a big fancy mall here now, but I will not go there,

I did buy some orvis flies a few years ago only because somone gave me a gift card,



I currently have 3 rods, one Pfleuger (speltz wrong), an old bamboo I was gifted I am afraid to use and a new rig I got at Cabelas that was discontinued and discounted ,


it's a good time, one the rare occassion I go, and I still use it for panfish,


BTW, if you ever break a tip, don't toss the rod, clip it at the next guide and use it as a crappy pole, they work great

A few threads on fly rods

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...500027754#2500027754

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...920055484#9920055484

This may seem obvious, but a lot of fly fishing success depends on understanding entomology of the streams you’re fishing. Local fly shops can help you with this as will reading books that will help you identify the flys coming off the water.

quote:

Find a local fly shop that offers classes and take an introductory one on your day off. They'll likely be able to loan, or at least rent, you all the gear you'll need. That's what I did and it made it all make so much more sense.

I have been an avid fly fisherman for the last 35 years. I fly fish for trout, bass, and all kinds of saltwater species. My passion is trout fishing and I have traveled all over this country pursuing just about every species of trout. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get quality gear, but schools and guides will have gear to borrow until figure out what you like. There are some great Orvis schools around the country that are a great way to get exposure to fly fishing. Best of luck on your journey.

You have an incoming email

Padawan,

You can spend as little or as much as you’d like on equipment.
My advice is to learn to read the water. Shutes, slow eddies, bends, basically try to find where and why the fish are holding. Then learn to present a DRAGLESS presentation. Most important thing I can impart.
Let me put it another way. I like hamburgers, eat one at home or in a restaurant. But if you showed me a hamburger in a greasy ditch near a trash can - no thanks.
It’s the same with the fish, 3 p’s are Presentation, presentation, presentation.
Good luck and enjoy your new hobby.
It’s especially gratifying catching fish on your own handmade flies too!!

Can you fly fish on lakes for Bass and lake Trout and such?

Fly Fishing is the Golf of fishing.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Can you fly fish on lakes for Bass and lake Trout and such?

Yes you can. Bass you will need a bigger rod than the usual 5 weight trout rod.

Welcome to the fun side.

You can get into a decent rod for relatively reasonable money. I have a friend who owns a fly shop and he has highly recommended Temple Fork Outfitters. My personal experience with TFO has been very positive and I have another friend who is a professional guide. He uses TFO for his clients. Sierra has the TFO Professional II ona great deal right now. The weight rod will depend on what you are targeting. A 5wt is a good every day freshwater rod.

As for reels, don’t spend a lot of money if you are going for trout, bass, perch, blue gills, etc. The reel is basically just to hold the line for that level of fight.

If you are going for bigger fish like salmon, stripers, blues, false albies then you need a reel with a good drag system. That will cost you more. I can’t tell my wife what I spent to upgrade my salmon / striper reel.

For flies, start with some wet flies like woolly buggers and leech patterns. They are effective and you don’t have to worry about matching a hatch.

Lastly, get yourself a casting lesson from a certified casting instructor before you develop bad habits. It is not that expensive and will teach you more in an hour than spending a month watching YouTube.

Also, you don’t need a crap ton of gear. I ditched my vest for a small chest pack and haven’t regretted it once.

CPD, there is zero need to spend more than $150 on a rod and reel combo. Until you can pick up a fly rod and feel the difference between a medium and fast speed rod there is zero need for an expensive rod. Go to Cabelas and tell them you need a beginner rod. A 9'0 5 wt is a good choice for trout.

If you want to learn by yourself, as I did, then check out the Orvis learning center. Hundreds of videos on casting, tying, reading the river etc...

https://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/

As for flies visit a local fly shop and they will tell you what to start with. I bought every fly under the sun and spend thousands on flies when I started. I carry fewer than ten different fly types now and prefer to just carry different sizes of the same flies to help match the hatch. Check the local fly shops online for fishing reports which will be divided by different rivers some will suggest fly patterns to try. Also google hatch charts by river names and the bigger rivers will almost always yield results. Those results will tell patterns and times of the years bugs will be hatching. There are many books that will suggest fly patterns, give directions.

Fly fishing ain't always easy. It can be very frustrating to learn. It has turned into a life long passion for me and I average 80 fly fishing days a year and i have been doing it for over twenty year. I fish rivers exclusively and I prefer small creeks. For me fly fishing is hunting with a stick. Stalking trout and using tactics are everything. Trout ain't territorial bully bass who will attack anything that comes near them. Trout will investigate a floating fly. They will refuse it in the river if the fly doesn't float like a real bug. They can be remarkably picky when it comes to flies and your offering. I have spent hours trying to cast to a single brown trout until I sold him on my fly. Trout can be a real puzzle. There is a ton to learn and after twenty years I'm still learning. You will love it!

I'm happy to help you in anyway I can. Good luck! Hit me up with any questions at any time. I'm looking forward to seeing some fish pictures!

Here is a basic fly casting vid.

https://youtu.be/oDJJ6W23gHw

First bit of advice most of us trout guys use our forceps to bend down the barbed hook. Barbs don't really keep fish on the hook. Barbs do more damage to the fish so we lose the barb. They also make it harder to get the hook out of you.

Tight lines!

Just remember that you don't have to be Lefty Kreh with a fly rod in your hand to catch fish. Bad casters catch fish, especially trout where you should be working the water close to you so you can achieve a drag-free drift.

And a great caster still needs to know how to fish. A bad fisherman who can cast great will not catch as many fish as a bad caster who knows how to read the water.

Let me preface anything I say by letting you know that I'm no expert, and that others here have vastly more experience than I probably do.

First thing I did wrong when starting out was to just buy the first used rod on ebay I could get.
Turns out a 10ft 7wt rod isn't that useful in my neck of the woods.... Next, I got a good budget rod and started learning on it, got too big for my britches and went and bought the most expensive, top of the line winner of the "5 wt shootout" Yellowstone Angler "competition" that is widely published every year. Think nearly 2K worth of gear. Then I learned that there are speeds of action on rods, meaning how fast the casting stroke is, and that a slow action rod is easier to learn on than a medium/fast (which these days is really "fast").

I've learned and now have great success with my top end rod, but I didn't need it and had just as much fun casting on the first 5 wt I got. I gave that one away to my son in law when I got the mack daddy rod combo, so there was no going back anyhow...

For a beginner I would look at getting a Fenwick Aetos 5wt 9ft rod, and pair it with a Lamson Liquid reel in the matching size. This is a widely praised rod that fishes much better than it's $160 pricetag, and in my hands is a great fishing rod. You can fish for trout with this, and you can fish anything smaller with appropriate changes in your leader setup. You can even fish for bass with it, though bigger bass might try the rod.

As for the "all in the wrist" statement, when I learned to fly fish the first time (free lessons at Orvis, which is a good start and I recommend), the instructor told us to never break our wrist at all, 100% stiff, use the elbow and a motion like you're flicking paint off a brush onto a wall (slow acceleration to a sudden stop) on both casting strokes. When I got home I did the flicking paint motion and realized it involved a slight wrist snap right at the end of the movement. Hmmm.... Since then I have learned that most people (me included) will intuitively use some wrist, and some legendary instructors like Joe Humphreys (taught a fly fishing class at Penn State for 19 years) use almost all wrist with great success. Bottom line, do what works best for you and try to learn from your mistakes, give yourself time and enjoy the process.

For flies, I will make a broad statement that is generally true: you'll catch more fish on subsurface flies (nymphs, emergers, streamers) than you ever will on topwater flies. Also, trout will feed on much smaller hook sizes than you'd have ever thought, with many in my area preferentially taking a 18-22 size hook over a 16. In my neck of the woods, a lowly zebra midge in size 18, fished without jerking the indicator out of the water, has proven to be a deadly combination on trout. Best advice on choosing what works is take $40-50 and a large supply of humility to your local fly shop and ask for help, they will help tell you where, when and what the fish in your area are eating.

For equipment, you need a set of forceps, some floatant (to make dry flies stay on top of the water), some nips (like fingernail clippers, but more costly), tippet in 3X to 7X, strike indicators (bobbers, for the uninitiated-I love the yarn indicators soaked in a bit of FlyAgra), and probably either a neck lanyard or a pack to put it all in. I find the vests to be hot in my area, but I fish in Arkansas. Of course, having polarized glasses and a hat/headgear is essential to protect your eyes while you learn to cast properly. Oh, and on that note, always crush the barb on your hook for trout fishing, and as a side benefit it helps remove the hook from whatever soft fleshy part of your own body you manage to imbed it in while casting.

There is so much more to it, but I will say fly fishing has become an obsession for me in a very positive way, and is something you can do well into older age. Enjoy, because the first stages of discovery are some of the most enjoyable. If I can help, as stated by others in this thread, please don't hesitate to ask!