Proper approach to fly fishing?

[buck75]

Hey all,

I am new to fly fishing and wanted to get your take on the proper approach to fly fishing. I picked up the most necessary gear (rod/reel, flies, waders, etc) and I have been out a few times so far this year. I should mention that I talked one of my friends into trying fly fishing this year and he also picked up the necessary equipment to get started.

The few times I've been out, I haven't expected to catch any fish as I know that I've got a lot to learn about fly fishing. In essence, I've been treating those few times as practice runs. Meaning that I haven't been paying much attention to the flies that I've got tied to the end of the line and have been working on technique, placement, etc.

I have to say that I've learned quite a bit on my own from the experience in relation to fishing in tight quarters with branches, trees or other obstacles while out there. It's not the same as practicing in my backyard where I can load up and get 40 feet of line out.

Am I setting myself up for failure by not paying attention to hatches and appropriate conditions or should I continue to focus on technique(s) until I am more comfortable?

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[jdaddy]

buck75 wrote:

Am I setting myself up for failure by not paying attention to hatches and appropriate conditions or should I continue to focus on technique(s) until I am more comfortable?

Thanks for any and all input!

Welcome aboard.

I think you are doing it EXACTLY right. And I mean EXACTLY right. So many folks get a bunch of gear and obsess over "what fly, what fly, what fly?" when it absolutely does not matter as they are approaching the stream spooking fish, casting poorly and getting poor drag filled drifts. I think we will all admit that the actual fly is almost an after thought to the more important items such as approach, drift, presentation, reading the water, etc.

 

[pete41]

I was a pretty darned good fly fisherman for 45 years if I say so myself[just did] but as far as I got bug wise was being able to recognize the general difference.stoneflies,mayflies,caddis,ants,crickets,grasshoppers etc..
"I think you are doing it EXACTLY right. And I mean EXACTLY right. So many folks get a bunch of gear and obsess over "what fly, what fly, what fly?" when it absolutely does not matter as they are approaching the stream spooking fish, casting poorly and getting poor drag filled drifts. I think we will all admit that the actual fly is almost an after thought to the more important items such as approach, drift, presentation, reading the water, etc."
I would say that JDADDY nailed it.

I suspect a lot of attention payed to bugs is compensation for lacking in stream craft-

"I didn't catch anything because I couldn't match the size 3/0 zebra striped palomino bed bug that they were rising to".

 

[Phish_On]

practice, practice, practice, patients. It will all come together with enough time on the water.

 

[PatriotFly26]

This may sound romantic.....Find your own approach to Fly Fishing. Take what you see it as, the mysticism, the awe, the wonder and throw that all out the window.

Those who have found their nirvana in fly fishing have not done it because it was the right way to go about doing it, it was THEIR way to go about doing it. That is part of the reason why I'm such a huge fan of this forum.

We don't have any fly Nazis coming around and saying that someones advice is wrong, because we have all experienced different things at different times, working in various occasions.

You are doing what you should be doing, don't let others make the meaning for you. Have your OWN approach to fly fishing.....Pardon me while I hop off my soap box.

Fish On!
~Hugh

 

[Yotrout]

Your doing it wrong.

Sorry it had to be done.

 

[buck75]

Thanks all, I appreciate all of the responses. I appreciate the time and will not hesitate to ask questions in the future.

Even the sarcastic response I had coming lol

 

[afishinado]

If you hand the same fly to a noobie and an experienced FFer, I will bet that the experienced FFer will catch fish while the noobie will struggle. The difference is technique. Load up with buggers, hares ears, pheasant tails, and princes for below the surface fishing. A few dries such as an Adams to imitate darker hatches and a sulpher or cahill in various sizes for lighter colored hatches will cover mayflies on top. Throw in a few caddis patterns and some beetles and ants, and you are covered for floating flies.

When fishing nymphs, work on getting a good drag-free drift. Be sure you have the right amount of tippet below with your (1.5 times the water depth) and add a little weight at a time until you begin to hit the bottom on your drift. Move your indy down a bit and you should be in the fish zone. Keep your casts short, keep as much line off the water as possible to avoid drag and learn to mend your line when it begins to drag the indy. Ditto for getting dry flies to drift naturally.

Also, wooly buggers are great flies to fish since they work with a dead drift, swing, hang, or strip.

Don't put your indy far up on the leader (figure 1 below) keep the thinner tippet in the water (figure 2) for a better drift and for better strike detection.

Good luck.

 

[Acristickid]

Have no idea of your situation but my advice for newer folks is to become an expert on your local water.

Get to know how to "read" the water, bud ID, how the water acts with different flows, etc... This way you learn without spending a ton of gas or time.

Best advice is to fish with an expereinced fly angler this will really cut down the learning curve.

Learning this type of stuff is valuable- you can take what you learn and apply it to any waters you fish. At the same time you should see an increase in your success. My learning curve was really measured in years rather than months or seasons even.

If an angler becomes frustrated with trout fishing- you might try fishing for some warm water fish- they are not as choosy and success will come much faster.

 

[BelAirSteve]

If you have the opportunity to fish a warm water stream for panfish, rockbass, etc., use that to work on you technique. It will help you learn to be aware of your surroundings for casting (trees) and you can work on presenting the fly properly. I spent my first season doing that and I think it paid off. The other advice I would give you is to fish with an experienced fly angler (like someone on this board) if the offer.

 

[Fishidiot]

BelAirSteve wrote:
If you have the opportunity to fish a warm water stream for panfish, rockbass, etc., use that to work on you technique. .

This is good advice, esp in the summer.

 

[buck75]

Hey all,

I don't mean to resurrect an old thread, but wanted to share a success story...

I was able to get out a few times to Clarks creek and practice in mid-April through ~Mid-May. I had no luck, but as I stated in the original post, I enjoy being outdoors and was practicing.

I hadn't gotten out at all since and finally had an opportunity to get my line wet, with an experienced buddy of mine. We met up and headed to Yellow Breeches around 630 on Wednesday night.

He wanted to see what he was dealing with in terms of what he'd have to teach me about fly-fishing. He asked me to cast before I tied on a fly. With my first cast, he turned to me and said, "I don't have to teach you ". I guess the practice had paid off somewhat.

In any case, I managed to land a small wild brown trout within a few minutes. I made him take a picture with his phone, to prove that I had actually caught something on a fly - lol. I was like a kid at a candy store - very excited. We worked a particular section and he was teaching me about proper mending, reading water, etc.

It was getting late ~9 pm or so and trout were rising all over, some of them rather aggressively splashing. My buddy moved downstream a bit and I was working an area in which we saw a semi-consistent rise and WHAM!! I hooked a 14" holdover brown trout. What a beautiful fish. Unfortunately, it was rather dark at this point and we didn't get a picture of this beauty.

Anywho, I'm happy to say that I've landed my first fish on flies and am looking forward to getting out there again... soon!!

Here is a pic of the wild brown - sorry for the long post.
Buck

 

[Fishidiot]

Buck,
Great to hear! Thanks for sharing. It's nice to see stories like this here on the Beginner's Forum in which new fly fishers - although sometimes frustrated - finally catch that first trout and the joy and sense of achievment that follows.

 

[Gorosaurus]

Excellent job! Your story mirrors mine in many ways. You can now rest assured that you know *enough* to catch fish. Let us know next time you are planning to hit one of these local streams and maybe I or someone else can catch up with you

 

[buck75]

Will certainly do!

 

[BelAirSteve]

Buck,

That's great. Keep it up. Like anything worth doing, it requires some work (if we can really call fly fishing "work.") When I first started, I called a day a success if I caught one fish, or sometimes if I even just saw a fish. I can tell you one thing...it definitely gets better.

I'll share one of my stories that is kind of like yours. I had started fly fishing and had not had a chance to fish with my brother, who had been fly fishing for 25 years. We got out to Big Fishing Creek and happened upon a pool of fish that were rising to some slate drakes. We were watching two fish, and after deciding how to approach them, he said "you go first." As I started casting, he said "Wow...you look like you have been doing this for 5 years." At the time I was a year in. On the third drift, the fish hit my adams parachute and I yelled "GOT HIM!" I landed what was, at the time, my largest wild trout to date, about a 13" brown. I could tell by the smile on his face that I had made my big brother proud.

He then proceeded to cast to the second fish and he landed that one. It was bigger that mine! That was two years ago, and that moment will be burned in my memories forever.

 

[csoult]

You're now hooked for life!

 

[Tups]

Congrats Buck. My first was a 6 inch brook trout on a grhe just below the dam at Millbrook on Fishing Creek (Columbia Co.). That was about 25 years ago. So, for the record, what did you finally catch him on? And, in the final analysis, do you feel it was the pattern or your presentation? Here's to your continued success.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

The only thing ive got to say other than get out there as much as possible is be confident with the stuff you learn while off the stream. Confidence is key to your game. If you go into a situation expecting the worst then you may not preform to the best of your ability.

It will come with time and practice but just get out there and fish!

 

[buck75]

I believe it was a BWO. Not sure if it was presentation, as when he hit it, the fly was sinking and just starting to swing towards a slate shelf. Either way, I'm "hooked". (Sorry, had to be done)

I find myself listening to Orvis podcasts on the way to/from work these days, trying to gather all of the information I can.

I'm going to try to head out early on Saturday morning, hopefully will see some morning action on the Yellow Breeches.