Just some pics from this past spring.

[steveo27]

This summer marks 1 year that Ive been fly fishing. Ive spent all my life spin fishing and finally took the plunge and gave fly fishing a try.

I feel like Ive finally got the hang of things and everything is starting to click and make sense to me.

Last summer, I only caught one trout on a fly rod. Kinda disappointing and discouraging, but I didnt give up.

Over winter, I did A LOT of reading and research. I even started tying some basic flies just to get a better understanding - wooly buggers, glo bugs, green weenies, ants, sucker spawns, ect.

In the spring, I decided to start fresh. I ditched my 7'6" 3w Cabelas outfit for a 9' 5w Orvis Clearwater. Its amazing how much easier casting was with the Clearwater.

Anyways, long story short, this past spring has been exponentially better than I could have ever imagined so I figured Id drop by and share some pictures.

This was the first fish I caught on a fly I tied, He took a black dubbing ant.

This was the first trout I caught on a fly I tied. He took a clown egg.

This spring, I introduced my buddy to fly fishing so Id have some one to fish with when my girlfriend didnt want to go. Hes come on a few trips with me so far.


A few weeks back, we fished the lower DHALO section of Laurel Hill.

It was pretty decent day. They were feeding on a wide variety of flies - BWOs, foam ants, hairs ears, and green weenies. One of the above fish was my first trout on a nymph.


We finally made the trek out to check out the Little J a few weeks back. Didnt really know what to expect. Never fished for wild trout before and didnt really have much an idea of where to fish. It was more of an exploration trip.

My buddy ended up hooking a little brown on a BWO -

It was the only fish all day.


During the week, we fish a lot of local streams around here - Deer Creek, Buffalo Creek, Turtle Creek, ect. Weve had some pretty good luck locally.

When we arent fishing streams for trout, we spend a lot of time chasing pan fish and bass in local lakes -

Last Sunday, we fished the upper DHALO on Laurel Hill in the rainstorm and hooked into a few more fish -

Thanks for checking out my story and pictures. Im looking forward to being able to share some more here shortly.

Cheers

 

[McSneek]

Nice photos and nice to read about your evolution as a fly fisherman. Some of those stocked bows are nice looking fish. The bass and 'gills on a fly rod are loads of fun too.

 

[J55tyger88]

^Agreed^ Its fun going back through pics and taking a hop down memory lane. Nice job!

 

[bigslackwater]

Very nice post! The progress is outlined nicely. You've come a long way.

 

[MD_Gene]

Thanks for the post. Your words brought me back to my first trip to Penns Creek to try and catch wild fish. I too had success and it really got me hooked. I used sulphur's, caddis, and PT nymphs.

 

[steveo27]

Thanks guys.

This forum has helped a lot. I love reading and learning as much as I can, and this place has been excellent for this.

Western PA has been an awesome place to learn to catch stocked free stone fish on the fly

I hope to learn enough to start successfully chase wild trout soon. Unfortunately, its kind of a haul to get to (what I understand to be) awesome wild trout waters.

CHeers