Newbie (been 15+ years since I fly-fished)

[BTRobertson]

Hi all. Name's Branden, I'm 36-years-old, and I live close to the West Newton trout pool on the Youghiogheny River, though I've never attempted to fly-fish there. Last year, while I was spin-fishing and catching nice rainbows, a couple of younger guys were below me (almost to the bridge) fly-fishing double-dropped nymphs and catching a couple of browns (I asked them what they were using because I've been wanting to get back into fly-fishing for some time).

Last year, my wife and I discovered Indian Creek up near Seven Springs and cleaned up using spinning tackle. It's a smaller stream and I don't know much about it, let alone any of the known hatches for it. I also want to fish the Loyalhanna and Mill Creeks in Ligonier, and Laurel Hill Creek a bit further up from Indian. I also know people who live near Dunbar, and I believe there's a fly-fishing only section near Glade Mills. Like I said, never fished any of these waters except Indian, and never with a fly rod.

I just purchased an Echo Edge 9' 5 wt. with a Cabela's Premier Plus reel (not sure what actual brand this reel is but it's got a nice disc drag system and reels silently) for 5-6 wt. line. I basically have the "standard" trout rig from all the reading I've been doing (it's exhausting me, to be honest...there's so much to learn and there's nothing like getting out on the water).

Long story even longer, I don't think there's a local fly shop within a half hour of where I live. Orvis just opened a shop near South Hills Village (Galleria Mall), and I see there's a shop in Washington, PA, which isn't far from me. I don't have any friends who fly-fish so I've just been reading and trying my best to get back into this with all the changes in technology. I consulted a few PA fly references, including Charlie Meck's book, and purchased a rather large fly selection that seems to be right on par with the moderator's recent post of the "Dirty Dozen." I also registered for not one, but two free fly-fishing classes - one in Swissvale on March 29th (local fly-fishing club) and one at the Orvis shop on May 10th. That should help with casting and putting some stuff into practice.

Anyone know if the Yough in West Newton is a good place to fly-fish, and if so, what hatches are good there in that riffle? I'm reading a book on how to read trout water and boy have I been fishing that spot wrong!! I've probably spooked more trout in that pool than I realized by wading too far out. One good thing: that spot, once the season wears on a couple of weeks, isn't as pressured, especially below the bridge, and is large enough to support false casting. Any advice would be appreciated for any of the streams I mentioned. I've been scouting them, walking them, reading the water as best I can, turning over rocks to see if I can figure out what insects are present, etc. It'd be awesome to have a mentor, but I know it's tough when you don't know peeps.

Thanks all. Sorry this is so lengthy, but now you have my basic reboot story in one spot.

 

[djs12354]

Welcome to the jungle!

 

[lv2nymph]

Well, one things for sure you're starting off on the right foot. I predict you'll be doing fine very soon. I don't know any of the places you've mentioned but wanted to say welcome aboard & back to ffing.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

Welcome to PAFF and back to the world of FF.

 

[pszy22]

Sounds like you are off to a great start. Your rod and reel are more than adequate. You have a big advantage over a true newbie, you have a good idea for the types of places fish hang out. That is 90% of the battle.

Regarding fly selection, if you see a lot of one thing or another on or in the water, tie on whatever you have that looks the closest to what you see.

If there is nothing obvious, my advice is to tie on a generic looking fly, something that looks a little bit like alot of different things. A good example is something like an elk hair caddis. Rather than spend alot of time changing flies, concentrate on trying some different presentations. Fish your fly with a dead drift, no hits, let your fly get pulled by the current and drag across the surface, first at a slow pace, then as fast as you can make it go. Now let the fly sink under the surface and swing it some more. Let it hang directly downstream from you and twitch it. You get the general idea.

Most important, have fun!

 

[Fishidiot]

Welcome Brandon.

The Yough can be fly fished its entire length, although some areas are better fished by boat. Also, don't write off the river as a bass fishery. The lower Yough is a world class smallmouth bass river and you can target them with your fly rod as well. During the warmer months of summer you can have great fun using poppers for bass. It's easy to learn and bass are great fighters.

Stick around here. Continue to ask questions here in the Beginner's forum (specific questions are easier for us to answer) and enjoy our online community. We talk fly fishing (FFing) 24-7.

 

[mario66pens]

I hammer smallmouth on the fly in that run right below the bridge in west newton (my sister lives there) PM me, I'm pretty familiar with the streams you listed.


There is a good grannom caddis hatch I have fished there (around mid april)

Size 14-16 Partridge and Peacock soft hackle or Elk Hair caddis with a dark body works well.

Adams and Lt Cahills in sizes 12-20 will cover you for the mayflies for sw pa (for the most part)

When FF the yough DO NOT FORGET YOUR HELLGRAMMITE PATTERNS!

(A Wolly Bugger works fine)

 

[BTRobertson]

Thanks all. I appreciate the welcome and the advice for the Yough. Mario66Pens, I'll PM you and thanks for that specific advice for the WN pool. I just ordered a huge pack of flies tailored for eastern PA and it includes a lot of the flies mentioned, which is cool. The assortment also includes several types and sizes of streamers.

Also, here's a forum-related question: is there a way to add a notification for replies to threads I participate in and/or create? Thanks again.

 

[laszlo]

Sounds like you're an accomplished spin fisherman and fly fishing is a whole other world. My advise would be to hitch up with a guide. It would save countless hours of trial and error and advance you into the fly fishing world that much faster.

 

[pcray1231]

Sounds like you're an accomplished spin fisherman and fly fishing is a whole other world.

It is, and it isn't. The learning curve is shorter for an accomplished spin fisherman.

Most of the reading water, stream conditions, etc. applies to both, albeit we are ALL always getting better at these things. What really changed this for me was a switch from mostly stockies to mostly wilds, not spin to fly.

The first new real hurdle is basic casting. After that, getting drag free drifts on dry flies, and being able to get nymphs and streamers deep enough (that's easier with a spinning rod and more weight, but once learned, you get better presentation with fly gear on account of having less weight).

 

[BTRobertson]

It's actually kind of interesting because I've been watching how to dead drift nymphs, and the techniques are not unlike what I do as a spin-fisherman: keep as much line off the water as possible with the rod tip high, point the rod tip at the jig as it flows downstream (I mostly dead drifted butterworms last year, and trout love them), lower the tip as it goes past you to increase the drift, etc.

Honestly, the biggest hurdle for me will be patience: positioning, targeting the cast right, drag-free drifting, knowing how and when to mend, how to do the various types of casts given the circumstances, and changing rigs with all the various knots you need to know (spin-fisherman basically only need to know one important knot...the cinch). That's where I'll be tested. It's more than reading a stream, which I already know how to do. Gathering bugs and trying to match them up with what I have in my fly box, or when to move on from a pool when the fish won't take anything I have will be additional challenges. That will all come with experience. Part of the reason I gave it up a long time ago was I was way too young and impatient, and did a lot of things wrong that meant I spent a lot of time casting with ZERO results. Plus, I'd switch over to my spin rig and nail them, so my motivation to stick with the difficulty of fly-fishing (difficulty with patience, in truth) was lax.

I caught a single small trout once on a fly rod. It was early morning and for the life of me I can't remember where the stream was, just know it was in PA. I cast a Quill Gordon, I think it was, into a backwater eddy with swirling bubbles and I saw the trout rise. Never caught another one all day because I had no clue what I was doing - no guide, no mentor, no fly shop nearby, nothing. Set myself up for failure and catching that lone trout I realize now was sheer blind and dumb luck. But I'll never forget it. I want more of that.