I'm a spin fisherman now. I have a few buddies that have flyfishing experience. I'm trying to learn about the sport before I dive head first.
I followed the same path. Frankly, dive head first. There's a WHOLE lot to learn.
Don't get me wrong, there's a few skills you have that will translate. Reading water is the main one.
But other than that it's a whole new world and it'll be like you're picking up a fishing rod for the first time. Aside from the mechanics of fishing, you start learning about when and where different things are happening that you never even thought about. It's a fairly steep learning curve, and it may be years before you get back to the same success level you are used to.
So that's why I say dive in. If you take the approach that you're gonna stay a spin fisherman and dabble with the fly rod a bit, well, you aren't going to be very good with the fly rod. You're gonna get frustrated and go right back to the spinning rod. And that will never change until someday you decide to commit to the switch and accept that you're gonna take some lumps in the process.
So why would anyone do this?
1. The ceiling is a lot higher.
2. You never actually reach it.
Those lumps you need to take are the fun part!
When I spin fished, I'd toss live minnies or drift eggs, sometimes work a spinner. Mostly for stocked trout, which are all the same, nomatter where you go. I occasionally fished for wild trout, but still, I was trying to force feed fish to the way I fished. Basically induce a reactive strike. And it often worked. But I wasn't adjusting how I fish to what the fish are doing naturally.
Fly fishing changes all that. You're actually trying to match natural food items. Following hatches and thinking about how different conditions affect things.
You get your arse kicked, double down on figuring it out, and then you do. That's always satisfying. But then things change. That hatch ended, a new one began. Fish now feed in different places, at different times of the day, and you have a new challenge.
And hey, you heard this other stream has so and so hatch that's just awesome. So you go there. And now you're in a strange place that's totally different than anything you fished before. Another challenge.
You get better, meaning you figure things out quicker. At some point, years down the road, you recognize that you're now catching more fish than you did as a spin fisherman, catching fish out of places you'd have not even thought about casting before. But there's still challenges to figure out. You never plateau. Always more to learn, and you're always learning. That's the beauty of the sport. The fun is in getting better and it never ends.
