Anyone else Fly Fish?

[Gunpowder]

My son's 6th birthday is coming up so we celebrated today and bought him a tackle box and lures for his fishing pole.

I have been eyeing a fly fishing rig and decided to buy the el-cheapo Shakespear special at Wal-mart and a few flys and poppers. I have been trying to get back into hunting and fishing for years and hope the kids growing up will encourage me to take some time from my two jobs for some quality time.

Anyways, My brother tyed a few as a kid and I have thrown a fly line once or twice. I have severaql rods & reels and a huge tackle box and used to cut the ice to get the boat out early for Bass fishing years ago and even went fishing on my honeymoon renting a lake cottage so I am no stranger to fishing :whistling:

I fished on and off with the kids a few times the last two years but I decided that fly fishing might be an interesting way to reenter the action this year (Bass/Pan-Indiana)

Any hints or suggestions to start me off?

 

[Bond]

I love fly fishing. It's been a while since I've gone, but I would really like to go pretty soon. The world record brown trout came out of Arkansas on the Little Red River--although I've personally never caught a brown out of it! The trout action there can be pretty hot. Other than that I have done some fly-fishing for smallmouth wading the Upper White River with pretty good success. If you can find a good pond or lake with big bluegill, you can catch them all day. Bluegill are as much if not more fun to catch on a fly than trout. They aren't nearly as finicky and for their size they sure do put up a fight.

I used to get out in the yard and just cast without a fly when I was learning. It's a lot better to learn there than on the water! Just be patient with it. There will be knots and flies getting hung in trees and things like that. Go as often as you can and try to learn something every time out. Before you know it, you'll be casting quite well. Also,...don't forget to grab a few good sticks on the way out or you'll be kicking yourself!

 

[PetersCreek]

Welcome to the club, Gunpowder. I'm no master flyfisherman but I am a bit of a trout bum and tyer of flies in my own right. Most hints, suggestions, and opinions I would offer depend on the type of fishing you intend to do...but a few are more general.

If you're not too sure if fly fishing is for you, the "el-cheapo" outfits are okay just to get a taste...but if the bug bites you even just a little, you'll quickly become dissatisfied with their performance. If you find yourself becoming frustrated with your flyfishing skills, give careful consideration to the limitations of budget equipment.

To see if this is the case, you might try to find a good fly shop (if one is to be found in your area) and explain to them that you're a novice fly caster and you'd like to try a decent entry-level outfit. At my favorite fly shop, it's not unusual to see one of the staff out in the parking lot with a customer, trying out a rod. Even if you're not ready to buy it, at least you'll get a feel for the quality.

If you're not yet ready to go that far, at least take a look at the line system. In fact, if you think you'll stick with it for a while, consider ditching the stuff that came with your outfit as soon as you can. Even if you've got a fairly decent rod, a poor line system can make you want to chuck the whole thing. A pretty good weight-forward floating line like Cortland 444 will run about $30 or so.

Now, of all the places to save money, the end of your fly line is not the place to do it. For leaders and tippets, look for names like Rio, Orvis, or Dai-Riki, among others that won't likely be found at Walmart. Me, I'm a fan of furled leaders like those from Blue Sky. They're especially good at turning over larger, wind-resistant flies like streamers, poppers.

Definitely don't skimp on the tippet. A low-quality tippet on a great line and leader makes for a low-quality line system. If you bought a 6-weight outfit for panfish, I'm guessing you'll use 4x tippet most of the time...but it wouldn't hurt to have some 2x, 3x and 5x on hand, as well.

Man, I feel like I could write a book here. I may have even told you things you already know or could easily figure out. But that's my two cents for now. If I can help with any specific questions, just give a holler.

 

[siriusstoogie]

Salt and freshwater here...

 

[Castaway]

I love fly fishing...Lots of satisfaction in landing a fish on the long rod. :thumbs:

Some of those Indy farm ponds would be a good place to learn, IMHO.


For info, start with a forum Like this and then just work your way around the internet for the site that works for you.

 

[hectortmc]

I've been flyfishing and teaching flyfishing for almost 30 years and agree with Peters Creek. Go to a fly shop and check out what they have. They will let you cast the rods etc. As for leaders get a Cortland braided loop to put on the end of the fly line, then get some tappered leaders they have loops in them and a simple loop to loop connection will make it easy for you to get the leader ready to fish.Get a few size 4x,5x,6x leaders. They come in packs of three or singles. Your fly shop will have them, and this will save you alot of time and aggrevation when one is broken.Also Cortland makes a fly fishing kit with rod,reel line everything you need to get started.As far as flies and fly tying got to yor local tackle or fly shop. Support your local tackle shops they have their stuff together.for starters get a rod that will cast 5 or 6 weight fly line. if you need any other help contact me I'll be glad to help out.
Tight lines and sunny skies

 

[bshep714]

I mainly salt water fish but when I go freshwater I love to throw flys. The beautiful thing is a 1lb bluegill or 2lb bass seems like a really big deal on a fly rod plus being mostly topwater action it's more exiting. becarefull like all good things it can be an expensive obsession