First Time Fly Fishing

[CraigJ]

I went for my first attempt at fly fishing this past weekend to Dewitt Pond and had a blast. I took my kids with me, who were spin casting, catching weeds, and loving every minute. I took my fly rod to try some casting on real water. I did not expect to catch anything, i just wanted to put some line on the water for the very first time. A short while into out trip, my one kid complains about the bugs flying around him and asks to switch spots, which I do. At first I don't notice any bugs but shortly after I get swarmed. I think to myself I may have to move spots but stop and say to myself 'hey there are bugs, i should switch to a dry fly' and I do. While switching out flies my kids start yelling about some jumping fish. I look and sure enough 2 jump less than 3' from shore. I put my dry 2' from shore and not 2 minutes later a fish takes the fly. I was so surprised that I was not able to set the hook in time. I put the fly down in roughly the same spot and have 2 more takes in less than 5 minutes. It was so exciting, I felt like I was the same age as my kids. No fish were caught but we all had a blast. I can't wait to get out there again.

[goldscud]

Let the fun begin

[Spencer97]

No better feeling than pulling one in on the fly rod.
When you need to replenish your fly supply I'd recommend Icky Fly Works, way cheaper than Cabelas/Wholesale and ships quick.

[CanadianEh]

Great Yoda meme.. Truth.


Don't hesitate to go into the local fly shops either.. Fish tales is closest to me, and all of the staff there are great, including the owners. They will help with sage advice and good flies to try out.

Troutfitters downtown, and iron bow up north are also excellent shops to try.

Tight lines!

[Don Andersen]

Do not get twisted off on Fly Fishing.
Damned expensive.
Better of taking up jet boat racing.

Don

[Helgs28]

When I first started on the fly, I can't tell you how many times I'd swat at the bugs coming off the water flying around me. Took me a while to remember that they're kinda important!

[CraigJ]

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

Great Yoda meme.. Truth.


Don't hesitate to go into the local fly shops either.. Fish tales is closest to me, and all of the staff there are great, including the owners. They will help with sage advice and good flies to try out.

Troutfitters downtown, and iron bow up north are also excellent shops to try.

Tight lines!

The Fishing Hole is right near me, and they have been a great bunch of guys to go an chat with. I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time in there.

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Do not get twisted off on Fly Fishing.
Damned expensive.
Better of taking up jet boat racing.

Don

I'd say the Trout Highway book you sold me a little bit ago laid the ground work, and this past weekend confirmed it, I'm 'hooked' on fly fishing.

Originally Posted by Helgs28

I second that. Icky Fly Works is the place to go. They often throw in a few bonus flies too.

I was actually using a fly from Icky Fly Works. They seem like a great fly vendor.

Originally Posted by lds

Not sure how you were setting the hook but little fish are a delicate hook set. Don't use the rod but just a little hook set by stripping line and then when it's set you can play the fish with your rod. It's a hard habit to change a spin caster hook set. Hope you can land one next time. Awesome job anyways.

That is a great idea to set the hook by stripping. I had no real chance to hook the fish anyway, my leader was coiled like a slinky. I had not picked up a leader straightener yet (got one now), so when i did try to set the hook I had to get through the 9' leader that was coiled to 3' first.

[Helgs28]

Originally Posted by Spencer97

No better feeling than pulling one in on the fly rod.
When you need to replenish your fly supply I'd recommend Icky Fly Works, way cheaper than Cabelas/Wholesale and ships quick.

I second that. Icky Fly Works is the place to go. They often throw in a few bonus flies too.

[JReed]

Damn, sounds like a pretty lucky first time. I think I went 20 times on the bow before even getting a take, in a spot that I could clearly see rising trout.

Great lesson to be learned from your situation, and this goes for lakes and streams........you don't need to be in the middle/deep part of the water body to catch fish. Most of the fish are a lot closer to the shore than you think.

Congrats! Welcome to the addiction and long winters dreaming about rising trout.

[lds]

Not sure how you were setting the hook but little fish are a delicate hook set. Don't use the rod but just a little hook set by stripping line and then when it's set you can play the fish with your rod. It's a hard habit to change a spin caster hook set. Hope you can land one next time. Awesome job anyways.