New to flyfishing

[amycuz]

Bought a nice fly rod (Browning), tried it out a couple of years ago on the Red Deer. Never caught a fish (I understand it takes practice, but I lost patience).

I want to try it again on the Bow, but for the life of me I can't remember how the whole tippet thing goes.

My fly line has the initial leader line on it, but it's still pretty thick. I bought 4lb leader line, but I'm afraid it's too big of a jump. I'm also not sure if the 4lb leader is the correct size for the tip. (For some reason the term "tippet" sounds familiar here).

Does leader line float? Does a beed head nimph automatically sink?

Any help would be appreciated.

[jrs]

If your wondering, you usually tie a short length of the light tippet on the end (i usually do 20'' but its personel preference). The fly you mentioned is a nymph and should sink. You may want to consider a strike indicator (serves as a bobber, ask at wholesale and they'll fix you up). I would actually reccomend a little heavier tippet for nymph fishing (or streamers if your on the bow). 6 lb line will give you a bit more pull but is still hard for fish to see.
In the end your setup should be 4-6ft of mono with lightest line on end. Nymph sinks and you either watch for the line to move or for a strike indicator to stop or go down.

Hope that helps, good luck to you.

[Scott N]

I fish the Bow quite a bit and it's a great river to fish... lots of BIG trout. I would also have to say that it's probably not the best river for a beginning fly fisherperson unless you go with someone who can show you a few tips. It's a big river and it's hard to read unless you know what you're looking for.

The normal set up for nymph fishing the Bow is usually a floating line and about 9 feet of leader. I would recommend 8 pound test for your leader. Once your leader starts to get short you can add more tippet to your line. You'll need to add some split shot for weight on the Bow because the fish will normally be hugging the bottom of the river. Most guys use a double nymph set up on the Bow. I like to use a copper wire San Juan worm instead of split shot for weight and a smaller nymph such as a pheasant tail nymph or gold ribbed hare's ear. Like jrs has already mentioned, a strike indicator is normally used. I should also add that "mending" your line is important because you want your fly to bounce along the bottom freely, not be dragged by your fly line.

You can tell if you're fishing the bottom of the river if you get hung up on the bottom fairly frequently. Not snagged, but you want your strike indicator to go down often. It will either be the bottom or a fish.

The Bow offers some amazing fish, but you might find that your patience is tested again on it unless you know what you're doing. My suggestion would be to try and hook up with a seasoned fly fisherperson, or even consider hiring a guide. I took a guided trip a number of years ago and it was one of the best investments that I made to learn more about fly fishing.

[amycuz]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll try tomorrow. Just a question though,fly fishing with split shot seems like a very foreign idea to me. Just small ones, and how far up?

Thanks again.

[newbie]

Have a visit to this site. Has a section for newbies and people are eager to answer your questions.

www.flyfishalberta.com/boards/ (http://www.flyfishalberta.com/boards/)