Got a fly rod, now what...

[leeaspell]

Was walking around crappy tire and seen a fly rod package. Only $50 so I know it ain't the best but figured I'd grab it. So got home, watched some videos and practiced in the back yard. Got the basics of casting down but have no idea on what king of flies to use. Planning on trout and grayling to begin. Any tips or tricks for a fly fishing virgin.

Anyone done any fly fishing around whitecourt?

[fish gunner]

wade in to knee deep water, start flailing. after a few hundred hours of undoing tangle practice. you can then start to practice removing hook from trees, grass, fence some times your self. one day many many years from now you will have learned how to cast, then you can start to understand the ten million flies. hopefully one time in the far far future the stars will be in alignment and you will hook a fish which you will promptly lose due to your inexperienced actual dealing with a fish on a fly rod. jk welcome to the quite (humbling ) addition.

[leeaspell]

That's actually how I pictured it going. Lots of flies left in trees lol

[BGSH]

Pheasant tail Nymph.
CDC Emerger
these are great flies, give the a try if you have floating line.

[quiteeye]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

wade in to knee deep water, start flailing. after a few hundred hours of undoing tangle practice. you can then start to practice removing hook from trees, grass, fence some times your self. one day many many years from now you will have learned how to cast, then you can start to understand the ten million flies. hopefully one time in the far far future the stars will be in alignment and you will hook a fish which you will promptly lose due to your inexperienced actual dealing with a fish on a fly rod. jk welcome to the quite (humbling ) addition.

That's really funny! But um, get 40 - 60 file try get a couple of each size and color start with basics nymphs, bead head nymphs, maybe streamers and stimulators. All depends on target! I don't know much about grayling. I'm going this weekend. For bows I fish them under the surface for the most part. Even emerges work well and have caught a couple on flies I don't even know the names of. I got into fly fishing in April of this year. No doubtingly caught over 300 fish on it since. Lol Northerns & rainbows. It's easy to get the hang of it when you fish every day

[leeaspell]

I got floating line. I didn't even know there was sinking line lol. That's how ignorant i am to fly fishing. I tried watching a fly fishing show to learn some stuff, but it was Mariko Izumi, so i was more watching her than the fishing lol

[fish gunner]

first you have to work on line tangles, before you can get a fly to travel far enough to snag a tree. jk. start small at stocked trout pond or on a slow open stream. only fish with the wind blowing the line to your strong side L-R for a right handed person. start practicing with a reasonably large dry fly with the hook broke off. work on casts of maybe 20' trying to maintain a consistent loop and casting stroke. in time you will work out how to change your cast timing to gain distance. if you plan to fish small streams, accuracy will be the skill you will have to work on most. a good stream fishermen may never cast more than 30',yet be able to place his fly on a dinner plate 80-90% of the time. a lake oriented caster may hit 50-60 ' in unfavorable winds and be capable of hitting say a car hood every time (allowing for some error due to the distance.) the best tip I received, get a yarn rod for practice in the house or garage.

[fish gunner]

whoopsy

[leeaspell]

What's a yarn rod?

[fish gunner]

they actually make such a thing. I suggest the top section of an old rod. wrap some medical tape a hands width to the bottom. then attach 6-8' of bright yarn to the bottom most eye . run the yarn through the eyes. presto one indoor fly rod for practice. lots of vids on you tube, giving better discription. this will help you understand timing, loop control, the fast stop,pause,drive,fast stop. 10 and 2 ,10 and 2. getting late, will return to thread on the morrow.

[Bigtoad]

Go to the Orvis site here: http://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/ and snoop around. Not only does it discuss technique, but it also talks about bugs and flies that mimic them.

Good luck. Stick with it and enjoy the addiction.

Cheers.

[densa44]

You are getting the voice of experience here for sure.

Casting is NOT a killer that you might think. If your line floats, and the rod is "stiff" a roll cast will get you going. My grand father always said that careful wading was more important than casting.

Pick a fly that you can see, a dry one that will float on its own, like an elk hair caddis. Buy new flys slowly, you'll get very good advice here what works and where. If you want to try tying them, it is not too hard and a cool hobby,

This site has a number of experts in both fishing and tying.

I glad you are joining the club.

[mikeym]

lots of great streams up around Whitecourt.

two of my favourite streams are the Little Smoky by Fox Creek and The Freeman by Swan Hills. great grayling streams and great places to learn to fly fish on. the grayling are fairly accomadating to take just about anything thrown at them and if you hit it just right and use the correct fly, 50 - 100 fish days are the norm.

on the Little Smoky, go to the second bridge and fish around the bridge. mostly lots of smaller grayling and whites around the bridge, but is usually a good place to get your feet wet. good holes and riffles both up and downstream from the bridge if you get the urge to explore a bit. usually a few people at these bridges also and most of them are willing to help out a newbie with selection and techniques if you ask nicely.

welcome to the club, before you know it you will be plunking down money for a bettter rod and reel, waders, boots, vest, hat, float tube, and a million little gadget that have no real purpose other then to separate you from your money.

Mike

[sanjuanworm]

Grab some books on casting and fly fishing. Orvis makes a good one. I taught myself how to flyfish, you can too.

[Okotokian]

Go into the closest fly fishing shop. Tell them where you are fishing and for what. Ask them to set you up with a fly box or two and the most common wet and dry flies that work around your area. They will know. Ask them in what conditions to fish the different sorts of flies.

You will also want:
-leaders and tippet (and learn the knots to tie them. Look online)
-some strike indicators (like floats) and small splitshot weights

A vest is nice for holding everything, but not absolutely required. Waders and boot only really required in colder water and conditions. Most of the summer I fish in shorts and old running shoes.

And take a lesson if you can. They are aften offered through fly shops and are pretty cheap and very useful.

[FlareKing]

Originally Posted by leeaspell

What's a yarn rod?

I got mine with a instructional vid I ordered from New Zeland I got this past winter. I have decided to make myself use my fly rod from here on out.

[Speckle55]

Google Flyfishing Trout and video's..or watch u-tube ..go to your local library and get Still Water Flyfishing video by Brian Chan or others if they don,t have they can get from others by ordering it in..

Welcome to Flyfishing
David

[Ken07AOVette]

WEAR GLASSES

and ear muffs if you are practising with barbed hooks

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

WEAR GLASSES

and ear muffs if you are practising with barbed hooks

I recommend full body armour (including a helmet)....the back of your head has a hook magnet don-cha-know.....

LC

[densa44]

They are called wind knots, they are overhand knots that appear mysteriously in your leader. Don't ignore them, take them out asap.

Have fun.

[ericlin0122]

forget about the small nymph flies. Get you self a dozen of size 8 SJW, size BB none-removable split shot, couple medium size thing-a-ma bobber. Now all you have to do is learn how to nymph.

[Crossfire]

All depending upon what fish you plan to target, for trout my go to fly is a #12 prince nymph fished under an indicator pheasant tails is also an excellant choice there is no end to the amount of flies one can have so you just have to experiment a wooly bugger is also a trout favorite! if you are targeting pike use larger size streamers like zonkers and leaches! good luck

[greylynx]

Originally Posted by FlareKing

I got mine with a instructional vid I ordered from New Zeland I got this past winter. I have decided to make myself use my fly rod from here on out.

What are two colours of wool used for?

Are you able to see your loops form a little better with the different color.

Thanks

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by greylynx

What are two colours of wool used for?

Are you able to see your loops form a little better with the different color.

Thanks

I would think one is the line and the other is the leader.

After reading all of this, I think I'll take up golf!

BW

[oizo]

Go into the sporting store just off main drag believe it's called "Al's". Went once looking for the backroads map book, and found him pretty helpful and he he also had a decent selection of locally tied flies. I'm sure he would show you a few that would work well.
The whitecourt trout pond would be a decent place to start, and work on your casting, not a ton of trees to worry about on your back cast. But freeman and little smoky are great fisheries. I've only fished either of them later season, and at that time are the perfect rivers for beginners. Twice I've brought friends for there first ever fly fishing trip and each time they caught 30+ fish.
As for flys royal coachmans, mcguinty's (bumblebee looking wet fly) were the top producers for me in that neck of the woods. And we're purchased at Al's. Stimulators, elk hair caddis, renegades and Griffiths gnats all did fairly well also. As well on the little smokey get some streamers like wooly buggers, double bunnys, and the like for a chance to hook into some nice bull trout.

Best of luck
Oizo

[FlareKing]

Originally Posted by greylynx

What are two colours of wool used for?

Are you able to see your loops form a little better with the different color.

Thanks

The redder stuff is more a cord then yarn, the orangish yellow in yarn. There is a doubled over section then a single section on the end. ie. line, leader, tippet

[leeaspell]

Originally Posted by mikeym

lots of great streams up around Whitecourt.

two of my favourite streams are the Little Smoky by Fox Creek and The Freeman by Swan Hills. great grayling streams and great places to learn to fly fish on. the grayling are fairly accomadating to take just about anything thrown at them and if you hit it just right and use the correct fly, 50 - 100 fish days are the norm.

on the Little Smoky, go to the second bridge and fish around the bridge. mostly lots of smaller grayling and whites around the bridge, but is usually a good place to get your feet wet. good holes and riffles both up and downstream from the bridge if you get the urge to explore a bit. usually a few people at these bridges also and most of them are willing to help out a newbie with selection and techniques if you ask nicely.

welcome to the club, before you know it you will be plunking down money for a bettter rod and reel, waders, boots, vest, hat, float tube, and a million little gadget that have no real purpose other then to separate you from your money.

Mike

When you say the second bridge, do you mean in the town of little smokey, or down the big stone road around km 45 or so. I see lots of people fishing there every time I work down there.

[e40water12]

I am new to fly fishing as well. Ive been practicing trout ponds back yard. Ive caught 3 fish on the fly rod. Just have to findout what kind of flies are useful for the targeting the fish. Also the big part is making the fly presentable to attract the fish to take the fly. Just take your time, And enjoy the learning process.

Good Luck.

[Alberta Bigbore]

Head down BigStone road to the LSR, OMG so jealous you live so close to the LSR.

[mikeym]

When you say the second bridge, do you mean in the town of little smokey, or down the big stone road around km 45 or so. I see lots of people fishing there every time I work down there.

yes down the big stone road (can never remember the name of the road, that is why i didn't mention it.)

lots of people fish there as it is productive, but usually if you follow proper etiquite you will always find a good spot there to fish. and if you don't mind hiking, going up or downstream from there usually gets you away from the crowds and you can have the river to yourself.

Rgds
Mike