17 replies to this topic

[Rivermaniac]

New to fly fishing. Got my first outfit at basspro for a good price. I lugging a 9' 5 wt Hobbs creek. Got a few flies and some nymphs to start of with including tipper and a few leaders. I target mostly pan, smallies, largies and trout. I find that small mouth gives me a good run with my outfit per sae. But to my knowledge I haven't hit on trout as of a month of fly fishing.

How and why can't I catch any trout? I've been successful with the 3 mentioned above but I'm having a hard time not getting any bites. Maybe my technique still needs work ( practising roll cast and mending at the moment ) [attachment=14104:ImageUploadedByTapatalk1406073169.518925.jpg] I've cough this but I do t even know what species is this lol. This is my first season on the fly.

Edited by Rivermaniac, 22 July 2014 - 07:54 PM.

[ChasinTails]

hmm, i don't know much about trout but assuming their pretty similar to steelhead id try with something along the lines of a streamer? or a wolly bugger, toss them in slightly above a pool where you can see the current coming in and kind of swing it past the pool and do that a couple of times and when you think you've covered the pool move on

[Kit]

Is there trout around? Lol. Also you need to find out what the trout are feeding on. turn over some rocks and check out what insects are on the them. Of course with some homework you can figure out what they are. To the noobie id recommend you pick up some bead head nymphs in a size 16 keep em small. Cast it up in the current and let it drift along the bottom. keep an eye on your fly line where it meets your leader/tippet once you see it shake up and down or move quickly set the hook. 

 

Dry flies for the noobie can be hard to fish cause they need to look as natural as possible. Keep practicing your mending very critical when using a dry fly when you cast across fast water into a slow pool. 

[Kit]

Also if you plan to use that 5wt for bass pike etc you have to cast bigger flies and that rod is gonna have a hard time doing that. A 7-8wt rod you are going to need.

[IR4J]

Check out CRAtv, I have written two articles on basic fool proof trout tactics 

[Shawarma]

Kit asked the most important question: Are you fishing trout waters? 

 

Here's my advise as a new fly fisherman:

As much as i want to find big amazing trout waters and locations on my own, that's still a few steps away. Go to a known trout spot. There's plenty listed if you google it. Yes there's pressure, but it's ok, you're still learning and knowing there are trout there is something that you've checked off your list and don't need to worry about right away.

 

That done and out of the way, start with trying to read the waters and figure out what the rivers are doing. Let's assume you're on trout waters, where and what do you target? How are you deciding which spots to cast to? I bypass alot of areas because i automatically go into these modes:

1. Nah, too shallow, no way there's anything there.
2. Water is too fast in this area, no way this holds fish. 

Both of those scenarios on their own might be correct, but the thing is, you need to be able to pick apart any specific locations on a trout river. Don't just give it a quick glance and go into one of the modes i listed above. That fast moving water is causing the surface to break and it provides cover. So then, what is it breaking against? There's got to be some structure under it. Alright, so then we know from fishing behaviour in general that their preference isn't to just sit in open waters so. Target around those. But what do you target? Look at how that flow isn't necessarily moving at the same rates in the entire area. There will be slower moving waters in there.. try those spots. Look at where the bubbles on the surface are moving. There's a pretty good chance that anything floating, i.e. food, will also take that same path because that's just how things work. Float along with them bubbles and see what happens. Go a bit beyond and let the fly drift just outside of that zone and see what happens. Do the same thing on the inside, and see what happens. 

 

I know you mentioned you're practicing your roll cast and your mending and man, does that ever get mentally draining when you're picking apart every little detail of what you're doing. Pick a technique for an outting and work on that. Roll cast for the first hour or so, and you'll notice you don't even think about it anymore. When it goes wrong, pause for a second and think about what you did differently than previous casts that worked and adjust as required when that happens. 

 

Now, let's assume you have all of that down and you're reading the waters and can cast semi-well and in the general area that you wanted, what do you tie on? Like everything else in our fishing world, there are a ton of flies and slight variations of some and it's daunting. I have to disagree with Kit here on the caddis, as i found it was the easiest to cast, and didn't really require much to start. Now, i know because caddis are jittery and seem to hop around on the surface irratically might make it difficult to use them, but don't worry about that part as of yet. Can you cast them to where you want? Great. Concentrate on trying to get it where you want it to go. Wet flies i find are more difficult because i can't quite see what they're doing and I have a hard time adjusting to their behaviour because i'm not quite familiar with what the waters are doing to it and how fast it sinks. 

 

I tried the flipping over rocks part, and found alot of life, but i'll be damned if i knew what the hell i was looking at at the time. Again, information overload for a beginner, but it's important. Instead of going on the waters and then flipping rocks, use some hatch charts initially to get a sense of what's in the area. Look those up to see what they actually look like in their various stages so that when you see something you can attempt at guessing what it is. 

 

Here's another tip that i've found is worth it's letters in gold bars. I used to look up at passing by "things" and it didn't quite help me because, again, not entirely sure how to tell them apart by their flight patterns and how they skip on the water so, I found a great tip online that said, "stop looking up, and look down instead". If the fish are eating something on the surface, then that something will most likely be floating down river so look at the water for a minute and you're bound to find something floating. Start there with what to match.. pick it up, look at it, take your time trying to figure out what it is and what color and tie what you've decided will work on and go from there. 

 

The most important rule of all though that isn't often said, if you've picked out your spot, you have the right fly on, the next thing you need is to believe there's fish there. Don't doubt there's fish before you cast there a few times. Believe in what you're presenting, how it's being presented, and why you've picked that spot and enjoy your time on the water. You will have many days where everything is perfect, but the fish and snubbing you. Short of force feeding them by hand, they won't take any fly you give them. Such is fishing.

 

Tight lines.

[Kit]

Good advise man. I'll have to agree Caddis is easy to look natural. But not all places have a hatch of it. Flying ants, bees and grasshoppers are great to use around as well since they are mostly found close to water.

[Shawarma]

Gotcha. From that perspective, I completely agree with you  I guess i should've just said a dry fly in general. Then again that's just my method and what worked for me so adjustment is required - always. 

[Kit]

Haha. All good man.

[Rivermaniac]

Finally got to post. Had to wait 24 hr before I get to post a reply. Thanks for the great advise Shawarma and Kit.

@Shawarma - I do enjoy being in the water and don't mind getting skunked from time to time. It is a learning process cause it is my first season on the fly. I tend to cover the area thoroughly cause you never know what under the water. I had some sort of fish go through my legs a few times when I was wading mind me that I don't have waders yet or boots. I try to practice roll and mending every time I'm exploring. I find that the cast is one of the easiest to learn but hard to master. My first outing I had a few bird nest to take care of but hey who didn't when they first started right.

@Kit - I do have 4 types of flies that I think of needing. 2 of each; bead heads, dries, nymphs, and terrestrial. So that's what I'm starting. I did lose a bead head to a tree and a dry on some tall grass. But it happens.

Edited by Rivermaniac, 23 July 2014 - 07:59 PM.

[flyBones]

Great post by Shawarma.

 

When i started fishing, i was exactly the same thing.  WOuld spend hours and not get anything.

 

Highly recommended to read up and watch videos on reading water.  For any specific section of water, there's going to be areas worth spending time on and areas that are not.  It's all about being seeing what areas are likely to catch fish, putting some casts in there, and then moving on.

 

orvis has a good video series covering the basics

 

http://howtoflyfish....m/video-lessons

 

Remember that over millions of years of conditioning, predatory fish like to live in places where they have access to food but are protected.  That means the perfect spots are slow water that they can stay in which gives them protection, but also close to fast water where food are passing by.

 

Thus slow water beside fast water = seams.  Also pocket water behind large boulders, or the seams created by the slow water behind boulders as they meet the fast water flowing by.  Water under trees and log jams.  Anything that looks like you as a fish can hide in but still dart in and out to get food is perfect.

 

Lastly, i'm probably nymphing 80 percent of the time.  I'm never fishing at the time it seems that fish seem to be rising.  IF you don't see surface activity, you'd be practicing casting dry flies all day.  Fish eat subsurface 95 % of the time.  Use flies are that going to the bottom.  Use classic nymphs like pheasant tails, copper johns, hare's ears, prince, etc.  Get them down to the bottom.  Get yourself some smaller split shot.  Easier to play around w/ weight that way.  Keep indicator, if you are using one, 1.5-2x depth of water.  When you are starting off nymphing, indicator helps cause it gives you a good visual on whether or not drag is happening.

 

give it some time and you'll hit fish. the more you get out, the more you'll learn.  The challenge is the fun of it!

 

If you are ever interested in hitting some water that will for sure catch you some fish, PM me!

[Rivermaniac]

Check out CRAtv, I have written two articles on basic fool proof trout tactics

Great site. I passed and read a few articles that was posted there. Actually found that thru yetfish when I was looking for some flies.

[Rivermaniac]

Flybones - orvis has some good videos. I went and watch the whole video that they had on the site before I actually got my first outfit. I was going to grab their product for my first outfit but I wasn't going to blow my money if I didn't like the sport. It is on my next wish list of purchases in the future though.

[flyBones]

Flybones - orvis has some good videos. I went and watch the whole video that they had on the site before I actually got my first outfit. I was going to grab their product for my first outfit but I wasn't going to blow my money if I didn't like the sport. It is on my next wish list of purchases in the future though.

 

don't need much to start fly fishing... as like anything else you just accumulate stuff

 

started with 1 purchase off of kijiji for 2 rods and a reel for 300 bucks

 

2 years later i'm 4 rods & 4 reels in, with a scary amount of money spent... bit of a madness really

[Shawarma]

Definitely is an expensive addiction lol.

Flybones, what makes you choose a prince over hares ear over another nymph? Are you trying to match something out trying them all to see what hits that day? Or is this where flipping over rocks comes into play?

[HardcoreBrookTrouter]

New to fly fishing. Got my first outfit at basspro for a good price. I lugging a 9' 5 wt Hobbs creek. Got a few flies and some nymphs to start of with including tipper and a few leaders. I target mostly pan, smallies, largies and trout. I find that small mouth gives me a good run with my outfit per sae. But to my knowledge I haven't hit on trout as of a month of fly fishing.

How and why can't I catch any trout? I've been successful with the 3 mentioned above but I'm having a hard time not getting any bites. Maybe my technique still needs work ( practising roll cast and mending at the moment ) ImageUploadedByTapatalk1406073169.518925.jpg I've cough this but I do t even know what species is this lol. This is my first season on the fly.

Hey, I'm looking to get into fly fishing and I'm looking at the Hobbs creek outfit, do u like it? Also try I a hares eat nymph.

[Rivermaniac]

Hey, I'm looking to get into fly fishing and I'm looking at the Hobbs creek outfit, do u like it? Also try I a hares eat nymph.

I like it. It's a bit stiff from the start but once it's broken in it feels nice on the hands. I do have some hares nymphs in hand. But I will be looking to purchase a new one by the next season maybe a heavier wt.

[HardcoreBrookTrouter]

Ok thaxs