Thinking of trying to Fly Fish …

Well, it’s been near 2 years of full-time fly fishing for me. Fishing, tying, reading, casting, learning, frustration, excitement, never distress or regret, pain - lots to do, and lots more that can be done. I’ve found that for some reason or other, it seems that fly fishers take the interest in their quarry further than that of bait and gear crowds. Many fly fishers delve into the topics of aquatic ecology, hydrology, entomology, hatches, climate effects. Others, go on the try-this, try-that or the ‘that-worked-before’ approach. There are so many directions fly fishing can take you, but is it hard … heck no?

To the newcomer – remember – IT’S NOT HARD, it’s not complicated, and it’s not solely for the elite as its stereotypical impression is made out. If you start reading all the different directions of information there is, and then you try to make sense of all that information – it’s sure to drive you over the edge. So just don’t do it – take it at face value, as a yellow post-it note on your brain. If you really have to, and I mean where you REALLY, REALLY have to understand – where you’re at the mental institute’s front door – you can try, ask someone. But if you can hold off for a short spell, keep an open mind, all those post-it notes will fall into place. More likely than not, it will be one big avalanche of dawning comprehension. It may also cause you to ponder at all the relentless ones who built fly fishing up to be an art form, difficult, for the elite ……. anything other than what it really is – another means of hooking and landing a fish. If you look at it, aside of equipment, all other information is applicable and can be used by any and all means of fishing. It’s just, that for the most part, the others don’t use as much information as a fly fisher.

Is there a road map as to the best way to tackle fly fishing, to get started and get going ……. simply put, no. You’ll need a fly rod, reel, backing, fly line, leader and tippet, figure out how to tie a couple knots, add on a fly and your set to go fly fishing. Go – get out there and fly fish. YES – that’s all there is to it – go fish. See, it’s not hard is it ?

OK, you can stop reading – honestly. Stop; gather your equipment and go fishing . . . . . . . read on if you think you must. Don’t get confused or disoriented though – if you do – re-read the above and go fly fishing.

Here’s a couple items and tidbits that will definitely help :

Well, the first thing is that you can’t cast … yes – that is a huge drawback that has likely cost many a prospective fly fishermen to quit. In terms that I can simply put it – pull about 15 feet of fly line out, and cast once - feel the line pulling on the fly rod. As you cast the line, it pulls to a point and then falls off. Just before it starts to fall off, cast in the opposite direction, repeat. When comfortable with this – let a bit of line out every now and then when the line pulls on the rod. You’re not dumb, you’ll figure out when to let it out. After a while, you’ll try minor different things to improve your casting. Try one at a time, so you know what’s happening. A bit of advice – think of taking lessons – much worth the aggravation and despair you’ll go through teaching yourself. There’s a few good level heads here about that can easily teach you.

The second thing flies – what flies to use ………… not hard at all. Match your fly to the bugs in the neighborhood, minnow patterns, or something off the wall. Give it a try, don’t work – try something else. It’s not that hard.

There you are – fly fishing. As putting dill in a pickle jar – IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

You’re fly fishing – GREAT STUFF – see, not difficult at all is it . . . . . . . what – what’s that info below – well, its further tidbits to help you catch more fish ….. or catch fish more often – you don’t want to do that ……. do you ….. use the above information and GO FLY FISHING – IT’s NOT HARD.

What – you do ? OK – the above will get you going, even catching fish – but you want to catch more fish ….……… you just might want to read a tad more. CAUTION : Here is where you stand on the chasm’s edge of chaos, where any one little nudge, brain fart or side-ways look will push you over the edge and …. you’re lost. Well, not really, but most fly fishermen that have delved deeper into the spider web of information that can be drawn into use, is never really quite the same after a spell. They become …. back yard entomologists (bug guys), hydrological engineers (human beavers), and more surprising (even about myself) – giving a bigger damn about the negative impacts that humans leave on the environment. Worse – you become an amicable ear bending person who will share the ‘fly of the day’, help the next one along, put your 2-bits in when you can. Yeah – dammit – fly fishers are like that – they actually openly share info – what works, what doesn’t ……. Go figure.

You’re digging deeper and deeper into this chasm, looking for more information that will help land more fish. But … where do you start, which area do you pick on first to expand your knowledge base, so you might catch more fish. The options are plentiful, and everyone will have their opinion. Me, I figure, start with the common denominator – water (hydrology). Find out and watch how it flows over objects, around objects, temperature changes throughout the water, upstream, downstream. Figure out what pools, riffles, seams, backwater eddies and all that other stuff is. Figure out how water carries objects – on the surface, just under the surface, completely suspended within, or along the bottom of a stream, or along a bank. The water holds the fish, and carries the food that the fish eat. How, when, where, why and all that about water flow (or still water) plays an important part of where to place your fly.

Next, I’d say, learn your prey – what are you fishing for. Manitoba has 90-some-odd species of fish … ok, you can’t be expected to know each individual one, you’re not going to be pursuing each one (or … are you). I hate to restrict myself to just a few species, but to save sanity, you nearly have to. The short of it is – a fish, is a fish, is a fish. Whether your gear fishing, bait fishing, spinning, jigging, or casting a fly – you want the fish to eat what you offer – as we’re fly fishing … EAT MY FLY. Fish are opportunistic feeders, for the most. Sure some cruise for food, but almost all will take food if its offered up in front of their noses properly. But learning about your specific fish will tell you what type of food they prefer, and where in the water you are likely to find them. Also, knowing your prey will tell you where about in the water they are. Are they holding behind a rock, undercut, by a seam, head or tail waters of a pool … where? Knowing what they prefer, you choose appropriate fly, offer that fly appropriately, and ……….. just maybe it’ll be taken.

There you go … more fish. Hey – learning is great, reaping rewards and all. IT’S NOT HARD – is it? More info, yes – hard – nope.

Expand on. Get into entomology, if you generally know the water type (fast / slow, freestone / sedimentary) you’ll figure out what type of bugs to expect. Knowing that will shrink the fly quantities you carry along (maybe). You’ll know what fly pattern relates to what bug, at what stage of its life. Merge this up with the fish, and by a fishes rise (splash, slurp or bulge) you’ll be able to figure out what fly to use. The mayfly is emerging, knowing this, and how it is carried through the water, by the water. Knowing your fish, you know the fish is holding there or there … your field of casting is greatly reduced.

OR - Get into tying your own flies – or not. Tying isn’t for everyone. Don’t get dismayed – it’s not an art or a craft, it’s just taking different materials, and with a few basic applications, you attach the material to a hook. Spin hair, dub fur, palmer hackle, tie, trim, cement, etc., etc., etc.,. Any ham-fisted person can tie flies, down to whatever size they wish – past size 16 though, I’d say eyesight is more the hindrance than fat-mitts. My hands are farm hands, working hands, hands of Ukrainian and German heritage. Not huge hands, but hands definitely not for twiddling about with itsy-bitsy hooks and stuff. But you know – I can tie a #18 parachute hares ear – and it works great. IT’S NOT HARD.

OR … refine all the above, delve deeper into casting techniques. Everyone has their own casting technique – no two people cast the same. But different methods and practices exist that you can expand on. You can also search out more information on line and leader construction. Make your own leaders from different strength’s of mono. Splice different fly lines together to play around. Go dig a little more into the lives and habits of the fish you chase. Figure out the different orders, families, and species of bugs in the area, where they live, pupate, case, winter. If you’re into tying, get a little fancier with what you’re tying, collect specimens and replicate them on a hook. Go to a river, no rod in hand (gasp!) and read the water, see the structure within it. And if it’s a shallow stream, walk it to find out if you were right.

See, overall – IT’S NOT HARD. A lot of information from a lot of different directions. There’s more directions for information for one to take off with, but the above should give you an idea that fly fishing IS NOT HARD –we generally tend to use a lot of information to put to use within our …. Sport, hobby, past time, obsession, habit …. But, IT’S NOT HARD.

My 3 tidbits of advice :

Eat pie.

Fish can see and hear.

Fish’s brains are the size of a pea (or smaller).

And to end it all – here’s a few of my favorite quotes I’ve come across. To me, they seem to wrap up fly fishing nicely.

Darrell Myskiw

"I look into ... my fly box, and think about all the elements I should consider in choosing the perfect fly: water temperature, what stage of development the bugs are in, what the fish are eating right now. Then I remember what a guide told me. 'Ninety percent of what a trout eats is brown and fuzzy and about five-eighths of an inch long.'" Allison Moir "Love the Man, Love the Fly Rod"

"If a new man is particularly attentive he can learn to fly fish in a half hour. But then he will go on learning as long as he fishes for trout." Arthur R. MacDougal, Jr "Rods And Rods" (1963)

"Somewhere in the wide range of activity between the hard physical effort of wading for long hours against a swift current in a rocky stream, casting steadily, and the indolence of lying quietly in the sun waiting for a bobber to go under there is a type of angling to suit everyone’s mood and everyone’s pocketbook. Fishing is fishing wherever it is found… Angling’s problems are never solved." Lee Wulff, 1939

"Catching fish is not a mental game between fish and angler. A “smart” trout is only smarter than other trout, not smarter than a fisherman. An angler must take the puzzle of the day’s conditions, and matching those conditions and his knowledge of the fish to come up with a good catch. He competes with a concept, not with a fish’s brain." Lee Wulff, 1981

The real sportsman does not hesitate to dress his share of the trout or to scour the dirty dishes in the sand. He helps the less-experienced angler in any way that he can and does not fear the competition that may result. Ernest G. Schwiebert, Jr

"There's more B.S. in fly fishing than there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh