Fly Fishing

People watch fly fishing on television and they think that beginner fly fishing must be very easy because it looks like that on television. First of all what you are watching on television is not beginner fly fishing, that is fly fishing being done by professionals with years of experience who have worked on and perfected techniques that take years and years to get right.

Secondly it is television and the chances that everything went that well in the first take are probably pretty slim. Television has a way of dressing things up so that it all looks so appealing and easy to everyone at home and this is where this notion that beginner fly fishing is so easy comes from. Well, beginner fly fishing isn’t easy and here are some valuable tips you will need to get you started.

For equipment you need a pole, a reel, special fly fishing line, and a fly. Many people make their biggest mistake with beginner fly fishing at the line. Fly fishing line is thicker and heavier that standard fishing line for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that you do not use sinkers or lures in fly fishing so there is nothing to weigh the line down. Therefore the line itself needs to be heavy so you can fly cast it properly. It is also thicker because you need to cast with accuracy and that is hard to do with lighter line. So make sure that for your beginner fly fishing expedition you get the proper supplies and tools to get the job done.

Don’t Skimp

Many people will attack beginner fly fishing with a mind to catch fish and no mind on the equipment they will use to get the job done. Never skimp on your equipment because if you buy cheap equipment and it fails on you at the beginning of your trip then you have a long fishing trip ahead of you. Get the best reel you can afford and the best pole you can find. You can ask someone at the sporting goods store but you are better off asking someone you know that fishes because sporting goods store clerks love to see people in beginner fly fishing and try to sell them stuff they don’t need.

Fly casting is about the most difficult thing you can ever do and it will require practice. Make sure you take the time to get used to casting the fly line and get used to fly casting in general because it does take some practice.

Before spending a ton of money on equipment and heading out to the water, it will pay to receive some fly fishing instruction to prevent becoming frustrated with the sport. One of the most difficult aspects of fly fishing is learning to cast the line accurately. An angler can learn a lot about the sport of fly fishing by reading books about the types of rods and reels and which ones to use in what bodies of water, but no amount of reading will replace fly fishing instruction when it pertains to casting.

With regular fishing, the lure or bait attached to the end of the line is cast into the water with the line following its trajectory. With fly fishing, the bait is seemingly weightless and if the angler attempts to cast the fly, it will go nowhere. Instead, fly fishing instruction will teach them how to cast the line onto the water, allowing the fly to follow the line.

It is similar to whipping the garden hose to remove a kink and the flow of the hose from the hand to the other end of the hose is essentially how the fly line is cast. With fly fishing instruction, the angler can learn how to pull the line from the reel with one hand and whip the pole behind them and over their head to send the line flying to the desired location.

Practice Leads To Fly Casting Perfection

Like most aspects of many sports, the only way to get better at something is to practice and with fly casting, the same is true. Regardless of how much fly fishing instruction a person receives it will take lots of practice to learn to place the fly exactly where they want it to land. Using dry flies places the fly on the surface of the water making it easy to see if the target was hit.

When using wet flies, or submersible flies, the idea is to cast slightly further than the desired location and letting the fly sink to the proper spot on the bottom. Once the new angler has the casting down, they can supplement their fly fishing instruction about the types of flies to use in different waters to catch more fish.

They can also obtain fly fishing instruction on the stages of the flies from birth to adulthood and at what stage the fish expect to see a particular bug. This is also useful in determining when to use which fly to increase the chance of catching more fish.

Instead of talking about the one that got away, perfect your fly fishing knots and land that next catch during your fly fishing trip. While there are quite a few fishing knots that you can learn, just a few are needed to see you through your entire fishing experience. Many people new to the sport of fly fishing often lose the fish they hook due to fly fishing knots becoming unraveled.

Practice makes perfect and learning to tie fly fishing knots is a definite must if you plan to make a go of this sporting hobby. Home is the best place to start the process as it is much better taking your time there than it could be to try to tie a knot while maintaining your footing in a stream or along a riverbank. Below are a few fly fishing knots to learn more about and what they should be used for.

The Arbor Knot

There is a section of line called the backing which is a strong piece that connects the actual fishing line to the spool backing in the reel. Among the fly fishing knots, the arbor knot is the most common for this type of task and fairly easy to accomplish. This backing line is typically made of Dacron and attached to a monofilament fly line and will keep a huge fishing from totally peeling out all the line in your reel.

The Albright Knot

When you attach your Dacron backing line to your regular fly line, you need fly fishing knots that will stand strong with two different materials while still having the ease in sliding through your guides without stalling your reel. You want a knot that will hold on the chance that you hook a large fish that has the tendency to run through your line all the way into the backing line.

The Nail, Double Surgeon and Clinch Knot

The nail knot is the best for connecting your leader line which allows your fly to flip during a cast to your main fly line. Among the fly fishing knots, the nail provides maximum accuracy for straight casting. The double surgeon fly fishing knots are for connecting your leader line to your tippet, which is the section of line between your fishing line and your leader line. Tippets are important for controlling the drag of the entire line during a cast so double surgeon knot is important.

The clinch knot is, well, the clincher, the end of fly fishing knots when you are adding fishing line and flies onto your rod. The clinch knot connects your fly specimen to the tippet so it is super important to make sure that this knot is strong so no fish are lost to an unraveling knot.

There are clinics, how-to videos and books that can show you step-by-step the process for tying fly fishing knots. It is up to you as to choosing which avenue to pursue as everyone learns differently, whether it is via a visual through videos or hands-on in a clinic.

You can learn a lot about certain things including fly fishing from sheer experience, which they say is a great teacher. Even though you may have spent a lot of time in reading about the topic, or may have spent time watching others fly fish, you may still never be able to master the art of fly fishing till you try it out for yourself. So, if you are hell bent on improving your fly fishing skills, why not take the trouble of enrolling in a fly fishing school and get fly fishing lessons from them?

Fly Fishing School

At the fly fishing school, you will be told that there is really never enough that you can learn about fly fishing though being guided by a skilled instructor will certainly add punch to your fly fishing lessons. This will no doubt speed up your learning process which is also a most efficient method of learning as well. You could start your fly fishing lessons at the basic level and from there progress on to more advanced levels as you become familiar with each new level.

There are no doubts about the continued popularity of fly fishing schools today and the reasons are that fly fishing is something that can often prove to be difficult to learn and thus the need to get fly fishing lessons from experts is of paramount importance. This is since you must be well trained before you can consider becoming an expert fly fisher.

Curriculum and Requirements

The numbers of fly fishing lessons that you can be taught in a fly fishing school are many and include learning the proper way to cast, spey casting, advanced spey casting as well as under-hand spey casting. Finally you may even graduate through all the courses to enroll in a fly fishing PhD class.

You should expect to follow the fly fishing lessons because the classes are governed by very strict policies and you should not fail to keep up with the schedule as well as stay abreast of the curriculum. There should be minimum numbers of disruptions, and you should be organized as well as ready to perform your daily tasks well.

How much you pay the fly fishing school for your fly fishing lessons depends on how many classes you take. Most schools won’t refund you your money after 60 days before commencement of your first class. Also, the class schedules will hinge around whether instructors are available or not and so you need to consider all these factors before deciding to get fly fishing lessons from a particular fly fishing school.

Although fly fishing was credited first to the Roman Claudius Aelianus sometime during the second century, modern history of fly fishing is said to have really originated on the rivers of Scotland and northern England. Fly fishing was directly associated with a book called The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle, published in 1496, attributed to Dame Juliana Berners within her Boke of St. Albans. This boos provided instructions on how to carefully dress a fly at different times of the year, along with proper lessons on line, hook, and rod making.

However, the very first detailed history of fly fishing writing came in two different chapters of the book Compleat Angler, published by Izaak Walton. This book that talked about the history of fly fishing was actually written by Walton’s good friends, Charles Cotton, while Derbyshire Wye described the fishing.

British Fly-fishing

During the nineteenth century, British fly-fishing went on with its development after the fly fishing clubs emerged. The appearance various helpful books that dealt with fly tying methods and fly fishing techniques has added interest to fly fishing enthusiasts.

In southern England, dry-fishing has actually obtained an elitist reputation. Accordingly, this is the only legal method of fishing the rivers of the south like the River Test and some other streams in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, and Dorset. The history of fly fishing tells us that later dry-fly developments were done after it was discovered that the weeds normally found in the rivers of the south grow very close to the surface. This required better techniques that keep both the fly and the line right within the surface of the stream.

But to the horror of dry-flying enthusiasts, George E.M. Skues wrote two books that greatly influenced developments of wet fly fishing. The books, The Way of a Trout with a Fly and Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream gave way to wet fly fishing. The history of fly fishing, particularly wet-fly fishing, dating back early in the nineteenth-century, was all thanks to W.C. Stewart who published a book in 1857 called The Practical Angler.

History of Fly Fishing in America

During the late nineteenth century, American anglers like Ray Bergman, used fly tackles to fish into streams rich in trout; streams like Willowemoc Creek and Beaverkill. A lot of American fly fishermen developed better fly patterns and extensively wrote about this outdoor sport.

Today, upon knowing the history of fly fishing, more fishing enthusiasts have greatly appreciated the art of fly-fishing. With so many techniques to consider and so many places to visit, fly-fishing is one outdoor experience worth a try.

Seasoned fly fishermen usually say the same thing when confronted on the question of how to fly fish – get your casting technique down for maximum fish catching. Unlike regular rod and reel fishing where the weight at the end of the line is what helps the line exit the reel, it is the weight of the fly fishing line itself which brings the fly lure right to the fish.

Setting Up for Practice

Before heading to a fishing hole, you will want to practice on how to fly fish cast in a large grassy or dirt packed area. Cement and asphalt are not great surfaces to practice your casting as the rough surfaces could ruin your fishing line. Tie a bright piece of colored yard at the end of your line or even a brightly colored lure so that you can see what your fly is doing during the process.

After tying the yarn or fly onto the line, the next step in learning how to fly fish is to pull out about 20-25 feet of line out of the fly reel and lay it on the grassy area next to you. You need this amount of “play” in the line so that you have something to negotiate lightly through the water.

Get a Grip

Learning to hold the fishing rod in preparation for casting out the line is the next step in how to fly fish. While the rod is in your hand, put your thumb on the top of the rod grip and keep it on the top as this provides you with better accuracy as well as force in your cast. Also, the butt of the rod should be perpendicular to your wrist and forearm and kept under.

Make sure the line is through your rod in learning how to fly fish and then pull about 20 feet of it and place it on the ground to the right hand side. Holding your rod in a grip, the opposite hand grasps the extended line tightly for better casting momentum. Once you are comfortable in this phase, you can start to experiment with different casting when learning how to fly fish.

The Cast

The actual cast itself is next for the lesson on how to fly fish and you must use efficient movements for a successful turn. Flick the rod back a bit to a 45 degree angle, which is about the 2:00 o’clock position and then hold it. This causes an abrupt stop at 45 degree angle mark so your fishing line will shoot backwards.

Next on the how to fly fish list is flicking your wrist back to the 2 p.m. position as this action will cause the fishing line to fly forward out in front of you. If you did everything correctly, the fishing line would have straightened out and landed with ease rather than a plop. If your tied fly on the end of your fishing line made a distinct straight down dive into the water, then you did not learn how to fly fish properly. The line should extend out into the water and with a tugging motion, you learn to lightly tug on the line so that the fly appears to be skipping across the water rather than sinking in it. It takes patience and plenty of time to effectively learn how to fly fish, so unless you are gifted, don’t be surprised that you do not catch anything the first few fly fishing trips.