So You Want To Try Fly Fishing, Eh?

Each year as I travel from place to place, lake to lake, stream to stream…and so on, I run into so many folks that either talk to me about fly fishing or make comments from afar. Seems like fly fishing has sort of gotten a bad rap; too difficult, too expensive or mostly…just not very effective.

In response I would have to say that to an extent all three complaints are a bit true…they are also very inaccurate. The number one topic in discussion is how hard or difficult fly fishing really is. Through the years I have heard the spectrum; from “I could never do that” to…”Sure looks easy”. Somewhere in between lies the truth.

A few years back, when I was just a teen of 15 or 16…I bought my first fly rod. I’ve told the story before but I was watching American Sportsmen and there was Curt Gowdy standing waist deep in water that was flowing all around him. There were mountains in the background that were capped with snow. In his hand he had a fly rod, I can still recall how he made it look easy. One thing led to another and here I am, almost 40 years later and my love affair with fly fishing…well, let’s just say it has become a passion.

I also recall on that day so many years ago thinking that if old Curt could do it, then for sure I would be able to cast and catch fish myself. I won’t go into how wrong, naïve or stupid I was, but when the day finally came and I saved up and bought myself a fly fishing outfit, rushed off to the nearest pond, tied on a trout fly that came with the package…and gave it a go…it was a mess. After all these years there is one certainty that I know without a doubt…to catch a fish you have to actually have your fly in the water. Those first few attempts were not just ugly, they were laughingly inefficient. Being a Scot, persistence is in my DNA and thus I kept on until one day, a day that still lives in my memory; I wound up on dad’s boat, by myself (which was much safer for dad) and on a lake in Greene-Sullivan State Forest. I tied on a simple popper, started to cast…and over the next couple of hours caught one bass after the other. It might not have been a trout stream in Wyoming, but I was literally ‘hooked’.
In between…I have had some unbelievable moments that have risen from the fact that I did learn how to cast and more importantly started to harmonize with the fish, nature, technology, the etymology of fly fishing and finally, the water in which the fish I pursued…live in.

Oh, how I wish something as simple as the internet or YouTube were present when I was a wide eyed young lad trying to figure out what a back cast was and why my line continued to pile up around my neck and at my feet.

So all of this leads me back to the discussion of where does a beginner go to get started in fly fishing. As I just said, the internet is amazing and can be used for so many positive things, not the least of which is learning about the art/science of fly fishing. Here on my own web site, in the upper right corner, you will find a search tab and if you enter “fly casting” you will pull up several articles, entries and videos on fly casting itself. Let me specifically direct you to Fly Casting Basics-Part 1. Currently it has been viewed 42K times. This is a very basic and introductory video that I put out a few years back as a result from many requests that I had received. If you start there and go slow you will find that you truly can cast a fly rod…and here is an important point; you must first be able to cast a fly and get it moderately close to a target before you can actually start to catch fish. Casting precedes catching and there really isn’t any way around this.

Now, you may have a fly rod, reel, line, etc…and might actually have it all put together. If so, then you are ready to go. If however, you haven’t yet bought an outfit then once again go to a couple columns written a few years’ back…good information for the beginner and certainly information that hasn’t yet grown out of accuracy. These two columns are entitled Fly Fishing 101 Part One and Fly Fishing 101 Part Two. In those pieces will be everything you need to know to get started…from rods to leaders and reels to flies…along with a few spots to find good equipment.

Lastly, I want to address the idea of fly fishing not being very efficient, “Hog wash”! I might be a little confident, but I can safely say that just about every fish, fresh and saltwater…can be taken using fly fishing equipment. For those of us who live here in the Midwest, specifically here in southern Indiana…I think you can actually increase your odds with a correct presentation of a fly. Fly, is actually a misnomer as I usually fish a streamer and a streamer represents any of hundreds of baitfish patterns that our predatory fish will eat from a shiner pattern to a crayfish. The chase and puzzle of finding and catching fish with a fly you have tied on your own is truly a remarkable experience.

OK…so what is holding you back? Fly fishing isn’t expensive and believe me, with a little practice, anyone can be successful…oh, and you know what else? I am certain that along the way you will Enjoy the Great Outdoors.