Fly Fishing For Beginners

Fly fishing is not the same as regular bait fishing

Nor is it as difficult as some people make out.

 

Instead the fly fisherman makes (or buys) an artificial fly that resembles the real flies that are flying above the river or lake and then tries to cast this fly just on to or above the water where he or she suspects the fish may be.

 

Part of the fascination of fly fishing is to try to figure out where different species of fish like to lurk or feed.

 

What do you need - a Rod of course and that really has to be a FLY ROD.

Your local Store will advise you of the line to use for your location.

There are complete Fly Fishing outfits for sale on this website.

A Regular Reel is not suitable for Fly Fishing as what you will be doing is to drop the fly just above the fish and then delicately manoeuvre it so that it acts like a real fly to tempt your prey.

There are a lot of basic Flies ready-made that you can purchase and that is probably the best way to begin.
Some are more suitable for Salmon or Trout or other Game Fish and you will have to read up about that.

 

What is a Fly made of ?
Little tiny pieces of various materials which might include feathers,fur or even linen or yarn.These are bound up around a disguised hook.

There are probably as many different kinds of fishing fly as there are fishermen !
It is not sufficient though just to bundle together s few feathers and sone skin and foam rubber and hope the fish will take it.

Fish are smarter than that !

What you must do is to learn to make your own fishing flies that simulate REAL FLIES.

That will depend largely where you are fishing.

In lakeland districts with pine forests you will get very different flies from running rivers or streams.

It is all a question of what the fish is expecting to see.

 

There are two basic forms of Fly FIshing :

Dry Fly Fishing -
where you cast your fly so it floats above the fish and is gently pulled towards you.
When the fish takes the fly , you strike and try to hook it.

Your problem then is to hold on to the connection to the fish so that it cannot spit out your fly.

You will be able to see the fish strike and then it is your handling from the moment of the strike until the fish tires and is in your net that means how succesful you are.

 

Many fish do not rise to a dry fly though (especially trout ) as they are used to feeding underwater.

Then you will have to use a WET FLY.
This will sink underwater and you will have to dance it in a realistic action underwater to get the fish to take your fly.

You will have a similar problem retainng the connection to the fish (it is a kind of dance) until the fish tires in wet or dry fly fishing.
You can usually fish for Salmon ,or Trout  but the main thing is to see how the fish are feeding.

Some fish only feed at certain times of the day or in certain river conditions.
If you are in doubt then you can always try Nymph Fishing.
Nymph Fishing is a little harder as the artificial nymph (usually a dragonfly larvae or beetle larvae) has to be realistically moved underwater near the river or lake bottom where the real nymphs would be.
That means you are realy fishing blind (unless you have exceptionally clear water).
It is a bit more tricky but can be very satisfying.

 

Many Fishermen release their catches when Fly Fishing and this means you can have sport with the same fish a number of times.

One of the attractions of some lakes is that they have legendary big fish and these are very challenging to catch.