Fly Fishing Tips

fliesandfins asked:

http://www.fliesandfins.com – Sight casting to snook.

Andrew

 

Introduction To Fly Fishing

Over the last 2000 years humans have employed numerous methods of archery, fishing and hunting in order to find food. Over that time, fly fishing has become seen by many anglers as the essential method of fishing requiring skill, patience and stealth. Indeed trout fishing is by far the most rewarding fishing whether boat fishing or bank fishing.

When compared to other forms of fishing and the fishing equipment required at the bank, fly fishing stands out above the rest due to the limited fishing equipment that is needed; allowing greater stretches of a river or lake to be explored in a session. By employing what is essentially a fishing lure presented in such a way as to convince the fish it is a living creature worth devouring encompasses all that relates to the history of archery, fishing and hunting.

Which Rod?

There are several things that you need to think about when choosing the right type

of fly fishing. Every reel and fly fishing rod has a certain function and knowing the function is critical to its success.

One of the first things that you need to consider is comfort. Is the rod that you’re

using comfortable for you to hold? If you’re shorter than about 5′5″ you won’t

want to use a rod that is seven feet. Choose a fly fishing rod length that is easy for you to hold and cast for a few hours at a time.

Most of the fly fishing rods on the market today are designed to allow you to feel when a fish takes the bait. The shaft of the fly fishing rod is called a “blank” and when the rod is first manufactured the blank is made from fiberglass, graphite, or other materials. Each

of these blanks has an action that is either: light, medium, medium/heavy, or

heavy. The upper portion will also have an action that is either: extra light, light,

or regular. Both ends of the blank are assembled and the final result is a fishing rod, complete with a handle and guide. No matter what type of rod that you’re using, the “action” of the rod will refer to the “blank”. The action of the rod will have a great

deal to do with the type of fishing that you’re doing.

Now go to your local tackle shop and ask to try out a range of rods in order to decide which best suits yourself. This will be an individual thing and the only way is to try the rods bearing in mind .

Which Reel?

Reels – There are three main types of reels that you can choose from when it

comes to fly fishing: (1) baitcasting reels, (2) spinning reels, and (3) spincast reels. The reel that you choose will depend your own personal preferences.

Baitcasting reels: Baitcasting reels have better accuracy and control of the lure

than other reels. They are better equipped to handle lines that are ten or more

pounds in weight. The one thing to be aware of when using a baitcasting reel is

that they often have the tendency to snarl or fight back when the spool starts to

spin faster than the line that is being played out. This is particularly true if you are

casting into the wind.

To prevent these backlashes, baitcasting reels have a magnetic braking feature but

you’ll want to count more on the control of the spool tension, which is a knob that

is usually located right beside the handles. You’ll need to set the spool tension

knob for each lure by holding the rod straight and disengaging the spool. Loosen

the tension just until the lure begins to drop down and then tighten the spool just a

bit.

When you’re casting the reel you’ll disengage the spool and then hold it tight with

your thumb. When you want the lure to move forward you’ll simply loosen up on

the pressure. After some practice you’ll learn to control the speed of the spool so

that you have better accuracy.

Spinning reels: Spinning reels are reels that have a spool that is stationary. The

line is spun onto the spool as a device called a “bail” rotates around it. Spinning

reels can be used for any size of line but more experienced fly fishers will use it

for lightweight lures with a weight less than ten pounds. Spinning reels tend to

perform a little better than baitcasting reels when you’re casting into the wind.

One disadvantage of using a spinning reel is that there is the inevitable twisting of

the line which will create tangles and knots. When your line becomes twisted the

best thing that you can do is replace the line with a new one. One way that you can prevent some of these tangles from occurring is by putting the spool into a glass of

water for about 24 hours before you head out to go fishing, giving it a chance to

soak.

To cast the spinning reel, hold the handle of the rod with one hand, making sure

that the spinning reel is on the bottom side with your middle finger placed in front

of the “foot” of the reel. Slowly open up the bail and pull the line behind the first

knuckle of your index finger. Release the line by pulling your index finger into a

straight position. You can control how far you cast the line by letting the line

move along your index finger as close to the spool as possible as the line unwinds.

When you want to stop the line you simply push your finger against the lip of the

spool.

Spincast reels: Spincast reels are also known as “push button” reels. They are

closed-face and are very easy to use. They are almost impossible to tangle and can

be cast in smooth, long arcs without twisting. The main portion of the spool is

encased in a covering and it remains in one place while a pick-up pin spins around

the spool. When buying a spincast reel make sure that you don’t buy the most

inexpensive one since you want to pay for good quality. Many beginner fly fishers

do well with a spincast reel.

To cast the spincast reel all you need to do is depress the push button and hold it

down. You’ll release the button when you want your lure to move in a forward

position. Most spincast reels are able to be used with any weight lure or line size.

Which Line?

Most of the lines that you’ll use for fly fishing will be made of nylon

monofilament. However, other lines are becoming just as popular such as lines

that are (1) braided, (2) co-filament, or (3) fused. No matter what type of line you

buy make sure that it’s a “premium” line. Premium lines are more durable and

even than cheaper lines. You’ll want to match the fishing line that you buy to the

following criteria and conditions:

· Strength: Strength is measured in the pounds of force that is needed to

break the line. You’ll find that most lines will break at higher weights than

they are sold at.

· Resistance to Abrasion: When you’re fishing in areas where there are a lot

of brush or rocks you’ll want to use a line that won’t break easily when it is

constantly rubbed.

· Line Diameter: The diameter of the line will affect the way the line is cast

as well as how deep your lure will run. Diameter also has an affect on the

visibility and stretching of the line. The thinner a line is the harder it will be

for the bass to see it. Thinner lines will also give some bait, such as grubs, a

more realistic flowing action. The one good thing about lines with a thicker

diameter is that they are better able to withstand abrasion.

· Stretch Lines: Stretch lines won’t break as easily when they are being

pulled by a fish. They are beneficial in letting you detect strikes as well as

help you in setting hooks.

· Line Stiffness: The stiffness of the line is related to its stretch. The stiffer

the line is the harder it will be to cast. The advantage to having a stiff line is

that is more sensitive than flexible lines.

· Line visibility: In clear water it’s important that your line is as invisible to

the fish as possible. However, you’ll want to have a line that is highly visible when your fishing lures are on a subtle strike, such as worms, grubs,

and jigs. This is so that you can easily detect any movement on the line that

may indicate a fish is biting.

Holding your Rod Effectively



It’s important that you learn to hold your rod effectively under any fishing

conditions. You want to make sure that you maintain good control at all times

without gripping too hard. You can adjust the power of your hold when you’re in

the middle of a cast. This will allow you to minimize the vibrations of each

movement. With just a bit of practice you’ll be able to increase the tightness at the

same as you learn to relax your grip.

Which Bait?

Following is a list of some best bait choices as recommended by the experts:

? Grubs: Grubs are small lures that are usually used to catch larger fish.

Grubs are great for use in highland reservoirs where there is little cover for

the fish. The grub is much like a bare jig head that has a soft plastic body to

attach to the hook. You’ll want to use them most often in clear water

conditions.



By: mark inglis

About the Author:

Dave

Tom P asked:



For sharks and want to 99 fishing level up it is currently 65 and want to 99 fishing level up it is currently 65 and was wondering if fly fishing is good way to 76 for sharks and want to 76.

My fishing level up it is currently 65 and then to 76 for getting 99 any help also for sharks and then to 99 fishing is good way to get my fishing is good way to 99 fishing is currently.


Crispin

Team AMP asked:



The kern king and merced rivers also need info on guides cabins or motels thank you.

For trout with in hours of the kern king and bad this august in califorina need to go flyfishing this time of the kern king and merced rivers and bad this time of la like the kern king and spots are good and bad this time.

For trout with in califorina need info on guides cabins or motels thank you.


Carey

tyrell asked:



The promblem is have no idea where to gather info anybody know anything.


Ellison

Fly fishing, in all it’s variations and sub-areas (casting, fly tying, etc), centres around a single goal – To successfully tempt a fish (Most commonly a trout) to take an artificial fly as a food item. Sighting, hooking, playing and landing the fish are also important parts of the successful fishing experience, not to mention being able to get the fly to the fish in the first place, by the unique casting methods utilized solely in fly fishing.

However, along with all that work, and the practice of the skills involved in bringing it all together at that crucial moment, comes that pivotal element of convincing the fish that what they are considering is indeed food-like in nature. Without this key element, we can forget the rest, and this is the one step of the exercise which is dependant upon the decision of the fish, rather than ourselves.

In this, fly fishermen spend untold amounts of time researching, studying, and imitating countless insect types in aid of presenting a believable decoy to their quarry. We tie our flies, the fish takes it, our efforts paid off, right?

But is everything as it seems? Did we deceive the fish for exactly the reasons we thought?

Although there are many factors involved in getting that fly to a timid fish, and fly fishing itself was obviously designed around overcoming all of those obstacles, considering it’s significance, understanding the ‘Feeding behaviour’ of the trout has probably taken somewhat of a back seat, compared to some of the other areas or skills of fly fishing, we fishermen often seem to focus our efforts on.

The feeding behaviour of trout is the sum of two main factors:

Firstly, through the fry and fingerling stages of development, the identification of specific ‘Food Recognition Keys’ are ingrained resulting from the repetitive feeding pattern of their natural survival instincts.

Secondly, as they get larger, they can manage larger diet articles. Supplementary behaviour is then learned out of a reactive response to the local fauna they find in the area where they are hatched or released. Local knowledge is naturally beneficial here and this is normally what we focus on when fly fishing.

The behavioural patterns of trout vary significantly between the species, the size and the circumstances in which they are found. Trout habits also change through different times of the day, and again depending on weather conditions. Feeding habits and behaviours also change between faster and slower waters, and so on.

As in most types of fishing, there is not just one single or simple answer. If there was, it would have been made common knowledge, a long time ago. What this does tell us, is that to increase our odds of convincing the trout of the validity of our fly, it’s going to be far more beneficial to concentrate on presenting specific ‘Recognition keys’, which remain consistent, rather than the far more subjective; ‘Circumstance-specific learned behaviour’ which will often vary greatly from fish to fish, and particularly from place to place.

There are many pieces to this puzzle. The more pieces you can find, understand and put together, the more it multiplies your fly fishing results. What this methodology does do for us especially, is simplify and sharpen our learning curve by quite an incredible degree.

Therefore, instead of studying dozens, even hundreds or more, of insects and the flies designed to imitate them, I’ve found that in nearly all circumstances, you need only a few fly patterns, each designed to do a specific job in the varying circumstances found on the stretch of water you’re fishing.

Trout Flies then induce fish ‘Takes’ by the use of food ‘Recognition Keys,’ rather than by intended imitation. For this method then, local knowledge becomes relatively irrelevant.

This means flies do not need to imitate anything to catch trout. What!?! Say that again.- Flies do not need to imitate anything to catch trout. Certainly nothing specific anyway.

Flies can then be tied to counter stream or water conditions, or to counter, and or take advantage of, various aspects of trout behaviour. This, then (Not being restricted by specific imitation), opens up possibilities for us to incorporate the use of innovative strategies, tactics and trout fly construction, to give ourselves a far greater edge than previously thought possible.

The more time we have spent fishing with incorrect or insufficient knowledge, the more time you have spent developing the mindset that the trout is a vastly superior, cunning and unpredictable adversary, and results like mine become seemingly unattainable, and without such knowledge becoming available, the practical reality remains precisely that.

Normally it takes years of studying these fish, trial and error with different fly patterns, different fishing techniques, different innovative designs and methods with the right focus to get to a place where you understand these creatures adequately for the outstanding results we normally only see the Pro’s achieving.

Fortunately, with the right focus, we can now be achieving much greater success in much shorter time frames by understanding and taking advantage of these ‘Recognition keys’, combined with other behavioural patterns of the trout species we are targeting and just some basic skills of fly fishing.



By: Wayne Smith

About the Author:

Carol

Lizzy asked:



The parts of fly fishing rod the parts of fly rod and am not sure what the parts of fly rod.

The other day and it broke on our camping trip have to send in form and it broke on our camping trip have to send in form and it broke on our camping trip have to send in form and am not.

The website that has picture of fly fishing rod the parts are the fly rod and it broke.


Aldridge

Alaska is well known for its incredible fly fishing, but it’s also a great place to go for a fly fishing vacation in a rustic lodge setting. You can find all kinds of lodges in the rustic country of Alaska that can make your fly fishing vacation a real adventure. This article will outline a few of these great destinations.

The Alaska Rainbow Lodge claims to have the finest, most centrally located accommodations in Alaska. A short flight from Anchorage will put you in the middle of prime fly fishing territory. You can fish for rainbow trout and salmon and stay in a gorgeous lodge with all the amenities. They offer float planes to their guests that will take you to some of the most remote fishing areas where you will find quality fishing in any season. They can be found online at www.alaskarainbowlodge.com.

Wilderness Place Lodge offers some excellent fly fishing accommodations along with some terrific amenities. They have guides that will lead you to the best place to fly fish for salmon or trout and boast riverside cabins and a 1:1 customer/guest ratio to insure excellent service during your stay there. They also offer classes to their guests on topics like fly tying and effective casting. They can be found online at www.wildernessplacelodge.com.

The Lake Marie Lodge is another option for your fly fishing vacation. They specialize in rainbow trout and salmon fly fishing as well as sight fishing and surface fishing. Their experts offer fly fishers the opportunity to catch huge salmon and they fish all sorts of rivers and streams that are accessible to them only. They average about 14 guests at a time which allows them to provide the utmost in service. Their web address is www.lakemarie.com.

The Alagnak River is known for its excellent fly fishing, and if you’re looking for a quality lodge located on the river, you may want to look at the Katmai Lodge. They have single, double, or private cabins that adjoin a common area where you can gather to share “fish stories” after a day of angling. They also offer Orvis sanctioned fishing expeditions that are led by some of the most experienced guides in the area. Research them online at www.katmai.com.

When you are considering an Alaskan fly fishing vacation, you will want to find a lodge that can comfortably accommodate those in your party. The choices are many, and you will want to do your research before you book your trip. But most of these Alaskan lodges are committed to making your fly fishing trip the best you’ve ever had.



By: Steve W Sharpe

About the Author:

Abe

The Walker’s mayfly nymph is a weighted fly which imitates the emerging mayfly before it crawls out of the water and flies away. It therefore is not dry and sinks. These are cast upstream in front of a fish and ‘tweaked’ or gently retrieved often with great success-they are ideal on a chalk stream when the fish are not rising. This is usually the only acceptable form of wet fly fishing for trout on the major chalk streams.

Wet fly fishing for trout in general is practised in fast water when the current does the work or in still waters when the fly is cast downstream and slowly retrieved.

Wet fly fishing for trout involves lighter flies which are cast downstream into pools or lies where fish are expected to be. This method is used at night for sea-trout, or sewin as they are known in Wales.

Wet fly fishing for trout in reservoirs and still waters involve much bulkier flies which are cast out long distances and retrieved .The flies imitate various bugs and even perch fry which the big rainbow trout hoover up in vast quantities in the spring. Still waters are on the whole stocked with rainbow trout which feed on bugs and fish fry and in the big reservoirs such as Bewl Water, Chew, Blagdon, Rutland Water and Grafham Water grow to a large size and are extremely powerful-hence great to fish for. On these large waters wet fly fishing for trout is usually done from boats since the levels will fluctuate and this leads to muddy banks when the water level drops.

In the natural lakes in the Lake District, Scotland and Ireland brown trout give good sport on retrieved wet flies; often fished in groups of three. These lakes also contain the large brown ferox trout which are cannibals and feed on their smaller brethren-and are usually caught on lures and spinners-not flies.

Downstream wet fly fishing for trout on a fast moving river on a summer’s evening is indeed a pleasure, brown trout and grayling will both be there to pit your wits against. Wet fly fishing for trout and grayling in rivers and streams of the West Country and Wales is particularly good.

Wet fly fishing for trout in Ireland has its many opportunities. Most rivers and streams hold brown trout and there is lots of free fishing. The Irish lakes hold some very large trout and boats and ghillies are available on the famous lakes such as Corrib, Conn and Mask.

There are good numbers of small man made ‘put and take’ fisheries up and down the country. Some are excavated especially for trout fisheries others are chalk and gravel pits which have been stocked. In the main, these waters are stocked with Rainbow Trout which are not indigenous but hail from the Rockies in the west of the USA. Rainbows can tolerate higher water temperatures and lower oxygen content in the water than the indigenous Browns and also can grow very quickly. Some waters are stocked with fish of over 15 pounds.

The flies for these still waters imitate all sorts of bugs and fish that live in the lake and some look nothing like anything living there but still catch fish!

These fisheries offer the wet fly fisherman great opportunities to improve casting select the right fly and catch very big fish.

We plan to offer information about these fisheries which will be a free service to the fishery owners-so keep visiting us.



By: Jon Kelly

About the Author:

Erich