If you have decided to start fly fishing, then you are at the right place. Many people like fly fishing, a good pastime, and its popularity are increasing daily. Learning how to start fly fishing will give you new ideas you can utilize while fishing to achieve more success. Fly fishing is an amazing and wonderful hobby to get close to your family and friends and enjoy nature.
It seems good to exercise outside, but it can be a costly hobby. You don’t need to be worried. If you are new, your beginner guide of tips and tactics can help you to understand the basic knowledge and tools you need to get started fly fishing.
How To Start Fly Fishing
Fly fishing is fishing that demands patience, poise, and accuracy. It is rewarding for those who give the time to practice it. It’s not easy, but at last, it gives a lot of rewards after hard struggles and patience. It is a practical way to catch fish. Fish like trout will only eat a fly that is presented carefully.
After asking many anglers why they fly fish, you will get a number of answers. Some will answer that casting a fly rod is the exercise to achieve a yoga-like flow state. For some anglers, it’s a hard and practical job that helps them catch the world’s more beautiful and likely exotic fish species.
Fly fishing is something that gives you real fun and enjoyment, like the soothing sound water of moving water, the birds chirping, species inside and around the water and spending time with your family, relatives, and close friends, and, finally, actually fishing.
You have to learn a lot, like how to get the right gear, how to master the technique to read the river, and how to understand the fish activity. All these can be difficult to learn, but your time and efforts will not be wasted. While flying and fishing is your hobby, you can visit some cool places and be rewarded in many ways.
The 10 Things How Do You Get Started Fly Fishing?
The following things About How to start Fly Fishing?
Educate Yourself
If you start on your own, you will learn how to start fly fishing. But to learn more efficiently and in a better way, you need someone who educates you. You can watch youtube tutorials and virtual novice training to get start. But I recommend finding a good teacher who takes you to the water and practically teaches you everything.
Some local shops provide free training that is quite good for clearing your basics to get start in fly fishing. Maybe some will get you out on the water (but not all), and you will understand how to tie a knot, select fish, cast, and much more.
It is also good to hire a guide. It helps when you regularly fish in a specific area. The guide will educate you on flies, casts, and techniques important to fishing in that area. Some beginners are scare to hire a guide because of low low money, but they don’t take so much. However, some provide free or reduced charges if you are a beginner or local.
Select Your Rod, Reel, and Line Preferably all-together
You don’t have to spend more cash to get started. Instead, start by investing to buy a good fly fishing rod, a line package, and a reel. This can be hard to decide to select one from a variety of each rods, reels, and lines with different specifications and uses. Contact your local fly shop or an expert guide for advice. If you find no one to guide you, a nine-foot, five-weight rod is recommending to buy to begin fly fishing.
It is also good to choose combo packages due to their full setup for less money. Some come up with lifetime warranties which are quite good. A combination package helps you to match your line and fly rod. For the safety of your equipment and tools, you need to buy a good storage tube to help you.
get some leaders and tippet
As clear, that leader associates your fly line to your fly. Due to the tapered nature, it helps to land fly in a place where you want it to. It comes in different sizes depending upon the needs. The tippet is used to extend your leader. You can help a tipper lose leader length due to cutting or breaking. Make sure to buy good quality and same-brand products so it all works well.
Learn some casts then practice
You can take help from youtube to clear your basic idea about how to cast. But if you found a guide, that would be more helpful. You can learn about different casting techniques from online resources, which will teach you everything from basic, like how to start or how to get a better handle on what you are doing.
Practice is the key to success in every field. The more you practice, the more you learn and become effective. Practice somewhere wide and open learn to land your fly in a targeted area. Use spray points to mark a section to understand your target area.
This will highlight your mistakes, and you will understand whether you are doing right or wrong. You need to understand that if you practice a lot, you will learn a lot, become more efficient, and be near perfection.
Try to practice some basic cast to get experience in your casting “toolbox.” As a beginner, you need to master the overhead cast and roll cast which are easy and effective for you. The overhead cast is the perfect one to use before rods are made of graphite.
It requires you to bring the line overhead, behind you, and cast back out in front of you to your target pinpoint location of interest. The roll cast is a great and effective cast recommended for beginners and is quietly used in small streams. It helps you effectively land in case of trees or bushes behind you. It is simple to master, and its motion is the same as chopping a log.
Get a Handful of Flies and a Fly Box
Do the research and try to know what flies you need to fish in the area where you are fishing. You can ask a local or an expert fisherman to help you to decide. You can also read up on different flies you might use, which would be helpful. There are wide varieties of flies, like streamers, dry flies, and nymphs. To select what flies suits your need, you need to know about
- type of fish you want to catch
- Weather condition
- Behavior of water
After keeping all these things in mind, you must ensure that you have specified your needs and are now prepared. As a beginner, Pheasant Tail and Parachute Adams are good flies needed to be considered.
- The pheasant tail is easy for everyone to tie at home and is the best mayfly imitator.
- The parachute Adams is used all over the world in practically every lighting condition. It looks like small flies and Caddies flies used when you don’t know what food fish are feeding on.
- Other popular options include the Zebra Midge, the Wooly Bugger, and others.
- Choose a fly box that fulfills your need and is designed for the flies you are using. Some fly boxes are designed for dry flies, while others are made for saltwater flies. You must buy a multi-use, multi-compartment fly box that can carry multiple file types.
- Roll-box is a new and creative type normally used to carry big streamers. It rolls up into the water bottle size, enabling you to store it inside your vest, but it provides the amount of storage space created by two big fly boxes combined.
Learn Two Simple Knots
To fly fish, you should learn a few basic knots. This could feel harder, but after doing some practice, you will feel it easier. A double surgeon’s knot is more efficient than that knot down twice. Connect same-sized materials.
This is the more efficient and quick way to consider. It connects the tippet with a leader and is also used to build a leader after attaching the tippet to multiple sections with each other. You can make a loop while tying on flies and streamers and add weight or another fly. You can use this fly if you have less time but try to lubricate it.
Another easy knot is the clinch knot. This knot can be easily tied and is extremely strong, even if you use scissor clamps to break it. This makes it seem easy on cold fingers. People have been using this knot since the 1940s, and it is a tried-and-true classic.
Get ready To Unhook Your Monster Catch
This step is ignored or simply forgotten by many beginners fly fishermen. We are trying to catch something. So we have to be prepared to unload the fish after consistent hard work. You need to have a set of scissors clamps and a net to help you unhook your fish in a cinch.
- Buy a good net with a rubber mesh pocket. They are not hard to damage fish by stripping the protective slime from their scales. If you want to fish in a catch-and-release area, you need to invest in a soft net which would be quite helpful.
- A good pair of scissor clamps is also necessary for you. Choose a pair with a serrated scissor and a straight clamp. This clamp section is good for crushing bards and removing difficult hooks from fish.
- It is necessary to buy the best pair to help you with all streamside tasks, from cutting to unhooking the fish.
- Lastly, invest in a pack, sling, vest, or belt to store your equipment and tools. Buying waterproof allows you to manage and provide safety to your tippets, fly boxes, and cut accessories. The best are those that are easier to use, provide maximum comfort, and are easily adjustable according to your needs.
Suit Up Appropriately
Invest in buying good waders, and always choose a dress according to the weather. While fishing on a hot summer day, you don’t have to bring waders if you don’t plan to get into deep water for fish. But mainly, you will need a good pair of waders to make more dry and warm.
You need to buy an inexpensive and lightweight wader like Neoprene waders. You can also use nylon, rubber, or synthetic materials according to your needs. A pair of boots would be great if waders are designed to wear with shoes. Before going out or choosing a dress, notice the weather and water conditions to be more comfortable and safe.
Research Where To Fly Fish
Exploring and researching many water bodies would be more helpful for you as a beginner. You will understand how to read a river and know where the fish are located and where they usually hide. Normally fish stay below the water’s surface( until they find something to surface to feed).
Try to get more knowledge about fish behavior and water patterns. Knowing some helpful tactics and facts would be handy for a beginner to explore new water and fishing. For example, fish try to stay more in slower waters rather than in fast-moving water.
Get Out On the Water and Have Some Fun!
Fly fishing is hard due to many things to remember, like checklists. What to do and what not to do can sometimes scare away a beginner. It can be difficult, but it is not impossible. You need to know some basic terminologies and implement new processes, strategies, and tactics. This will help you to get out on the water.
Learning new things and implementing them is a good job, making your life easier and more disciplined. You can become the best fly fisherperson if you get out on the water consistently and frequently.
Conclusion
Fly fishing is a versatile hobby that can make you busy learning about How To Start Fly Fishing for new things and makes your life happier. It is a good time to spend time with your loved ones to make it a good memory. Sometimes it becomes difficult for beginners to start fly fishing without knowledge, but there is nothing to worry about.
Ask experts, do research on the internet, and read valuable articles and guides on google and videos on youtube. But I recommend choosing a mentor that gets you on the water and teaches you how to learn fly fishing.
Next, you have to learn things slowly by implementing them. YOu have to practice a lot and get out frequently on the water. You will become an expert fly fisher when you take care of all things we discussed above.
How Many Flies Should I Bring Fly Fishing?
