First time flyfishing ever. I bought a basic Cahill rod/reel combo last year and never made it out onto the water. I came home today, worked out, and figured now would be as good of a time to start as any. I got my gear around, and went down to a stretch of Lycoming about 5 minutes from the house. Didn't catch anything, nor did I even see a rise (and there was certainly a hatch on the water), but I had a blast. In the short 45 minutes I was fishing, I learned a few things: 1. I suck at flyfishing 2. My casting needs MAJOR work 3. Watching a few videos on roll casting doesn't necessarily mean it's as easy as it looks. 4. I suck at flyfishing :D
It can be extremely frustrating to start with! The way I learned to cast and roll cast was by simply tying on a piece of yarn, or something similar and just going out to our pond for hours. I would cast all day sometimes until it became second nature. It's a very rewarding sport!
What you really need is to go with someone who knows a little bit of what they're doing. I had my brother who's been doing it for about 40 years. I just started 3 years ago and now own 7 fly rods. LOL I'm getting better and sometimes amaze myself with a cast. And then I'll see my brother snake the most beautiful cast out over the water with seemingly no effort to a distance I'd have a hard time getting with a spinning outfit. LOL The true joy of fly fishing is hooking up and learning how to let the rod do it's job. It's really a blast. 45 minutes???? You're just getting warmed up. Find something easy to catch.... like some recently released stockys or sunfish or something and enjoy. I graduated from stockies, to bigger browns, salmon in Upstate NY to 50 pound Kings in Alaska. I tell ya..... it's a trip. I absolutely love it.... but I still suck. LOL
My buddy and I got out for some trout fishing this evening... he packed his Redington 9' 5wt and I packed my spinning gear. We switched up for a little bit, but I was glad to have my spinning gear as the trout were REALLY picky today and the only way you could force a bite was to get them irritated by bringing a big flashy stickbait right past their nose. Over the next few weeks my fly-fishing is going to pick up and I will be doing alot more of it... it is so addictive (even when un-productive)
Head to a pond with s ome bluegills and a lot of room for back casts. THat will help you a ton to get used to castign & such. Plus you can almost always catch bluegills on flies, even dry flies that get wet & sink THey aren't picky
Thats good advice. Learning to cast in lakes is easier since you have no current to deal with. You can learn a back and forward cast in the yard, but you need something to anchor your line when roll casting, like water. Fly casting takes practice. I don't think anyone is good at it the first time they pick up a fly rod, especially without any instruction. Too bad you didn't live closer as I would be happy to help you out.
Biggest thing for me was learning to let the rod do the work in casting (loading). It's a "push/pull" motion, rather than thinking about "casting". Disclaimer: Most of the streams I fish allow for about 1.5X the length of your rod (+ leader/tippet) of line, when casting.
I been fly fishing about 46 years now and I still get out in the yard and practice a week or 2 befor season comes in. Nothing worse than seeing someone slapping the water on their backcast in the flyfishing community and when I started teaching my wife years ago, she caught fish on her backcast!!! LOL. Guys like Vito are a joy to watch cast, especially when he is using one of those big streamers that look like a dead squirrel. He makes it look easy! Don't worry to much about the fish not taking the hatch that was on, It's early in the season and they been rooting for their food in the gravel all winter, the water will warm and they will figure out there is food on the surface and you will be in for a great time. The only thing in my life excluding family things (Births and what nots) that compares to sitting in a treestand on a crisp morning watching everything come alive during bow season, would be spending the last hour of daylight on the bank of the AuSable River, sipping on a spiked cup of coffee, smoking a fine Cigar watching Mayflies doing their last mating dance befor spinning to the waters surface, and the hunt of Giant Brown Trout that follows. And remember this if nothing else, in Dry Fly fishing Presentation is the key, not only does your fly need to look like what their eating in size shape and color, but a Drag Free Float on a big older fish in a feeding lane is Imperative !!!! The imitation must be travelling at the same speed and angle as the natural food on the water. Good Luck !
