# Fly Fishing Is Not For Me



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Tried Fly Fishing today. Found I really suck at it. Get out there with my Spinning outfit.

big rockpile


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Can't be a pro in a few minutes or hours for that matter.

 Al


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

Ole Rock gotz disgusted 'causen 'e couln't figure out how to dress a fly..Wuz tryin to skin 'em with'is pocket knife.!!!:spinsmiley:


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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

I ain't never been able to catch fly's with my fish'n gear!

Wade


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yas gotta fish the honey hole to catch the flies.

 Al


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## Chief Cook (Apr 24, 2011)

At least you get to use any fishing pole. DH made me go stand in the middle of a cut alfalfa field to practice casting. All I had was line and a weight. Sheesh, just cause I got the line wrapped up around the telephone line, twice, and then it got stuck in a tree... I will learn to fish, I will learn to fish... DH said when he gets too old to hunt he will take me fishing again. LOL Glad you gave it a try!


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## calfisher (Apr 26, 2010)

If the water is moving like in a stream, I use a clear bubble filled halfway with water and a 5' leader with a fly for great results.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

I tried it years ago and could not figure it out. Took the rod, got an ultralight spinning reel and a roll of duct tape and never looked back. It's been over 30 years and that is still my favorite rig. It's caught almost everything.


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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

I picked up fly fishing in an instant. It just came natural for me. However I don't fly fish. I just don't see anything great about it. Further more I don't want the image of being a fly fisherman.If you put a float on a spinning rig or bait caster it's called a float or a bobber. If you put the same thing on a fly fishing outfit it becomes a "strike indicator"! Really! Give me a break!


Wade


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Many of the small jigs I fish on my fly/spinning outfit come from the Orvis shop.


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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

I lived in Boloxi in the early 80's. I was pier fishing and saw people catching "Sheepshead" for the first time. I tried with no luck then was told The peck,peck was it . If you didn't get them by the second peck it was over.Said I needed something sensitive enough to feel the strike yet with enough spline to set the hook.
I ran home and grabbed the fly rod stripped the line and re-spooled with 50# test.For the next two years i was there I could out catch everyone on the peir.


Wade


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

My next rod will be a 7.5' light action spinning loaded with 6# test. I figure between that, the fly/spinning outfit and my 9' med action uglystik I can handle most anything.


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## Sensiblefarmer (Apr 24, 2014)

I did a lot of fishing when I was younger. Never really enjoyed it, but it was an excuse to be in the great outdoors, back when I thought that I need one other than just being in the great outdoors. One day I had been out by a roadside pond for a while, with no luck. It may have been an hour, maybe three. A guy pulls up, jumps out of his truck, scrunches down and scans the water surface for about 20 seconds, pulls out his fly rod and with a few flicks of his wrist sets down a fly, gets a hit and reels in a fish, He wasn't there more than a minute and a half. Other than deep sea, that was the last time that I went fishing. There's something very freeing about going out to hike or to canoe just for the sake of it, and not have to worry about packing up a lot of fishing equipment.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

calfisher said:


> If the water is moving like in a stream, I use a clear bubble filled halfway with water and a 5' leader with a fly for great results.


Works on lakes too!


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

I have a Light Action Spinning outfit, 2# Test Line, few Spinners, I catch fish, I'm Happy! :sing:

big rockpile


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Sensiblefarmer said:


> I did a lot of fishing when I was younger. Never really enjoyed it, but it was an excuse to be in the great outdoors, back when I thought that I need one other than just being in the great outdoors. One day I had been out by a roadside pond for a while, with no luck. It may have been an hour, maybe three. A guy pulls up, jumps out of his truck, scrunches down and scans the water surface for about 20 seconds, pulls out his fly rod and with a few flicks of his wrist sets down a fly, gets a hit and reels in a fish, He wasn't there more than a minute and a half. Other than deep sea, that was the last time that I went fishing. There's something very freeing about going out to hike or to canoe just for the sake of it, and not have to worry about packing up a lot of fishing equipment.


I can understand the idea that as a youth you had to hunt or fish to enjoy the outdoors. I kind of felt the same. I enjoy hunting but to be honest am not an extremely serious hunter. Deer is just meat for the freezer. Small game hunting is very relaxing and enjoyable but most times my game vest will it to be filled with fossils, cool looking rocks, antique bottles or strange fungus then squirrels or grouse. Fishing is another matter. I consider it to be an incredible blessing. No matter how crazy life gets with demands or pressures or troubles it is instantly gone when I have a fishing rod in my hand. All of a sudden it is me, the water, and the sky. Very spiritual. The other part is that I might be a lousy hunter, but man, I catch fish. In a SHTF scenerio, as long as I have a fishing rod, everyone eats. Not claiming to be some uber great fishing guru, because Im not. I fish very simply and I focus on what Im doing. If it doesn't work I try something different until it does. To some people fishing is just sitting there waiting for something to happen but that is the wrong approach. It is a very active sport that requires an intimate knowledge of the environment. You become absorbed into a biological puzzel. Everything has a reason and it moves at it's own pace. 

Besides, I've walked through the woods carring a canoe and I'll tell you, a rods a lot lighter.


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## wes917 (Sep 26, 2011)

I love to fly fish and tie flies. I also love to fish with a spin outfit. It takes some practice but once you land one on a fly reel you never go back. That feeling is awesome


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## JawjaBoy (Jan 21, 2013)

I have a fly rod, but it has been used very little. Not only am I a poor flycaster, but a lot of the places I fish are unfishable with a fly rod. Ever try fishing for redfin pike in a creek that may only be 4-5 feet wide in places with a 9 foot rod? How about going after largemouth bass in a hundred year old mill pond that is loaded to the brim with lily pads, hydrilla and tens of thousands of cypress trees? I go to places like this regularly and can tell you that while you might catch some fish on fly tackle, you will do a lot more cussing than fishing!


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

JawjaBoy said:


> I have a fly rod, but it has been used very little. Not only am I a poor flycaster, but a lot of the places I fish are unfishable with a fly rod. Ever try fishing for redfin pike in a creek that may only be 4-5 feet wide in places with a 9 foot rod? How about going after largemouth bass in a hundred year old mill pond that is loaded to the brim with lily pads, hydrilla and tens of thousands of cypress trees? I go to places like this regularly and can tell you that while you might catch some fish on fly tackle, you will do a lot more cussing than fishing!


Oh where I lived in Colorado many streams were couple feet wide but people Fly fished them all the time.

big rockpile


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## cornbread (Jul 4, 2005)

Fly Fishing is a Joke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyxcuSifsqs


I love it.


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## joejeep92 (Oct 11, 2010)

Never learned how but would love to some day...


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## TRellis (Sep 16, 2013)

1shotwade said:


> I just don't see anything great about it. Further more I don't want the image of being a fly fisherman.If you put a float on a spinning rig or bait caster it's called a float or a bobber. If you put the same thing on a fly fishing outfit it becomes a "strike indicator"! Really! Give me a break!
> 
> 
> Wade


Those that use "strike indicators" are doing so when they fly fish nymphs and wet flies because they do not really know how to tell when a trout has simply sucked the fly into their mouth without moving from the spot that they are in. I learned "old school" fly fishing and yes I have missed some of those subtle strikes also, but I think I have properly read more than missed.

As far as the image part goes, I think I know what you are talking about. Me, I love just grabbing my fly rod while wearing nothing more than Tevas (a rugged sandal), shorts and a shirt. Wet-wading like that thru the creeks. I have only been in an Orvis shop once before and will never go back into one.



JawjaBoy said:


> Ever try fishing for redfin pike in a creek that may only be 4-5 feet wide in places with a 9 foot rod? How about going after largemouth bass in a hundred year old mill pond that is loaded to the brim with lily pads, hydrilla and tens of thousands of cypress trees? I go to places like this regularly and can tell you that while you might catch some fish on fly tackle, you will do a lot more cussing than fishing!


I would never take a 9 foot into a small creek like that. That is what they make 5 and 6 footers for. Kind of similar in size to the rod that you would be using while spin fishing or bait fishing the same water. And then I would just roll cast as opposed to over-head cast.

Bass fishing in a mill pond? I tie "Dive Bombers", "Hula Poppers" and "Frogs" with deer hair and make them weedless just like the big companies do with their lures. I am sure that I would get snagged here and there but not any more so than a someone using anything else.

Fly fishing is actually quite simple except when trying to teach someone that has up to that time only bait-fished, lure-fished or has a preconceived idea of how to fly fish. The casting technique is quite different because you do not have that 1/4 ounce to 3 ounce or so lure/bait on the end of the line to throw at the fish. You are actually casting the fly line, not the fly!

When I owned a trout farm several years ago I had two teenage kids working for me that had never fly fished before. I took them out to our big lake once and within half an hour had them both casting nice tight loops and coming within 2 feet of their target. Of course I was paying them while they were fishing so maybe that may have been an added incentive.

I probably have about two dozen fly rods (split bamboo, fiberglass, carbon) with all but one having been made by me. They range in sizes from 5' to about 11' and in weights from 2 to 12. I can catch anything in fresh water from sunfish and bluegills to pike and muskie and from spots and bone fish to tarpon in salt water. And I usually catch more and bigger fish than those that I am fishing with in salt water. To the point where many of my coastal friends want me to build them some salt water rods. They have to tie their own flies though. I draw the line at tying flies for others.

The one thing that can really limit when and where I fly fish is the wind and there are ways of getting around that sometimes. Otherwise, I can fish anywhere that others can and I am not even close to being an expert. I have friends that are and to me what they can do is almost like magic.

TRellis


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