getting into fly fishing

[koWALLEYEski]

I know its not the purpose but I was trying to poke a little fun at you since your a novice fly fisher

[engadine52]

Hi Poutpro

Your buddy Kowalleyeski must be a computer wiz, as he apparently enjoys information over load.

But it was funny!!! It made me laugh.

Applied specifically and literally to flyfishing. Stripping line does a couple of things. It does help keep a "tight line". This is important to detect subtle stikes, and to be able to set the hook quickly. If you have a bunch of slack line laying on the water, between the fly and your rod, you can't pick up the line quick enough to hook a fish. They are quicker then humans. If you have seen videos of how pan fish and perch feed, they inhale food and can just as quickly spit it out if they don't like it. So with fly fishing where flys are fur, feather, and other fake stuff, thus no taste, you need to set the hook quick.

The other thing stripping does is move the fly through the water, making it look alive. Necessary in lakes. In Streams the current will move you fly. But you still need to strip line to keep a tight line, as most often (but not always) you should be fishing upstream from where are standing.

If panfish in lakes are your first target, stripping speed can be determined by the fish. If they are aggressive, strip short pulls quickly. If they are neutral to negative, then strip very slowly- 2-3 inches pause a long time 20-30 seconds or longer. Strip again, pause. Bring in most of you line, leaving about one rod length of fly line outside the tip top. Then false cast, laying out all your long line again. Always leave fly line outside the tip top, and don't retrieve the leader knot into the guides. This leaves you ready to pick up and cast out again.

[poutpro]

So sometimes you don't even reel at all, you just strip fish all the way in? I can already say that that is going to be awkward for me to do. I better get out on the water and get practice this weekend.

[Crosslake]

Poutpro:

I mailed 6 small poppers and 6 wooly buggers to you today, if you have any luck with the mail, you should have them to use for the weekend.

Don't worry about reeling in fish, once you set the hook, just keep striping in the line. You will get use to it in a hurry.

Good luck,

Crosslake

[poutpro]

Thanks Crosslake!!!! I really appreciate it. I'll let you know how I do.

[Clouser]

Poutpro, The Saint Cloud Fly Anglers meet every third Monday at the Saint Cloud Gander Mountain at 6:30. This months meeting will be April 18th. We will be having a tying session on panfish patterns. We can also help you with casting etc. You are welcome to join us.

[poutpro]

Thanks for the offer Clouser, but I go home every weekend to lay flooring. I was out this weekend in the boat and tried to do a little flyfishing, but the fish weren't cooperating. I was having my same problem as before with casting though. The line seems to come back at me instead of keep going out on the forward cast, so I don't get very good distance. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong?

[tie flyer]

My suggestion is to get together with someone to show you the ropes (St. Cloud Fly Anglers?). As somebody mentioned, your problem could be caused by any number of things.

Most casting errors are related to timing the power snap and where you start and stop your rod. Remember to start with just a little line out and practice picking it up with one backcast and then lay it back down.

The key is to come back to 2:00 and do a 6-inch accelerated power snap – then stop abruptly. Wait for the line to straighten out (not waiting could cause your problem) and then gently begin your forward stroke. When your rod is at 10:00 do another power snap with an abrupt stop. Do not drop your rod down past 10:00 until your line is straightened out in front of you.

The other thing to concentrate on is to keep your elbow anchored near your side. This is your fulcrum. The forearm is now part of a long lever. On the backcast your forearm should rotate 90 degrees; your reel will face away from you if you look over. On the forward cast rotate your wrist back.

Most of all, try to keep a smile on your face when you’re out there doing it.

[poutpro]

I think my problem is that I don't let the line get straight back behind me before I bring it back forward. This weekend I am going to hopefully get out and get a lot of practice. I will keep in my a 10 2 rod placement and keeping my elbow in to my side. I'll let you know how it goes. If anyone else has any suggestions let me hear them. I also want to thank Crosslake once again for the 12 flies that he sent me.

[engadine52]

Hi Poutpro, me again!

I agree with tie flyer, you are probably having trouble with timing, power stroke, and keeping you line loops airborne while casting.

If you don't have time to hook up with someone to coach you an alternative may work. Rent or buy (or get one from a library)a video on flyfishing. Most have basic "how to" on casting technique. That way you can get a picture in your mind on how to do it and how it is suppose to look. A picture is worth a million words, and may move your casting forward before you get frustated with it.

Recall something I said few postings ago. Casting is not hard, it is just completely different then spin or bait casting. You are trying to learning a completely different technique. You are casting with the weight of the line, not the weight of the lure or bait. Keep the faith.... it will come.

DN

[ice_shack]

FWIW when learning to cast I had a problem of not allowing my backcast to load the rod properly (not waiting long enough). Try standing off to the side and watch the line behind you. This isn't a good position to be casting from but it allows you to see what is happening and get a better concept of timing. Another thing is slack. The line can't have any slack in it when you start the cast, strip in any slack before casting. Slack will not go away in a cast, if you start with it, it will always be there and cause a problem. Don't try to cast a mile. Start out with short (20') casts and go for accuracy and timing. When you have that down add a little more length. A good accurate short cast will catch you a lot more fish than a long crappy cast.

May not work for you but this is what worked for me.

Another thing was when I learned I saw a video made by Joan Wulff. You don't need a rod to practice. She would make her students use a short piece of dowel with a length of yarn attached to it. I tied a piece of mason string to a ice fishing rod to practice the timing thing and it worked pretty good. That you can use any where.

A little practice is all it takes. I have been practicing for almost 5 years.

[poutpro]

Thanks for the help. I have been talking to a guy trying to set up a time I can go see him to show me a few things, but I also have been looking at video clips on the internet and have been looking for videos.

[tie flyer]

Good advice, folks. Poutpro - or anyone interested in fly fishing, talking about fishing, etc. - you should come down to Trout Day. It's next weekend (4/30) down in SE MN. It's a bit of a pull (5 hours for me) but well worth the drive to spend a spring weekend in the beautiful driftless country. And it's a good chance to get some casting practice and pointers.

[Quickstrike]

poutpro, e-mail me your address and i will send you a tape produced by cortland that does a good job showing proper technique for casting. it's a little old and kind of cheesy but it gets the point across. i have no use for it and would be more than happy to pass it on to someone that could use it. [email protected]

[poutpro]

Thanks a lot quickstrike. Today I bought a pack of 20 flies from fleet farm for only $4. Thought that was a pretty good idea, they probably aren't the best, but I would assume that they work. I still haven't gotten all the names down, so I can't tell you what they all were, but they were small and looked like something that a fish would eat.

[poutpro]

I caught my first fish by fly last weekend. It was about a 5 inche pumpkinseed. I had a pretty hard time casting because of the wind, and just because I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. Is there ever a way of casting in a wind? I would just have the line whipping all over and couldn't get any distance.

[engadine52]

Hi Poutpro

Yep Wind is the enemy of fly casters. It's tough.

Best advice is to be sneaky, get as close as you can to your target, and fish a short line. If you have adequate room, i.e. wading out into the lake a little or in a canoe or boat, and you are less likely to hook bushes, trees and weeds, THEN you can try casting side arm, rather then over your head.

The wind is a little less closer to the ground or water, then it is high up in the air. But side arm also keeps your line low and more likely to hook things, especially on the back cast.

Another technique is a roll cast. Yet another skill to learn. Are you ready for that???

Congrads on the first fly caught fish. Fun ain't it?

DN

[poutpro]

Yeah it was a blast. That little sunfish put a pretty good bend in my light fly rod. I had better wait on the roll casting. I still can't even cast real well normally.

[tie flyer]

Nice work poutpro! That wind can get frustrating. Patience is your best bet when it blows hard.

Here is a Fly Rod Tactics for Spring Panfish that might give you some new ideas or techniques. Not casting, but fishing; my theory is that you learn how to catch fish before you learn how to cast (good, anyway). Once you start catching more fish you'll figure out how to get your fly in front of them!

[poutpro]

Yeah I already have read that one. It was pretty good. There are soom good tips in there, but I am having a hard enough time getting the fly out to the fish. I need to get out on a nice calm day to really get some good practice. How big of a fly will a sunfish take? Do I need to use the really small ones, or can I use a little bit bigger one? The 2 little sunfish I caught were on poppers. I used that because I could see when a fish would strike, and it seemed to cast a little better for me.

[Crosslake]

Poutpro,

Those #12 poppers that I sent you will work great when it warms up a little bit. Last week I caught and released quite a few sunfish on Lake Waconia with poppers. On Sunday night after it had cooled off, I caught fish on the wooly buggers. So if it is cool use the wooly buggers and when it warms up a little more, try the poppers.

Good luck with your casting.

Crosslake

[poutpro]

I tried that green wooly bugger and it got snagged up on a weed, so I didn't want to lose too many too soon, so I switched to that poopper. How far down will that wooly go?

[Crosslake]

Poutpro,

The wooly bugger will sink as far as you let it. Depending on conditions, I will let the fly hit the water and slowly stip the line back. It then becomes a slow jigging motion. Again, with warmer water and more active fish, you can retrive the fly pretty shallow.

Don't worry about losing the fly's, if you run out, I can make more.

Crosslake

[poutpro]

That would be great. I did buy a cheap assortment of flies from Fleet Farm, but they didn't look as nice to me as the ones you sent me, but I don't really know what a fish looks for. Last weekend I was out and there were fish feeding on the top every where, I dont know if they were sunfish, bass, or carp, but I was trying to catch them with the poppers. Hopefully this weekend I can get out on a calm day and do some practicing and experimenting.

[tie flyer]

It's so fun to have fish rising all around you. Did you notice any bugs in the air?

A few weeks ago there was a heavy midge hatch where I fished. The little mosquito-like flies don't make much of a meal by themselves but in clusters the fish mow them down.

If the popper doesn’t work you might try a smaller trout fly. Also, mix up your presentation until something bites. If you’re twitching and stripping, try the (excruciating) patient approach. It can be difficult to let your fly sit there but at times if you just wait they’ll ambush ya with an explosive take.

One day you’ll look around in the water and the air, observe the fish and know exactly what to do. When you get the right read on their ecosystem it can be just magical. You seem like a good learner so it will happen, with patience.

And like my grandpa used to say, keep your hook in the water.

[d.roy]

Crosslake - I see you're from Waconia and have been fishing out on the big lake. I just moved there last winter, I like Waconia quite a bit - can't wait to get the boat out some more! I've been thinking about bringing the fly gear for crappies and sunnies but just haven't had the time yet - hope to make some time for that in the next couple of weeks.

Was out on waconia last sunday for the first time since icefishing and was searching for crapps with the bobber and minnow approach, didn't find much in the shallows. From the few people I talked to that was the common story - hopefully they move back in once the weather stabilizes some.

Although 2 fly rods in a boat can be tricky it can be done, let me know if you might be interested in getting together and searching for pannies on the fly sometime. Do you bass fish on the fly? I would like to hit that up this summer too - I have a number of good bass'n spots in the area that I'm looking forward pulling some big ones out of with the fly!

[Crosslake]

d.roy

I don't fish Waconia a lot. I always had a house in the winter, but fly fishing has taken over, and I lost my desire to ice fish. We have a family cabin in Crosslake, so I fish there most of the time. I will put on my waders and fish the bay on Waconia for panfish to fill the time. I have been bringing my 10 year old daughter with, she gets a big kick out of it. She actually does very good. She even wants to build a rod to enter in the Carver County Fair in August.

To answer your question, yes I am always interested in fishing. We are planning to go to the bay Friday after work, stop by if you are around.

Crosslake

[d.roy]

I'll be leaving for out of town on friday - will be going to trout days in forestville, are you going to be there? This will be my first time at trout days but I understand its a great event and is good for kids too, maybe your daughter would enjoy that. Check the trout day post for more info if needed. I'm looking forward to it.

Maybe we'll be able to get some fising in some other time. Good luck on waconia on friday!