Is It Worth It To Learn To Fly Fish?

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I don't own any sinking line, but love to throw heavy streamers on floating line. If fish are deeper than 10' I'll break out the casting/spinning gear. Fly fishing is a lot of fun but like everythingthatswims said, there is a time and place for all techniques.. my main objective is to actually catch the fish.

[Logan S]

I definitely would use fly gear if it put me at an advantage (and there are times when it is advantageous). I just get tired of seeing guys around here who trout fish most of the time and think anything other than fly fishing is a sin. In summer so they target smallies---they like when the fish will eat on top but most of the time they are dragging stuff on sinking lines, and to me that just feels like pulling a rope through the water. I love to fly fish but I don't limit myself to it...We had a 17yr cicada hatch two years ago and it was epic, I tied up some cicada patterns and went to work on every species imaginable for those three weeks of fury.

I can agree with this....Fly fishing definitely has it's share of 'elitists', although I would still say most fly guys are pretty normal.  

 

I will say that most of the pure fly guys I've met are often so preoccupied with all the 'fly stuff' that they overlook the actual fishing part...But that is part of the fun for them I guess.  

 

I have a family member who is a pure fly guy, he would often claim that he could catch bass just as easy on a fly rod as I could with conventional tackle....I took him out on my boat to a local lake one day and the bass beat-down that he received was of epic proportions...He doesn't make those claims any more .

 

 

But to the original point, fly fishing for trout is something that I really do enjoy....Found this guy this past weekend, I'm turning this into a trout picture thread .

[cyclops2]

I was ORDERED NOT to come to anymore fly  fishing club meetings.  Seems My catching several giants with a large Muddler Minnow in the public waters stream where " Match the hatch is only allowed "  BY CLUB MEMBERS. Used up all my elitist Snot . Good riddance.  Weird people.

[flyfisher]

you usually see the elitists with trout guys, not warm water guys.  There is a trophy fly fish only spring creek here in VA that holds some big browns.  They are stocked as fingerlings and become wild pretty quick...I learned to fly fish there and was only interested in the big fish so i was always throwing big streamers more designed for smallies for the most part.  I can't tell you how many guys who looked like they just stepped out of an arrives catalog who when asking me how i was doing and i would say doing well and then when i told them what i was catching them on they would turn up their nose and say i only fish dry flies, the way it was meant to be.  Some says i would blow it off and laugh and others i would say well i prefer to catch larger fish more consistently oh and by the way, it is largely believed that the first every fly was indeed a wet fly and not a dry fly.

 

Most of the people are fine though just the few bad eggs that give fly fisherman the elitist stereotype.

[desmobob]

 

 

Most of the people are fine though just the few bad eggs that give fly fisherman the elitist stereotype.

 

I swear that all the fly fishermen I know are the nicest, most polite, courteous folks you'd ever want to fish with.  I mean it.  And I swear I have met the biggest pain-in-the-neck, most rude, arrogant, and horrible people while wading on the popular fly fishing rivers.  

 

The sport does have some real a-holes, but so does every sport.  As a life-long fly fisherman coming into warm-water bass fishing this season, my experience so far tells me the ratio is about the same in both disciplines.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[flyfisher]

 ...As a life-long fly fisherman coming into warm-water bass fishing this season, my experience so far tells me the ratio is about the same in both disciplines.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

 

Enjoy your foray into warm water fly fishing...it is a blast, especially when there is a good frog bite in some lilly pads  

[desmobob]

Enjoy your foray into warm water fly fishing...it is a blast, especially when there is a good frog bite in some lilly pads

 

Thank you.

 

Funny thing is, I haven't really got around to the fly fishing part yet!  When I bought my little bass boat, I figured I'd try using my spinning gear "until I got things figured out" and got some bass flies and bugs tied.  

 

Well, one thing led to another, I found Bassresource.com, then someone let the bait monkey out of his cage, and now I have a Daiwa PXL-R, two Lew's Tournament Pros, two Daiwa Tatulas, four Kistler rods, a St. Croix Rod, and a stack of tackle-filled Plano 3700's that I can hardly see over.  Holy cow... how the heck did that happen?  

 

I promised myself I'd hit the fly tying bench hard this winter and prepare for a season of bass fishing with the fly rods.  But I'd be a bald-faced liar if I said I didn't have an incredibly enjoyable season and a ton of fun chucking all this hardware and plastic for a change.  The fly fishing will always be there, so I'll let this little diversion run its course.  :-)

 

Tight lines and Happy New Year,

Bob

[flyfisher]

I tend to throw conventional gear more often when chasing largemouth but i always have a fly rod with me just in case i get into a pattern that is suitable for the long rod.  Now for smallies, i rarely even bring the conventional gear with me on waters i am familiar with.

[desmobob]

 

 

I have a family member who is a pure fly guy, he would often claim that he could catch bass just as easy on a fly rod as I could with conventional tackle....I took him out on my boat to a local lake one day and the bass beat-down that he received was of epic proportions...He doesn't make those claims any more .

 

That cracks me up!  I am a fly guy, but have never been a pure fly guy.  Every style has its strengths and weaknesses.  I think one of the reasons I haven't been in that much of a hurry to do more fly fishing for bass is that bass casting gear seems to be by far the most suitable gear for the job that needs to be done.

 

Could you imagine trying to catch wary browns in a limestone creek using bass casting gear?  

 

I look forward to having lots of fun fishing for largemouths with my fly fishing tackle, but there's a reason I just invested so much of my hard-earned money in bass casting gear!

 

Tight lines and Happy New Year,

Bob

[notevenanibble]

Would it be worth the investment to start fly fishing if I want to pursue trout more?

yes absolutely.  looks like you live in colorado and you are surrounded by world class water within a few hours drive.  i spent 4 months in denver last year and every weekend i drove up around deckers and fairplay to fish in the streams.  also the arkansas river near peublo is fantastic trout water.

 

i had never ever tried fly fishing until June 2013 and since then it's completely overtaken all of my fishing days.  i still bass fish once in a while, but fly fishing has really changed my fishing life.  especially for trout i don't feel like i enjoy it as much with spinning gear.  

 

since i'm converted over from bass fishing i don't have any hang ups admitting fly fishing isn't always the best way to catch them.  especially other species like bass.  to the point about the "dry is the only way to go", the larger trout are just more predatory than the smaller fish.  So, it will take a lot more flies to fill that belly up than it will bait fish.  i still love nymphing and dry fly (because i'm terrible with streamers).  anybody clinging to the dry or die motto is being silly.

[BannedForSpamming-1234555]

I bought a fly setup last year and I plan on using it to target carp this year.  I did catch one carp on a fly in the summer, it was a awesome fight.

[everythingthatswims]

I was ORDERED NOT to come to anymore fly  fishing club meetings.  Seems My catching several giants with a large Muddler Minnow in the public waters stream where " Match the hatch is only allowed "  BY CLUB MEMBERS. Used up all my elitist Snot . Good riddance.  Weird people.

I am going to quote Chuck Kraft on something he said to my dad:

 

"Is there a hatch? Yeah there's a hatch...Of size 6 muddler minnows."

[Sea NaCl]

I was ORDERED NOT to come to anymore fly  fishing club meetings.  Seems My catching several giants with a large Muddler Minnow in the public waters stream where " Match the hatch is only allowed "  BY CLUB MEMBERS. Used up all my elitist Snot . Good riddance.  Weird people.

So you got kicked out of a fly-fishing club because you didn't match the hatch?

[vmabuck]

Definitely learn how to fly fish for what it is good for.

 

I have been fly fishing since I was around 14, I am 41 now. I was a guide for the last three years I lived in NM. I moved to NE OK about a year and a half ago.

 

I now live about a thousand yards from a small lake with great bass fishing and a stream below it chock full of warm water varieties of fish. At first all I was using was the fly rod, I am not a snob but it is all I know and it was the only gear I had. I did ok but could never get the big largemouth to hit. Plenty of 8-10 inchers but nothing big at all. I did get on very nice catfish, smallmouth, and white bass though.

 

I wanted one of those big largemouth which I have never really fished for. So, I got a cheap baitcaster rig and some soft plastic critters and learned how to Texas rig. It took about two days and I had one of my better ones to date on the end of my line. I was hooked. If I want big bass I grab that baitcaster and get to work. I now have three rigs and I am hammering the bass with hollow frogs from deep mat with a heavy action rod and 50# braid. It is freakin awesome! And if I don't get them on that I grab the the punch rig and send a critter down  and yank them with LOL!

 

So, what is my point here?

 

Ya, learn to fly fish, you will never catch more trout in your life, I gaurantee that. I can outfish any bait dunker with my fly rod when it comes to trout. When it comes to largmouth on a lake, baitcaster tactics will own over working a fly rod. I know that now.

 

I think the more weapons you have under your belt the better time you will out there. Plus, there is nothing better than fly fishing on a crystal clear stream high in the mountains knowing that the slightest mistake will spook that trout of a lifetime you see feeding up river of you in a small pocket. You presentation has to be perfect, your fly has to be the right shape, size, and color and your tippet is 6x and you know that the fight you are about to have with this 20 inch Rainbow will have to handled perfectly to land that fish.

 

For me a lot of fly fishing is about the adventure of getting to secluded streams and catching wild or native strains. Also learning the bug life cycle in streams is helpful in a lot of situations and you are forced to do that if you want to be a successful fly fisher...

 

[Dillo]

I have been fly fishing for about 2 months now and can say that it is probably my favorite thing ever. It's been kind of frustrating to learn but now that I am getting more or a feel for casting, mending, retrieves, fly selection, etc., I am having so much fun. I recently used a spinning reel for a trip to Florida ( Indian river) and I could not wait to get back home to my 5 weight Echo. Fly fishing has given me something new to study, practice, and put myself into. Fly fishing makes fishing more fun for me, and that's what it's all about. So it was absolutely worth it to save up money and spend time untangling knots, watching instructional videos ( check out orvis how to fly fish), and not catching fish, because I now have a new passion, as well as a higher interest and level of care for fish.

[AR21angler]

Totally worth it and i agree with you guys i hate fisherman who are snobby you know the ones who only fish 3 times a year quite frankly i tie on what ever is workinv be it a midge, egg or wooly bugger

[clayton86]

I learned this year on Mother's Day and honestly it's the only fishing I do now. I fish every day litterly every day and I grab the fly rod every time. Mostly small mouth only one large mouth so far and missed a pike. I bought some 20# flouro tippet today and am gonna target pike Monday I got some monster pike streamers.

[Dillo]

I learned this year on Mother's Day and honestly it's the only fishing I do now. I fish every day litterly every day and I grab the fly rod every time. Mostly small mouth only one large mouth so far and missed a pike. I bought some 20# flouro tippet today and am gonna target pike Monday I got some monster pike streamers.

hell yeah man. I have a small pond near my house with largemouths and various sunfish that I try to fish at as much as possible. It is kinda my secret gem because it looks like a piece of crap but almost always produces a fish for me. People are always surprised to see me catch a fish there and i always get "you don't eat any fish from here, do you?!". what im getting at is that its is a lot of fun and even makes conventional fishing seem boring (to me at least).

[clayton86]

hell yeah man. I have a small pond near my house with largemouths and various sunfish that I try to fish at as much as possible. It is kinda my secret gem because it looks like a piece of crap but almost always produces a fish for me. People are always surprised to see me catch a fish there and i always get "you don't eat any fish from here, do you?!". what im getting at is that its is a lot of fun and even makes conventional fishing seem boring (to me at least).

I've noticed since learning to fly fish my conventional fishing has gotten better I've slowed down

[vmabuck]

Totally worth it and i agree with you guys i hate fisherman who are snobby you know the ones who only fish 3 times a year quite frankly i tie on what ever is workinv be it a midge, egg or wooly bugger

 

When we are on the Chama river in Northern NM in the winter seeking our 20+ inch browns slinging eggs and a worm (Bacon and Eggs) Will pull some pigs!

 

MAtch the hatch when you have to. I generally try to fish big to small. Your hook up and land ratio will be much better with larger flies and 3x-4x, so I use it if I can. But I found myself in plenty of situations where I had to drop to 6x. Fishing pressured, low, gin clear water will let you know how good of a fly fisher you are...