Fly fishing - what am I missing?

[wasabi_VA]

I’ve never had much interest in fly fishing, although many a time couldn’t help but notice a fly fisherman catching fish while I couldn’t get a bite. I like the idea of the presentation but it’s the loose line collecting at one’s feet that seems awkward. I mostly kayak fish and think this could just become a tangled mess. That said…still curious

[Scott F]

For most of the fly fishermen I know, I used to be one, it’s more about the presentation and the art of it than about catching fish. There is a real challenge to learning to cast. To get the line to lay out properly without getting tangled. Making your own flies and catching something with them can be rewarding. Two of the best fishermen I know only use a fly rod. I picked it up as a kid because my father showed me how. I was never into the art of it but I found it effective on heavily pressured waters because the fish hadn’t seen those baits. I gave it up because it required too much of my  time to do both, fly fishing and using gear. There are too many times when conditions make fly fishing difficult at best. Days when it’s windy or you don’t have the needed room for the line to stretch out behind you to cast. It’s possible to overcome those challenges but that’s when I don’t want to spend all the extra time to learn those techniques. If the fish are more than a few feet deep, you need specialized line to get baits deeper and learn how to handle the line. There aren’t a lot of guys who fly fish for warm water species like bass. When you are good at it, you can do well, but it’s rare for someone to outfish a good bass fisherman using fly gear. 

[Jar11591]

I remember reading a quote about fly fishing that basically said in my paraphrasing: “fly fishing is an inefficient and complicated way to catch relatively few fish”. That quote stuck with me and and made me realize that it’s more about the art-form and culture than it is trying to maximize your fish catching. There are times where fly-fishing can out produce conventional casting, but the majority of the time I don’t believe this is the case. I’m no fly fishing expert, I’m barely even a novice. I have a fly rod that I use to cast dry flies or popping flies to panfish or trout. I do it because it’s great fun. I could do better with a peice of night crawler on an Aberdeen hook if im after pumpkinseeds, but it’s a lot more fun throwing a grasshopper fly to them. But if im fishing for bass, the fly rod stays at home. 

[jbmaine]

While I don't flyfish as much I used to, I've always had a passion for flyfishing, and have caught tons of fish on the fly, both fresh and salt water. There is just something about a fly or popper made with fur and feathers that conventional baits can't match. Even sitting still, feathers will undulate in the water. For example, pull up a video of a Dalhburg diver and see how the feathers and deer hair trap air bubbles that get released as it's moving. IMHO flyfishing is one of those things that you either love or just don't care for. To be good at it requires some time and effort.

 You can use a stripping basket to manage your line in your yak if needed.

[Rockhopper]

I relate fly fishing to archery hunting.  Harder than everything else, but extremely satisfying once you figure it out.  I fly fish more than I bass fish.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

I remember reading a quote about fly fishing that basically said in my paraphrasing: “fly fishing is an inefficient and complicated way to catch relatively few fish”. That quote stuck with me and and made me realize that it’s more about the art-form and culture than it is trying to maximize your fish catching. There are times where fly-fishing can out produce conventional casting, but the majority of the time I don’t believe this is the case. I’m no fly fishing expert, I’m barely even a novice. I have a fly rod that I use to cast dry flies or popping flies to panfish or trout. I do it because it’s great fun. I could do better with a peice of night crawler on an Aberdeen hook if im after pumpkinseeds, but it’s a lot more fun throwing a grasshopper fly to them. But if im fishing for bass, the fly rod stays at home. 

 

 

This is as fair an assessment as anyone could give.

 

For a period of abnout 8-10 years I did nothing but flyfish.  It started with bass and panfish in a local stream and progressed to trout, salmon/steelhead, bass in the lakes, and everywhere else I would fish including every saltwater beach vacation.  I worked in 2 different fly shops, guided a couple times, and had my own business building custom rods, primarily fly rods.  I still have all of my fly tying gear downstairs as well as a slew of rods, reels, line, and OMG the flies.  I have an extra large duffel bag full of boxes which will have anywhere from 50-300 flies in them.  I could open a shop or guiding business with it.

 

There are times when a flyrod is the best way to present the thing that a fish wants.  When trout are sipping on dry flies or emergers there is no more efficient way to show them what they want to eat.  We take a lot of time as bass anglers to change hooks, split rings, and add suspend strips to make a jerkbait hover in the water column.  A slow sinking or intermediate fly line with a bucktail streamer does it naturally.  Hair jigs?  If you think that has a lot of natural movement when sat still you should see a bunny leech or anything tied with a rabbit strip.  Flashabou might be the closest material you're going to get to imitate the sparkle and flash of a minnow.  

 

That said, it's harder work.  A full line cast (all of the leader, the line, and down to the backing) is about 100-120' and most can't do that.  With a spinning rod or back caster that's easy enough with most combos.  Learning to cast is a process and getting good at it is much harder than a baitcaster, let alone a spinning rod.  As noted, there is the line at your feet or in your stripping basket as you retrieve which can get tangled up.  And then when you do finally hook one, you have a 1:1 ratio reel that if it isn't a large arbor will be reeling in 3-4" of line in a rotation.  I got spooled well into my backing by a huge carp once on a lighter rod setup (I was smallie fishing).  I was reeling forever just to get the line back on the spool.

 

But when you get it all right there is something incredibly enjoyable about being able to flick out 75' of line with just a quick arm motion, have the fly turn over just so, and have a fish slam it at distance.  

[WRB]

Smallmouth are lots of fun on a fly rod because they jump more very aerobatic fish.

Tom

[Pumpkin Lizard]

4 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

I remember reading a quote about fly fishing that basically said in my paraphrasing: “fly fishing is an inefficient and complicated way to catch relatively few fish”. That quote stuck with me and and made me realize that it’s more about the art-form and culture than it is trying to maximize your fish catching. There are times where fly-fishing can out produce conventional casting, but the majority of the time I don’t believe this is the case. I’m no fly fishing expert, I’m barely even a novice. I have a fly rod that I use to cast dry flies or popping flies to panfish or trout. I do it because it’s great fun. I could do better with a peice of night crawler on an Aberdeen hook if im after pumpkinseeds, but it’s a lot more fun throwing a grasshopper fly to them. But if im fishing for bass, the fly rod stays at home. 

 

I can tell you right now that I can outfish a gear guy fishing for trout in a river. 

 

Also when I fish for smallies with fly rod I caught so many that I convinced my brother to get into fly fishing.  Catching bream on a fly rod is childs play.

 

Fishing for largemouth? I find subsurface fly fishing in a still water to be incredibly boring. I leave the fly rod at home unless the topwater bite is strong. Even then I prefer to use gear.

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

 

This is as fair an assessment as anyone could give.

 

For a period of abnout 8-10 years I did nothing but flyfish.  It started with bass and panfish in a local stream and progressed to trout, salmon/steelhead, bass in the lakes, and everywhere else I would fish including every saltwater beach vacation.  I worked in 2 different fly shops, guided a couple times, and had my own business building custom rods, primarily fly rods.  I still have all of my fly tying gear downstairs as well as a slew of rods, reels, line, and OMG the flies.  I have an extra large duffel bag full of boxes which will have anywhere from 50-300 flies in them.  I could open a shop or guiding business with it.

 

There are times when a flyrod is the best way to present the thing that a fish wants.  When trout are sipping on dry flies or emergers there is no more efficient way to show them what they want to eat.  We take a lot of time as bass anglers to change hooks, split rings, and add suspend strips to make a jerkbait hover in the water column.  A slow sinking or intermediate fly line with a bucktail streamer does it naturally.  Hair jigs?  If you think that has a lot of natural movement when sat still you should see a bunny leech or anything tied with a rabbit strip.  Flashabou might be the closest material you're going to get to imitate the sparkle and flash of a minnow.  

 

That said, it's harder work.  A full line cast (all of the leader, the line, and down to the backing) is about 100-120' and most can't do that.  With a spinning rod or back caster that's easy enough with most combos.  Learning to cast is a process and getting good at it is much harder than a baitcaster, let alone a spinning rod.  As noted, there is the line at your feet or in your stripping basket as you retrieve which can get tangled up.  And then when you do finally hook one, you have a 1:1 ratio reel that if it isn't a large arbor will be reeling in 3-4" of line in a rotation.  I got spooled well into my backing by a huge carp once on a lighter rod setup (I was smallie fishing).  I was reeling forever just to get the line back on the spool.

 

But when you get it all right there is something incredibly enjoyable about being able to flick out 75' of line with just a quick arm motion, have the fly turn over just so, and have a fish slam it at distance.  

 

Great post. I've seen guys slaying smallies using switch rods and making booming 80-90 feet casts with ease.

[king fisher]

I have fly fished and guided fly fisherman most of my life.  The only thing you are missing not fly fishing in a lake for bass is a head ache.

 

Fly fishing for bass can be done, and at times be the most effective way to fish, but most often it is a waste of time.

 

I love to fly fish in streams for trout, bass salmon, and many other species.  Fly fishing in small streams is extremely effective, and if you are skilled it will out fish other methods on most days.  Most of the time, you are fishing fairly shallow water, and using the current to present the fly flat out works.  Fighting a bass in current with a fly rod is as fun as fishing gets.

 

The problem I have with fly fishing is using it in situations that only make fishing much harder.  Here are some examples I have fly fished and guide fisherman, that I don't like and some I simply wont do again.

1. Fishing for King Salmon in swift deep rivers.  It can be done but other methods not only produce way more King Salmon, they are less difficult, and in my opinion more fun.  The few smaller streams that have King Salmon make for great fly fishing at times, and I recommend fishing for them this way if you have an opportunity.  Trying to force fly fishing techniques for King Salmon in most rivers results in nothing but frustration.

 

2.  Almost all Saltwater fishing.  Tarpon, Bonefish, Rooster Fish, and other inshore fish can provide great fly fishing action.  The problem with fly fishing for these species is you better be good at fly casting heavy lines and flies.  It may take three days to finally tease a Rooster Fish withing fly casting range for an expert caster, and they still can choke when the cast needs to be made.  An average caster has zero chance, I repeat zero chance at catching a Rooster Fish.   An angler may get many more shots at Tarpon, but still needs to have expert skills to have any chance at hooking and landing more than a few.  Fishing for most other saltwater species is nothing more than a joke.  I know people have caught almost every fish that swims on a fly rod, but the fly fishing magazines make it look like far more fun than it is. 

 

3.  Bass in large rivers and lakes.  Other than fishing small in calm water with poppers, fly fishing for bass is a long boring day, compounded with moments of complete frustration.  It can be done, but give me a T rig and a baitcaster every time.  Fishing with heavy sinking lines, in order to get down to the bass, is not the kind of fly fishing I want any part of.  The line is hard to cast, and just does not seem like a natural way to fly fish to me. 

 

The short version is, fly fishing is fun for many different species of fish in small rivers, ponds, and some other conditions, but for most bass fishing situations, an angler is far better off using conventional gear.

 

Many of my purist friends are certain I have succumbed to the dark side, but the truth is I never bought in to the purist attitude to start with.  I have even been known to cast a spinner in a pristine trout stream if the rains have blown out the entire river, I drove for hours to get there, and it is the only way to catch a trout.

 

If the conditions are right, I will choose a fly rod every time.  I can also fix a car with a screwdriver a pair of pliers and a Crescent wrench, but I prefer to use the right tool for the job.  The right tool for bass in Mexico is a baitcaster, and that is what I use.

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

50 minutes ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

 

I can tell you right now that I can outfish a gear guy fishing for trout in a river. 

 

Also when I fish for smallies with fly rod I caught so many that I convinced my brother to get into fly fishing.  Catching bream on a fly rod is childs play.

 

Fishing for largemouth? I find subsurface fly fishing in a still water to be incredibly boring. I leave the fly rod at home unless the topwater bite is strong. Even then I prefer to use gear.

 

Great post. I've seen guys slaying smallies using switch rods and making booming 80-90 feet casts with ease.

 

I have rods from 5'3" up to 14' in the basement (used to have a 15' but sold it a while ago) and from 2 to 12 wt.  I never got good with spey casts and similar, but I can do a pretty solid roll with my 11'9" 7 wt (was my steelhead switch type rod for a while) and it will straight overhead cast a shooting head a mile (by that I mean a full head plus running line).

 

I'll contest your trout assertion though with a 'depends on the stream and the time of year'.  My best recent day was 87 trout and at one point I caught 43 or 45 in an hour's time in one spot.  It was as fast as I could get it in the water at that point.  A fly rod would have struggled to get the right drift and unless you were fishing a 5 wt with 8 lb tippet you wouldn't have been able to land them as fast.  You also wouldn't have had any fly line out past the tip so would it really have been fly fishing at that point...  That said, a 75' wide freestone stream with a decent amount of water in it is just made for a fly rod.  

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Flyrods are more fun and there a few situations where flies will catch fish when nothing else will, not so much for bass IME.  When weakfish and fluke are on grass shrimp or tiny silversides, it's almost impossible to present something that small in current as stealthily and efficiently as a flyrod can.  The downside is that it's a lot of work and a spot can be blown out by a couple googans being themselves.

The technique is something you have to learn as well and it takes time.  I used to fly fish everyday as a kid at the stream by my house.  Its too tight to forward cast, so I got really good at side casting accurately.  like anything else you need to do it to keep your skills sharp.  I didn't fly fish for a few years and went to the mountains to catch the green drake hatch and I was rusty as hell lol. 

It really evens out the playing field between the fish and angler.  Every fish you land means a whole lot more on a fly than with conventional gear.     

[TnRiver46]

I also guided fly fishing for many years. I’m with @king fisher, it is most effective in small streams for fish that are eating bugs. I don’t participate much anymore but I can still wax them in a tiny mountain stream if I need to. I’ve got a good friend that guides smallmouth floats and he can really catch a lot of nice fish, river smallies are in tune to the drift and it can be extremely effective. Personally when it comes to bass, I’d rather jack em and fight em on conventional gear 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

4 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

I have rods from 5'3" up to 14' in the basement (used to have a 15' but sold it a while ago) and from 2 to 12 wt.  I never got good with spey casts and similar, but I can do a pretty solid roll with my 11'9" 7 wt (was my steelhead switch type rod for a while) and it will straight overhead cast a shooting head a mile (by that I mean a full head plus running line).

 

I'll contest your trout assertion though with a 'depends on the stream and the time of year'.  My best recent day was 87 trout and at one point I caught 43 or 45 in an hour's time in one spot.  It was as fast as I could get it in the water at that point.  A fly rod would have struggled to get the right drift and unless you were fishing a 5 wt with 8 lb tippet you wouldn't have been able to land them as fast.  You also wouldn't have had any fly line out past the tip so would it really have been fly fishing at that point...  That said, a 75' wide freestone stream with a decent amount of water in it is just made for a fly rod.  

 

Where was it that you caught the 87?

 

I've caught 100 fish a day in Shenandoahs, Wisconsin and out west with Czech Nymphing rigs or on a good caddis day. Those were wild trout not a fake fishery like Taneycomo where there dumping scores of stupid hatchery fish on nearly a daily basis.

 

50% of the time I am fly fishing for trout I am using big streamers and I am just trying to catch the biggest brown trout possible.

 

Also nowadays some guys are using straight mono, granted a much thicker grade. It's still enough weight on the line to make roll casts or just drag and drop. It's still fly fishing, but the presentation is methods are progressive.

[casts_by_fly]

22 minutes ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

 

Where was it that you caught the 87?

 

I've caught 100 fish a day in Shenandoahs, Wisconsin and out west with Czech Nymphing rigs or on a good caddis day. Those were wild trout not a fake fishery like Taneycomo where there dumping scores of stupid hatchery fish on nearly a daily basis.

 

50% of the time I am fly fishing for trout I am using big streamers and I am just trying to catch the biggest brown trout possible.

 

Also nowadays some guys are using straight mono, granted a much thicker grade. It's still enough weight on the line to make roll casts or just drag and drop. It's still fly fishing, but the presentation is methods are progressive.

local stream here in NJ.  I’m not making the point that I’m a stellar trout catcher, just that there are times when a spinning rod will outdo a fly rod for functional reasons. 
 

and I’m with you on the bigs. When we lived in Yorkshire I had a local chalk stream fed lake that had a great $5 nightly pass. You could throw the usual nymphs and catch fish. Some guys would put an egg fly under a float and just keep drifting it (there was a mild current from the inflow).  That was fun sometimes but chucking big streamers is just too much fun. 
 

 

 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

10 hours ago, wasabi_VA said:

I’ve never had much interest in fly fishing, although many a time couldn’t help but notice a fly fisherman catching fish while I couldn’t get a bite. I like the idea of the presentation but it’s the loose line collecting at one’s feet that seems awkward. I mostly kayak fish and think this could just become a tangled mess. That said…still curious

 

Fly fishing, is all about the strike and the fight. Often times it's close combat. When you a jerk stripping a streamer in and some predator fish materializes out of nowhere and hammers your fly it feels very up close and personal.  Same goes for topwater.

 

To answer your question directly,  being new to fly fishing and being in a kayak would be a steep learning curve. 

 

On the one hand between managing the paddle and the loose line you'll have some moments of frustration. And this is true for even experts. Casting from a seated position is also a little different than standing.

 

On the other hand the kayak can get you very close to the fish which gives you an advantage. There is an old couple who fish a lake I frequent who have some of those nice Old Towne Kayaks and they catch Bass, Crappie and even lots of Channel Cats on flies.

4 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

local stream here in NJ.  I’m not making the point that I’m a stellar trout catcher, just that there are times when a spinning rod will outdo a fly rod for functional reasons. 
 

and I’m with you on the bigs. When we lived in Yorkshire I had a local chalk stream fed lake that had a great $5 nightly pass. You could throw the usual nymphs and catch fish. Some guys would put an egg fly under a float and just keep drifting it (there was a mild current from the inflow).  That was fun sometimes but chucking big streamers is just too much fun. 
 

 

 

 

 

The times when a spinning rod out-fishes a fly rod are usually when the river is chocolate and blown out, in which case I go to a lake lol.

 

There is just something about fooling a big feeding fish that you spotted and caught on a imitation of the exact thing he is feeding on.  The rewards are immense.

 

 

[Alex from GA]

I've caught a few small bass on a flyrod while fishing for bluegill but otherwise I'll use another technique. 

[greentrout]

Like spinning gear with a Betts fly using a Torpedo Float -- float-and-fly fishing. Works for Bluegills, Crappies and The Bass.

Good Fishing

[TLHSS]

When the big bluegills are on their beds, I love to fly fish for them. Tons of fun from the bank. Casting distance isn’t important, and you can use inexpensive and light gear. I use a 2wt and a click and pawl reel. I enjoy it just as much as spin bass fishing. 

[Logan S]

Bass on a fly rod are fun, but it's honestly more of a hassle than it's worth to me.  Two different mentalities

 

At it's core, fly fishing isn't connected to competitiveness....Where pretty much every other type of fishing is connected to competitiveness in one way or another - Not in the literal sense of tournaments, but just always thinking that more or bigger fish are 'better'.  

 

I'm sure fly fisherman appreciate more and bigger fish too - But the 'soul' of fly fishing is centered around trout in streams/rivers and it more about making the right cast, with the right fly, to the right fish, at the right time.  Often this includes long hikes, long waits for the conditions to be right, and failed attempts which might require the whole process to be restarted.  It's an entire experience, landing the fish is just a part.  

 

When you take fly fishing to other species like bass for example, it's watered down to just another fishing method...Not in a bad way, just not the same.  So for bass fisherman like us, we can catch bass on the fly....But it doesn't make us fly fisherman.  

 

This is all just my opinion of course....I do fly fish (for trout even), but I wouldn't call myself a fly fisherman.

[Darth-Baiter]

i tried it.  i suck.  i cant cast at all.   to me it is pure poetry watching someone skilled present a fly.  poetry.   and all my poetry starts with "roses are red..."

 

i suck. 

[MN Fisher]

On 3/26/2025 at 8:24 AM, Scott F said:

There is a real challenge to learning to cast. To get the line to lay out properly without getting tangled. Making your own flies and catching something with them can be rewarding.

This is what drew me in back in the 70s. I fished streams up in northern MN for trout and always got a thrill when I caught one on a fly that I'd tied. Got out of it when the AF dumped me in Omaha for four years, and never got back into it.

 

25 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

to me it is pure poetry watching someone skilled present a fly. 

Trust me - it takes LOTS of practice to get that fly even close to your target. Spinning and casting rigs are simple to place lures on target compared to dropping that fly exactly where you want it.

[Rockhopper]

It's an art for sure. And as stated above, it's all about the immersive experience as a whole. No other form of fishing is as satisfying to me than being a mile or two up a small creek away from the world and people. Just me, my rod, nature, and the elusive fatty that could be waiting behind every ripple of water. That's as close to nature that I've ever felt in my life. It's greatly satisfying.

[crypt]

used to fly for bass .....but started flying for Tarpon years ago and quit trying for bass. love the big fish...big rods,big streamers...what a blast...

[GRiver]

My father was what, a lot people called , including me, was a master fly fisherman. He participated  in seminars, would teach youth groups, how to fly fish. He could work a fly, the longest and accurately, and made it look so easy.

 
Now me with a fly rod, I simply cuss too much.