Never even held a fly rod...

FishInPhilly

FishInPhilly

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
95
Okay, So i was born and raised in Philadelphia, but was routinely at campgrounds and such as a kid so i did my fair share of fishing growing up. Never very formally, but always loved it nonetheless. in my teens, did a good bit of delaware river catfishing.

This year, My brother suggested getting our fishing licenses, and im hooked. I have 3 spinning rods, my trout rod (4'6 with 4# mono) a medium 7" for small cats and bass etc. with braid, and a 7" heavy rod with 50#braid for big cats and whatever else the rivers or ocean can throw at me.

I enjoy the troutfishing the most though due to getting in the water in waders and using lures. its very active and rewarding. Everything i read on trout is fly fly fly. Ive never so much as touched a fly rod, but im intrigued. Im joining to start my research and maybe see if theres a beginner flyrod setup in the classifieds. It seems us spinners get a bit of a bad rap from the "fly guys" heh. either way, hope this leads to something fun. maybe i can get up and running by the time the fish and chips comes around.

Sorry for being so long winded.
 
Welcome.

Streamers (baitfish imitations) may be a good stepping stone for you. They're fished similar to lures.

Redington seems to make decent beginner, budget conscience, fly rods. I would personally recommend an 8'- 9' 5wt for all around trout, and most bass, use.
 
Thanks for the tip brookie! Ill be researching over the next week or 2 and start looking for some gear to get me started. Already have waders and a vest that i use for spinning.
 
Welcome. I started with a cabelas 5 wt that I paid 89 bucks for rod,reel, and fly line. It works fine, it was not a hinderance to learning and I still use it and enjoy it. I also have a reddington 4 wt that I got at a great price.

Both rods are not going to win me awards for best equipped fly fishermen but both are a joy to fish with. Don't buy into the hype, get what you can afford and enjoy.
 
Fishinphilly, welcome. Ready or not try and come to the fish and chips. I am sure there will be plenty of folks who will be willing to lend a hand. I am planning on going. I'm always willing to help.

GenCon
 
I am usually down at PennyPack Park fly fishing on weekends. If you want to, I have some extra gear I can provide you some practices with. There is a multitude of gear available these days and it is easy to get lost in the store and purchase something you may not need or use.

Give me a call
Cell: 267-338-8753
 
Hi fish in philly,

Just wanted to share that most of my story exactly fits your story. The style of fishing i like most is wading around a decent sized river or stream trying to run into fish. Thats what got me interested in this brand of fishing. its much more rewarding than standing arouund a lake or sitting at a bench.
 
So... i read the suggestions, and after work today, I went to dicks. They had a Quarrow trout combo outfit. Its a 5wt combo (8'6" 5pc rod) with line and leader all ready to go and comes with a rodtube with a zipper reel case all attached... box had a $89.99 sticker on it but hook on the wall said $99.99. I got them to give it to me for $89.99 :) picked up 3 packs of dry flys and 3 packs of streamers. grabbed some 3x and 4x leaders, dry fly dressing, and a flycase.

Im off tomorrow, so ill be heading out very early in the AM to Valley Creek to give this a shot. Pennypack, I will see what i can learn tomorrow, and be in touch to do some fishing with you on the pack sometime very soon. I work every 3rd saturday (this saturday) but always off sundays.

Thanks guys for your input, and to this forum for getting me excited and into this new venture. Wish me luck tomorrow!! Ill post back how it goes.
 

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You might want to practice in your yard for a few hours first.
 
FishInPhilly wrote:
So... i read the suggestions, and after work today, I went to dicks. They had a Quarrow trout combo outfit. Its a 5wt combo (8'6" 5pc rod) with line and leader all ready to go and comes with a rodtube with a zipper reel case all attached... box had a $89.99 sticker on it but hook on the wall said $99.99. I got them to give it to me for $89.99 :) picked up 3 packs of dry flys and 3 packs of streamers. grabbed some 3x and 4x leaders, dry fly dressing, and a flycase.

Im off tomorrow, so ill be heading out very early in the AM to Valley Creek to give this a shot. Pennypack, I will see what i can learn tomorrow, and be in touch to do some fishing with you on the pack sometime very soon. I work every 3rd saturday (this saturday) but always off sundays.

Thanks guys for your input, and to this forum for getting me excited and into this new venture. Wish me luck tomorrow!! Ill post back how it goes.

I recommend you visit one of the local fly shops listed in the "Southeast" section of the PAFF shop listings to help you get started.

Fly Shops

Some shops even give fly fishing lessons and/or casting lessons. Also in July there is a newbie teaching class on here called Fish n' Chips.
 
Try to make fish n chips. I went to the newbie brush up day ( not able to have one this year due to busy schedules im assuming) and it really helped me. Fish n chips will be same as far as getting some help. There will be tons of knowledge at this event and people willing to help.

Also recommend practice casting but if you practice doing it the wrong way you could develop bad habits and its harder to break those habits after doing it awhile.
 
Ok so I get some good casts... but inconsistent. Had 3 bites on dry flies but missed all 3. Switched to spinning and reeled in 2 around 10 inches on a suspending twitch. Just switched spots and im gonna get back on the flies. I wanna land one.
 
Remember to pause on the forward and back cast and let the line load the rod. You'll feel a slight pull from the line. You're casting the line, not a weighted lure.

For setting the hook, just lift the rod straight up when you see the fish take it. Too much of a "bass" hook set will pull the fly away from the fish.
 
Trout are really difficult on PennyPack Creek this time of the year. The sunnies and blue gills normally will beat a trout to the strike. Trout will spook very easy and even the softest landings will send them fleeing. This is when I look at it as a blessing when I do catch a trout there.

Soon I will abandon the nymphing all together and go with top water poppers. The action is incredible. There is a speed just fast enough to keep most sunnies and blue gills from hitting and where the bass will just punce.

Average size of smallies is around 8 - 10 inches. I have caught larger ones (up to 3 lbs) in this creek.

Another good creek not to far away is the Nashiminy. Let me know what your up for.
 
Well, I didnt land any. I certainly need to work on my casting. The short5-10 foot casts i can pull off with relative accuracy. But all of my long casts end up 15 feet shorter than i intend and hit the water in a nest of line.

I have an idea of what im doing wrong. I think its habits from river casting and going from 2 o clock to 8 o clock on the power stroke and not waiting long enough for my back cast to unfurl. Correct me if i'm wrong.

is sidearm casting a bad habit to pick up? because for short casts that seemed to be my go to.
 
the answer to side arm is no. There are areas of all creeks/rivers where that side arm is needed. mainly under trees. I also use the side arm to skip my flies a couple times across the water. Some would think that it is not as accurate - but with constant practice - I feel that mine is just as effective.

Most important is taking your time with each cast and getting to know your equipment.

What type of line are you using? Weight Forward, Sinking, etc. Store bought leaders and tippets to home made ones, These all play into the art of fly fishing.
 
PennypackFlyer wrote:
the answer to side arm is no. There are areas of all creeks/rivers where that side arm is needed. mainly under trees. I also use the side arm to skip my flies a couple times across the water. Some would think that it is not as accurate - but with constant practice - I feel that mine is just as effective.

Most important is taking your time with each cast and getting to know your equipment.

What type of line are you using? Weight Forward, Sinking, etc. Store bought leaders and tippets to home made ones, These all play into the art of fly fishing.

It is weight forward line, it came with a tapered leader and tippet already tied to it. i changed out the whole leader towards the end with a 3x tapered leader i bought from dicks, but didnt have any tippet (forgot about that in my shopping trip to dicks)
 
Once I got a grasp of balancing the fly to the leader/tippet my casts improved immensely. 3x seems a little heavy for a dry but of course that is dependant on the size of your fly. If your line is landing short in a coil then the weight of your fly is collapsing the tippet. But that don't seem possible with a 3x leader unless your fishing a ginormous fly.

I'm new to fly fishing as well but maybe some of the more experienced can chime in on balancing the entire system
 
Thanks for the tip poopdeck. I watched the entire orvis video lesson compilation ladt night. I just have to convert brain to hands. Ill spend hours practice casting with yarn on my tippet and try and get the motions to stick without developing bad habits haha
 
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