Second time out...casting better, still no fish...

[mgh-pa]

Well, I made it out again this evening for the second time. A budddy of mine from work who is a long-time flyfisherman went with me to fish a few parts of Lycoming. He showed me some tying tips (showed me how to tie loops on the end of my leader and line). He managed to land three rainbows, but I came up empty. My casting is getting better as I'm getting more patient on the backcast. I also tried an indicator this time, but it seems sometimes it would get tangled with my lower half of the leader. I fished some sort of special nymph that he tied and an olive bugger, but to no avail. I hope it comes together soon

 

[Fishidiot]

Mgh,
Sounds like you're doing all the right things as well as recognizing your own improvement in casting. Stick with it. You'll soon be hooked up.

 

[osprey]

mgh-pa............i don't want to sound like a broken record but my suggestion , espescially right now , is to find a place , pond , lake , just a body of water that you know holds bluegills , while you're catching and releasing fish after fish you will be learning all the aspects of casting , fly rod control , catching landing and releasing , you do that just once in between trips for trout and i promise you will realize the value of it later. The main thing though is remember , no matter what else HAVE FUN!!

 

[mgh-pa]

osprey wrote:
mgh-pa............i don't want to sound like a broken record but my suggestion , espescially right now , is to find a place , pond , lake , just a body of water that you know holds bluegills , while you're catching and releasing fish after fish you will be learning all the aspects of casting , fly rod control , catching landing and releasing , you do that just once in between trips for trout and i promise you will realize the value of it later. The main thing though is remember , no matter what else HAVE FUN!!

I know, and my cabin is only a 15 minute drive with a fully stocked pond :-D I've never fished it with a fly rod obviously, and haven't even fished still water with my flyrod yet. Would I be best with a multi-purpose dry or throw out a heavy-weighted nymph like a bugger and strip it back in?

 

[osprey]

For fun factor and for the education , the casting and rod control especially i'd go with the dry fly , don't forget to smash the barbs down and take a pair of forceps or needle nose pliers with you , if it's your pond and you like to eat fish though........bluegills are pretty good tablefare.

 

[gfen]

I was coming here to suggest blue gills as a confidence builder.

Just tie on a fluffy little size 16 dry fly and watch it get hammered relentlessly. Its so much fun, I might goto a pond myself tomorrow.

 

[k-bob]

I like bluegill fishing with a fly rod, it's fun to see the fish hit dry flies, and it's a great way to learn to cast where you want to.

But remember that to catch bluegills on a still pond or lake, you move the dry fly across the water, and when you get back to trout on a stream, you usually let the current carry the fly over the fish.

 

[goodfortune]

Where there are Bluegill, there are most likely Largemouth Bass too . In addition to the other suggestions, try a #8 popper or slider.

A popper or slider of this size will be small enough to fit in the mouth a good-sized Bluegill, and yet be large enough to interest a Bass. You can also use heavier tippet (3X) as Bluegill and Bass tend not to be leader-shy, at least in my (limited) experience.

Have fun; pond fishing can be a lot of fun too :-D

 

[mgh-pa]

Thanks, guys. Our pond is strictly trout, so it should be a good place to practice the landing/hooking at least. I hope to possibly get out this weekend, maybe even this week.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

Caught a nice sized blue gill the other day on my flyrod. I have a few spots I go to for blue gills.

Trust me I have just as much fun with bluegills as I do catching trout. Thats why I want a 2 or 3 weight.

When you see a half dozen 7"-8" inch bluegills swimming from all directions racing to inhale your little fly, you'll be hooked.