Survey Question

DaveKile

DaveKile

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I am kinda of going against my own rules here by starting a post in this forum, but I am asking a question directed only those new to fly fishing and need your help. I am looking to add more content and blog posts to the site that will help new fly fishing anglers.

What more information you are looking for that would help you with your fly fishing this year? Gear, fly tying, locations to fish, hatches, casting, stream tactics or other ideas you may have. Please respond here in this thread or a Private Message (PM) too.

Thanks for your response.
 
Simplifying the entomology may help.
 
I think it is fine the way it is now. I'm not a fan of junking up web sites with to much specificity. I like things that are appealing to the eye. Right now my eyes are happy. Ok maybe just one little suggestions, maybe a step by step section for fly tying where the more experienced guys can post the step by step process with pictures or videos of each step in tying various flies. I find the videos helpful to an extent but with pictures one can go at beginners speed without having to hit pause.
 
If effort is to be put in to make more organized content, then the content that already exists can be better organized. There is a wealth of information here already. And, a certain beauty is that there is no sanctioned "opinion." To a newcomer, this can be detrimental, unless they are critical thinkers to begin with. Because they have to wade through a lot of BS to get to the gems.

The entomology forum is the place to start, as we attempted some time ago. It lends itself to unquestionable favoritism, which is a good thing because the "correct content" is more easily verified. If you want to preserve the diversity of opinion that make other forums interesting to the readership, then leave those unorganized.

Just my opinion. :cool:
 
How about a 'flies to use this week' sticky thread ?

 
geebee wrote:
How about a 'flies to use this week' sticky thread ?
And how to tie them. That would be great!!
 
I see a series of sticky threads for the beginner, each thread broken down as follows:
1) Equipment
2) Fly lines, Leaders and tippet
3) Knots
4) Hatches and life cycle
5) Types of Flys
6) Casting
7) Trout
8) Streams
9) Finding fish and reading water
10) Presentation
11) Hooking/landing fish, proper handling
12) Weather
13) Researching fishing locations
14) Ethics
 
As a close to beginner, I second this suggestion.

Nice list!

Aducker wrote:
I see a series of sticky threads for the beginner, each thread broken down as follows:
1) Equipment
2) Fly lines, Leaders and tippet
3) Knots
4) Hatches and life cycle
5) Types of Flys
6) Casting
7) Trout
8) Streams
9) Finding fish and reading water
10) Presentation
11) Hooking/landing fish, proper handling
12) Weather
13) Researching fishing locations
14) Ethics
 
Keith and others, the easiest way to 'simplify' entomology is to catch the fly you want to imitate and then duplicate it at the bench.
A trout doesn't know if he's eating a sulphur or a cahill, he only really sees size and color. And color may not be as important as we all think because everything they see is in silhouette.
As for the where and when, most hatch charts are fairly accurate, as to when, for the where it is sometimes questionable. By that I mean just because one stream has a certain fly doesn't mean the next stream in a watershed has it.
Of course someone will come along and say this is bs, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
I think "rules of the road" ettiquette is one of those things that could use more coverage....
these seem to be taken fro granted by vets but not that obvious to newbies

things like:

wading will spoil the pool / riff for a long time - be courteous and avoid doing so if possible

what is a redd and dont step on it
don't wade on sensitive substrates till early spring

give other anglers space, some of them are real privacy freaks



 
This may sound a little crazy at first.

I live in the Philly area - so Im thinking if I could get together with other Philly area Fly Fisherpersons to schedule a Fly Fishing 101 event in the area. The event could/would be posted on the Beginners page.






 
I live in the Philly area - so Im thinking if I could get together with other Philly area Fly Fisherpersons to schedule a Fly Fishing 101 event in the area. The event could/would be posted on the Beginners page.

You're in luck! We have a "newbie jam" in the Allentown area. Usually an indoor day in March or April, where us vets go over the basics (equipment, rigging, tying, entemology, strategy, etc.) and try to help out newbies, followed by some on stream instruction on the Little Lehigh. Quite commonly we have a "newbie brush up" day in the summer where it's all on stream stuff.

I haven't seen that we've picked the date this year yet, but keep your eyes on the events forum, and there will probably be a duplicate in the beginners forum. It's typically set up by Heritage Angler, so if you want you can shoot him a PM.
 
Pcray: I am really thinking more locally Philly/Bucks/Montco Tri area.
 
I'm in Chester and make it up to Allentown to help out with that one. They come in from all over eastern PA.

I'm all for more newbie events, I think one of the best things we do on this board is to bring beginners along. Since both would be SE PA things, though, I'd suggest some coordination for your event with that one. Rather than repeating basically the same thing, it'd be another angle, in addition to. We'd have a whole SE newbie program thing going on.
 
What's the statistics of where the newbies are coming from, that have attended the event in Allen Town?
 
I highly doubt we kept the statistics. But there were a few from all over the eastern side of the state. I'll see if I can find the thread. Certainly people came from further than Philly/Montgo/Bucks.
 
It likely will be held again, but I'll wait for Heritage Angler to add any specifics.

Pennypack, I do not mean to discourage you from organizing such an event, I think it's a great idea. Just was suggesting that given the proximity, we could organize it as a continuation of the same program. i.e. a slightly different approach. The "brush up day" was an add on as well, and was less classroom based and more a chance for hands on teaching.
 
Haven't started any work on the 2014 Newbie Jam, but I will pretty soon.

We've had attendees come for this event from over 3 hours drive away. Last year, L_Soult made a drive about that time, and he sent me a PM stating that he thought it was well worth the drive.

We sometimes have instructors drive 3+ hours to help out at this event - Old Lefty comes to mind.

There are several reasons we have this event at the location(s) we do.

First, we try to have this event before Opening Day of the trout season. This helps prepare the newbies for the upcoming season on all the ATW waters. It also is easier to get instructors that may otherwise be out fishing once the season starts.

We also want to hold the instruction (except the casting and on-stream instruction) indoors. This takes the weather issues out of the equation. We've developed a great rapport with the Wildlands Conservancy in Emmaus. We get to use their nice facility for free, and can access it early in the morning to get things set up. Plenty of room inside, lots of tables and chairs, and it's warm in there! We also have room outside to do the casting instruction.

Since we have this event at the time when ATW's are closed to fishing, we have to have special regs waters nearby. The regs section of the Little Lehigh is just a few minutes away, has easy access for wading anglers and bank fishermen (not all newbies have wading gear), and it fishes well all year long. Plenty of newbies have caught their first trout on the fly at newbie events there.

With the quality of the instructors we typically have at this event, it's a great opportunity to learn the skills needed to flyfish, and best of all, it's totally free of charge!

Keep in mind, there are expenses for both myself, and the instructors. We pay these out of our own pockets, because the newbies are soooo worth it! It's a way for the more experienced members to "pay it forward", and go the extra mile to help our newbies out, as well as attract new members to PAFF.

Some learning experiences are best done face to face, and this event was created to supplement the beginner's forum - not replace it. It's also a great way to meet some of your fellow forum members, make new fishing buddies, and boost the camaraderie here on PAFF.

Due to logistical reasons, I can't do these type of events all over the State, but I CAN do something here in an area that has a large number of PAFF members, and it's within easy driving distance of two of the largest metropolitan areas of PA.

Other members in areas of the state not close by can create their own "Newbie Jams" - just check with Dave Kile before setting something up. He's always been very supportive and appreciative of these kind of events.

H.A.
 
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