How long will it take?

[gmillen]

I was just thinking about how long it will take to catch fish flyfishing because. This is my first year I will be going out. And was wondering how long it took you guys to catch your first trout flyfishing.And any tips that might help out on the stream I will mostly be going for brook and brown trout on a steam called little mahonning fly project and tionesta river in forest county if you guys have heard of those. I've heard the wooly bugger would be simple and effective and will be fishing with a redington crosswater.
Any info is apriciated i'm new to the art.

Thanks Garrett Millen....
;-)

 

[NickR]

Took me forever.... I was a little kid. I used to cry annd run away from my Dad when he used to try to pull me off the stream. I wonder why he didnt beat the crap out of me. Hang around this forum long enough and you will pick up plenty of tips.

 

[LongLineRelease]

Small world- I got my start, my very first fly fishing excursions, on Little Mahoning. I was probably 12 or 13. That was a lot of years ago and trust me when I say its still tough and frustrating. But you have to stick with it. It may take a long time. Fishing for tougher fish under more exacting conditions is all part of fly fishing and especially project waters.

As far as specific advice for Little Mahoning, a woolly bugger is just fine. But consider learning to fish wetflies on the downstream swing. This is one of the easiest ways to fish and I know from experience a beginner can catch fish in that stream using this tactic. Look up some of the many threads on here about wet fly fishing. the good news is these are mostly stocked fish, so they are a little easier to catch when they are fresh and haven't been fished over by a million guys.

 

[sarce]

When I started flyfishing I spent a year on a pond catching bluegills and bass. This taught me how to cast and hook and land fish long before I tried going after trout. My first time flyfishing for trout, I caught two stocked rainbows. The first one took a woolly bugger ;-) Four years later the woolly bugger is still my go-to fly.

 

[RCFetter]

Welcome to the forum. You'll be getting some expert advice.

 

[StarvinMarvin]

I think it depends with your fishing background? if you are skilled in drifting bait, then you will have no problem nymphing or dry fly fishing. If your good at throwing hardware the wolly bugger will do well, and try to surround yourself with a couple of guys that know what theyre doing. The sooner you get out the better too, dont wait especially early in the season the fish are hungry and I find that they are easier to catch now rather than later, then after the guys get the itch off it gets easier again. starting with this week's warmup i think the fishing is going to be great!

 

[BlkLgbEaDheAd09]

+1 on bluegills. first you must learn the basics, and there will be little room for frustrations on a trout stream. lear how to present the fly, practice your hook set, and retrieve on some panfish. your technique will come much easier on the trout stream once youve had some practice. good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[PennKev]

gmillen wrote:
Any info is apriciated i'm new to the art.

It's not art. It's fishing.

Don't get caught up in the romantic, mystical mumbo-jumbo. You'll start catching fish sooner if you take a pragmatic approach to the sport.

Also, I've mentioned numerous times on other threads that reading the water is the most important factor in success. The biggest difference between the guys catching fish and the guys who aren't is where they are fishing. One of the biggest mistakes i see guys doing is wasting a lot of time trying to cover wide, long, fairly shallow, featureless flats. Unless you see actively feeding fish there, this is not a recipe for success.

Depending on how much fishing experience you laready have, it could take a while, or you may pick it up very quickly. When I started I had several years of trout fishing experience and almost as much experience fishing for panfish with flies. It was an easy transition.

Kev

 

[FiveWeight]

gmillen wrote:
I was just thinking about how long it will take to catch fish flyfishing because. This is my first year I will be going out. And was wondering how long it took you guys to catch your first trout flyfishing.And any tips that might help out on the stream I will mostly be going for brook and brown trout on a steam called little mahonning fly project and tionesta river in forest county if you guys have heard of those. I've heard the wooly bugger would be simple and effective and will be fishing with a redington crosswater.
Any info is apriciated i'm new to the art.

Thanks Garrett Millen....
;-)

Your making way too much out of this. All fly fishing is, is another way to present a fly/lure to the fish. Try not to make a science project out of all the hype you see, hear and read. It really isn't that tough. Have fun.

 

[pcray1231]

I'm very familiar with both streams, but especially the Tionesta. We have a camp on German Hill and I have fished it all my life, probably consider it my "home" stream. Most familiar with the lower end, from say Blue Jay down to Kelletville.

Bug life is pretty caddis centered. Mayflies have been making a very noticable comeback the last few years. But it doesn't have near the bug life of nearby streams like Oil Creek. I've seen sporadic risers at times, and done well on wet flies during what passes as a "hatch" there. But generally I do best with "non-bugs" there. They stock mostly bows in the early stockings and I do the best by far with egg imitations. Later in the season they stock mostly browns, and woolly buggers and streamers in general do best. Also, the stream has a ridiculous number of crayfish. Late in the season as brown trout fade to smallies, you can do well for both on crayfish imitations.

It is very cold in the early season, sometimes making fishing tough. The old "it's the direction of change, not the actual temperature" holds pretty well, if the weather is on a warming trend things are good, cold fronts put it off. And it warms quickly, transitioning to bass water in late May/early June. But it's stocked heavy, it's big and long and the people spread out, and thus fishing can be very good for a few weeks there. The whole system is also loaded with small wild brookie streams, which fish best in June right as the Tionesta is transitioning to warmwater. Plus, umm, Oil is within striking distance, with better hatches, more dry fly opportunities, and the cool water/good fishing typically holds on longer, into early July on a cooler/wetter year.

As far as how long it takes to catch fish. I transitioned from bait/spin fishing, which was a big help. I already had most of the skills in regards to knowing when and where and with what to fish, reading water, etc. I was catching a few after only 2-3 outings. And I progressively got better from there. It still took me 4 or 5 years, and probably around 500 outings, to get to the point where I was outfishing my old bait fishing self. You gotta have fun with the learning process, or else you'll inevitably quit and go back to bait where the catching is often easier.

 

[Midge22]

I grew up just a few miles from Little Mahoning. Fishing there is always tuff. my best days have came on white zonker streamers and just plain white buggers. need any info on it feel free to email me at any time, ill help ya out as best i can!

 

[dryflyguy]

One of the keys to flyfishing success IMO, is knowing when, and where to go. And that usually comes from experience.
It would be a big plus if you could find a mentor to show you the ropes.

Good luck

 

[pwk5017]

I was one of the "unlucky ones" that had never fished for trout with spinning equipment. I really had never fished moving water much before starting to fly fish. I had to learn the mechanics of fly fishing and trout theory simultaneously. Combine my inexperience with the fact that I started fly fishingaround the first of january, and you can understand why it took me about a montht to catch my first spring creek brown. Man, I froze so many days trying to get a fish. Once you get the first one, its a snowball effect from there on out. I feel like you could blind fold me and I would still do well on spring.

 

[Maurice]

dryflyguy wrote:
One of the keys to flyfishing success IMO, is knowing when, and where to go. And that usually comes from experience.
It would be a big plus if you could find a mentor to show you the ropes.

Good luck

While this is good advice, keep in mind dryflyguy fishes only dry flies. This narrows his opportunities significantly especially in winter. Other times of year it narrows his time of day. He chooses to fish this way and has become quite proficient at it based on his advice above.

But make no mistake, there are alot of fish to be had all day, all year dredging nymphs. And this involves many more techniques and reading of the water than just the stealth, fly selection, serenity and careful planning of dry fly fishing.

I opened my first year with a fly rod using mostly drys found that it was not not really successful. I made alot of trips and went fishless on many, many of them. Of course I was coming from a spinning for trout background and the streams I knew were not known for wild trout nor hatches. Like trying to drum fish up with the tom toms.

Once I started nymphing I began catching fish. Then I started to fish streamers, all the while itching to put on dry flies. When the fish revealed themselves on top, I went back to what I felt I was doing it for. Dry fly fishing. But for the majority of the first few years I mostly nymphed and fished streamers.

As I branched out to better streams and began to realize the vast opportunities of wild trout and their higher quality hatches, I began chasing hatches with Charlie Mecks book under the seat of my jeep. Dwights wouldn't fit, Sorry Dwight.

My enjoyment grew tremendously and I began to put together when and where to fish and what tactics to use when and where.

So my simple advice is this.....


Get some basic nymphs, a pole and reel and go out and dredge up some trouts nymphing or swinging wets to keep you busy while you learn the significance of hatches and locations/time of year to hit them. It is simply too much info to learn right way. Let the fish tell you when to put on a dry fly observe the water and surroundings, Absorb, suck up any knowledge a fellow flyfisher gives out along stream or here and enjoy yourself while doing so.

This is a great past time and can lead you into literally dozens perspectives on flyfishing. Who knows you may become a dry fly guy yourself.

 

[dryflyguy]

I actually caught fish during my first fly fishing excursion on stonefly nymphs. My mentor set me up pretty good (I guess). If it wasn''t for him, I would have been very frustrated.

 

[barbless]

It took a long time for me to catch my first trout, once I got started again.

Although you never can tell- on my very first outing after I got back into the game, a huge trout on Penn's ate my fly- the cheapest wet March brown tie imaginable, a Japanese make from my 1970s fly box, big duck quill wing with too much hackle and a tan chenille body on a #12 hook- right in front of me. I saw the drift, the white of trout's mouth as it opened. But I didn't hook the fish, because I had tied my tippet with a defective blood knot. It unraveled in the water and came loose before the trout even took.

Then I realized- wait, that actually happened.

So remember to pay attention to the basics. A solid line-leader-fly connection. A leader that turns over. Practice your knots at home. (I usually use a double surgeon's knot for tying tippets these days.) Don't be in a hurry on the stream. Move quiet and slow. Try to spot fish in the water. Don't thrash the same pool to oblivion all afternoon. 20 minutes tops, unless fish are rising.

And don't think that there's no way you can catch anything, just because you're a beginner.

I started off going after sunnies in the very beginning, when I was about 13.

 

[greenghost]

Tie on a black wooly bugger, size 10. Crimp a split shot or two to get the fly down fairly close to the bottom. Keep tossing it into "fishy" looking spots. You should catch something on the first trip... especially early in the season. As Penn Kev so astutely put. It ain't art. It's fishing.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I caught 2 wild browns on my first flyfishing trip. My friend who has many years flyfishing experience took me to Penns Creek on a nice warm mid-march afternoon. I caught them both on a size 18 BWO nymph. I have been hooked (pun intended )ever since. Hang in there and do not give up. The longer you fish and the more experience you get the more confidence you will have in your ability to catch fish.I remember being happy with 3 or 4 trout for a trip. My expections are somewhat higher now. You will find out however no matter how good you think you are sometimes the trout are just not hungry. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Chaz]

Welcome!
It took me several outing over a couple of years before catching my first trout on a fly, but what fun when I learned a bit more about Ffing.

 

[djs12354]

Welcome to the jungle.

It took me over a month to get my first trout "on the fly" and about 30 minutes to get the next one.

I've been fortunate to have some good friends who are determined to see me catch fish and have worked on my techniques.

If you can, come to the Newbie Jam on March 16th and let people know you are still looking for your first trout. You will get plenty of assistance.

Dave