Fly Fishing Is Simple

[JackM]

I wanted to sum up my seven years of experience and learning.

The simple key to successful fly fishing is to get your imitation to be seen by a fish when it is in the mood to feed in such a way that the fish thinks that your imitation is food.

Why does everyone make it seem so difficult? :-?

 

[MattBoyer]

The Devil's in the details, my friend. ;-)

Boyer

 

[schrec]

I wanted to sum up my seven years of experience and learning.
The simple key to successful fly fishing is to get your imitation to be seen by a fish when it is in the mood to feed in such a way that the fish thinks that your imitation is food.
Why does everyone make it seem so difficult?


Jack,
To me, it seems that much of fly fishing's difficulty stems from the very "points of simplicity" you make.

"Seen by a fish when it's in the mood to eat."

READING WATER AND TIMING: Of course for a fish to see your fly you need to first find the fish: Are they in that seam on the far side of the river? Perhaps in the riffles or pocket water? And when would the best time be? During a hatch? After a spate? When temps drop? When fish are in the mood to eat nothing but duns? Nymphs? Emergers? Etc...


"In such a way that the fish thinks that your imitation is food."

PRESENTATION: Do you present upstream without drag to imitate a helpless dun drying its wings. Or downstream with a skitter to imitiate a caddis? Or perhaps an emerger in the surface film? Or maybe a streamer down and across with the slightest twitch? Etc...


rising trout always,
schrec

 

[tomgamber]

Shrec,

For those of you who actually didn't hate the movie..."again, half as long..."

You just too a simplification and made it complicated.

 

[schrec]

Tom
Then perhaps is wan't a simplification after all.

 

[CaptMatt]

tomgamber wrote:
Shrec,

For those of you who actually didn't hate the movie..."again, half as long..."

You just too a simplification and made it complicated.

How could anyone hate that movie?

 

[Maurice]

Jack,

I've found that people who oversimplify the effort involved in a task know less about the task than they believe they do.

If it is so easy, everybody would do it.

Give a fly rod to a guy with spin gear and tell him to catch fish...on his own.

Why did it take me a full year to catch on ly one fish on a fly rod?

Why does this board exist?? Surely not to flatten the learning curve to something as simple as fly fishing.

Maybe your title should read...Fly fishing is simple for someone with eight years experience.

Or maybe, People who can't learn to flyfish like me are simple.

I can remember your "pie eyed" posts at the beginning of it all...How soon we forget. Try to teach someone how to fly fish and see how easy it is...Even if it is easy for you it can be difficult to convey the details to the unknowing.


Maurice

 

[Padraic]

Chess is pretty simple. The objective of poker is pretty clear. Building a house of cards doesn't require a lot of instruction.

I agree with you on many levels, and yet it never seems to work out to be as simple as it should be.

 

[JackM]

I thought it was complicated when I started, because no one bothered to explain it in the simple terms I've arrived at. But relax, I think that Shrec and Matt were onto something.

 

[jayL]

How about we all agree that it's often voluntarily overcomplicated... but many people get a kick out of that.

I'm a hybrid of the two camps. 99% of my flies are just 12 patterns tied by the boxful and i catch almost all of my trout on them. Then I turn around and build my own rod and fish "highly technical" hatches with the other 1% of the flies.

I agree with JackM's sentiment when it comes to these volumes on entimology, trout biology, moon phases, etc. on the other hand, I also see how exciting all of this can be to some people.

I think (please correct me if i mis-state anything, jack) that maybe jack is trying to parse out the "need to know"s from the "might want to know if that's your kinda thing"s for the newbies.

I recommend picking up a john gierach book to see this whole delicate balance described in an elegant, funny manner.

 

[JackM]

I wanted to resist explaining my motives for my statement of the key to success. I expected calling it "simple" might ruffle a few feathers, but I'm just relieved that nobody has disagreed with my formulation of it. This might mean I'm onto something as well.

By the way, some years ago I took up Golf. While coming off 18 after a horrible round, a complete stranger recognized the look of frustration and defeat on my face and said: "Don't worry about it. It's a dumb game that will never catch on." I never laughed so hard and at the same time gained so much insight about myself and these types of pursuits as I did from that pithy comment from a wise stranger.

 

[jayL]

See, that's the thing about golf/fishing/going to a phillies game/ anything that can occasionally make your blood boil.

You can put them in perspective like that....

Also, they all lend themselves wonderfully to a few cold ones afterward, and who doesn't like that?

 

[afishinado]

Fly fishing is a great sport. It can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be.

I have a friend that studies entomology and has knowledge of every hatch imaginable. He ties flies in six different stages of development to meet each hatch. He has a great time catching fish.

I also have a friend that has a thirty year old Eagle Claw fiberglass fly rod with a gang of wet flies tied on with 10lb test line. He uses the same three flies all season. He has a great time catching fish.

I could never figure which one is right or wrong. I guess the most important thing is to go out and have a great time catching fish!

 

[ryguyfi]

i think afishanado hit it right on the head. If you're content with what you're doing, and you're catching fish, continue to do it. Where the answer ends the questions begin. Its human nature to do things better than you did before. I started fly fishing... tied some of those flies i bought on and caught a few (and i mean a few) fish. Why struggle through hours of fishing to catch one fish if you can research and find new techniques out to catch 10 fish. That may be just me but I kinda think it isnt. I havent had much fishing time in the past few months from weather, job, wife, etc. But the knowledge I gained from this site I know has helped me become a better fisherman and more likely result in catching more fish. Its as simple as you want to make it. My simplicity is learning as much as possible within my limits. Someone elses might be tying on an adams or PT every day and catching fish with it. Einstein's theory of relativity.

 

[troutbert]

Flyfishing is easy. But it takes 7 years to learn just the basics.

Basketball is easy too. Throw ball in hoop.

 

[ryanh]

Jack what you say is right on, however from reading your posts for several years I am suspect that you are simplifying something. You have a way with words...ie if it takes me 10 words to say something it would take you three paragraphs although it would be said way better your way. So knowing this I think that you are leading us to some preconceived outcome of your own.....


Maybe I am in the terminal stages of cabin feever but I think that you intended to spark the debate.

Nuclear fission is simply splitting an atom.

To achieve this little step thousands of men have devoted their life's work to the unraveling the hundreds of precursers that allow you to get to this simple step.

Maybe many people make it complicated because they have not figgured out that it is that mechanical and simple. I love it for the amount of mysticism involved in flyfishing (even if 50% of my mysticism occurs while inebriated).

 

[jayL]

If we are gonna get philosophical...

I've found that if you just jump into a philosophical conversation and say "it's like an onion. you can keep peeling layers", and everyone applauds your insight You don't even have to know the subject. It's great for parties.

I just thought i'd throw that one out there.

 

[JackM]

Steve Martin used to tell a joke that went something like this:

I found the secret to getting a million dollars without paying taxes: first, get a million dollars....

 

[albatross]

Seems to me the real trick is guaging the mood of the fish!

 

[littlejuniata]

true: But in classic dry fly fishing the key is to eliminate drag. Best description of drag from a trouts point of view, is to relate the deal to yourself, you sit down to eat, look at your plate of food and something is MOVING!!