First Trout on the fly!

[SleepySheep]

My first trout on the fly rod! Several of them in fact! A big shout out to Nymph-wristed, who answered my pleas on this forum for some guidance, and came out to the Wissahickon to mentor me. He taught me how to dial in a dead drift, and all the various little skills that come with it. He dispensed a ton of knowledge and helped me learn more about trout behavior than I ever picked up spin fishing. Even after he left, I was able to pull out a few more trout by applying his methods to spots we hadn't hit yet, so I'd say he definitely imparted some wisdom, and improved my confidence on the fly rod immeasurably.

Couldn't ask for a kinder, more patient teacher. Thanks Nymph! I owe ya one.

(PS: Am I allowed to plug his blog? You should check out Nymph's blog: https://sickdaysfishing.blogspot.com/)

 

[turkey]

Well this is a first for me as well. I've seen several sheep angling whilst astream but never wearing a proper hat. Excellent post

 

[SleepySheep]

Well this is a first for me as well. I've seem several sheep angling whilst astream but never wearing a proper hat. Excellent post

Of course I'm wearing a hat, gotta keep my wool outta my eyes

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Yo Sheep, love the sheep head!

It was a pleasure to hang with you. I thought it would be a couple hours, but I guess we didn't part ways until about 1 PM? I guess the Sheep is good company too!

 

[SleepySheep]

Yo Sheep, love the sheep head!

It was a pleasure to hang with you. I thought it would be a couple hours, but I guess we didn't part ways until about 1 PM? I guess the Sheep is good company too!

Time really did fly by didn't it? Had a blast hangin' out with ya. If you ever need a fishing buddy for a day, let me know!

 

[jifigz]

Dang man, you might want to go to a doctor.

Congratulations.

 

[tztrout]

And a dentist- way to go!

 

[Bamboozle]

Super props to Nymph-Wristed for stepping up and mentoring and congratulations to "Lamb Chop" for a job well done!!

BTW - Did you manage to catch any of those goldfish I saw swimming in the Wissahickon the day I was fishing there with Poor Richard??

 

[SleepySheep]

Coincidentally, I saw a doctor on Monday and the Dentist today. They both said I've got to cut back on grazing. The grass is really going to my gut.

Super props to Nymph-Wristed for stepping up and mentoring and congratulations to "Lamb Chop" for a job well done!!

BTW - Did you manage to catch any of those goldfish I saw swimming in the Wissahickon the day I was fishing there with Poor Richard??

Thank you! Nymph is now my personal fishing hero. He's such a good teacher he should probably be getting paid to do it.

The goldfish in the Wissahickon have ignored everything I've ever put in front of them!

 

[Bamboozle]

Coincidentally, I saw a doctor on Monday and the Dentist today. They both said I've got to cut back on grazing. The grass is really going to my gut...

Don't take offense but I had a grilled lamb chop at my favorite Italian restaurant (in Lebanon, PA if you can believe that) this past Saturday...

It was delicious so tell your friends to keep grazing...

...The goldfish in the Wissahickon have ignored everything I've ever put in front of them!

I hear dough balls made from this stuff is the bomb on the Wissahickon goldfish...


There might even be a "goldfish" pellet fly out there if you have already become a purist.

 

[SleepySheep]

Don't take offense but I had a grilled lamb chop at my favorite Italian restaurant (in Lebanon, PA if you can believe that) this past Saturday...

It was delicious so tell your friends to keep grazing...



I hear dough balls made from this stuff is the bomb on the Wissahickon goldfish...

View attachment 1641235761
There might even be a "goldfish" pellet fly out there if you have already become a purist.

I hope you ate Steven, that guy has been hogging up all the best parts of the pasture.

I can't be a purest though, because I'm a life lister. I do fully intend to explore the limits of what fish will take a fly and what species won't. Do you think there is a fly that darters would like? Has anyone here ever caught a spotfin shiner on the fly? What about suckers?

 

[Bamboozle]

I hope you ate Steven, that guy has been hogging up all the best parts of the pasture...

It was an Italian restaurant and I kept hearing the name "Stefano' being called out back in the kitchen so it might have been him...

...I can't be a purest though, because I'm a life lister. I do fully intend to explore the limits of what fish will take a fly and what species won't. Do you think there is a fly that darters would like? Has anyone here ever caught a spotfin shiner on the fly? What about suckers?

I've caught suckers on a fly but not with a lot of regularity and more than few shiners if you are willing to go really small like fly sizes from 28 - 32.

I've even caught a few shiners & dace on bare hooks but I guess that doesn't qualify as "fly fishing."

 

[SleepySheep]

It was an Italian restaurant and I kept hearing the name "Stefano' being called out back in the kitchen so it might have been him...



I've caught suckers on a fly but not with a lot of regularity and more than few shiners if you are willing to go really small like fly sizes from 28 - 32.

I've even caught a few shiners & dace on bare hooks but I guess that doesn't qualify as "fly fishing."

Geeze, a size 32 hook? Even my tanago hooks are size 30! What size tippet do ya even use for flies that small?

 

[whheff]

Congrats.

 

[Facemelted]

Nice! Welcome to the addiction.

 

[Bamboozle]

Geeze, a size 32 hook? Even my tanago hooks are size 30! What size tippet do ya even use for flies that small?

7X or 8X...

Do you really do the micro fishing (Tanago) thing or was that a joke because I'm into it big time.

 

[SleepySheep]

7X or 8X...

Do you really do the micro fishing (Tanago) thing or was that a joke because I'm into it big time.

Oh it's no joke. I always keep a card of pre-rigged tanago hooks with me, which I've fished on my ultralight spinning rod very effectively.

Now that I've cast away my ul gear to a dark corner in favor of my new favorite child, my fly rod, I'm thinking about purchasing a telescoping tanago rod as a side arm.

 

[Bamboozle]

Oh it's no joke. I always keep a card of pre-rigged tanago hooks with me, which I've fished on my ultralight spinning rod very effectively.

Now that I've cast away my ul gear to a dark corner in favor of my new favorite child, my fly rod, I'm thinking about purchasing a telescoping tanago rod as a side arm.

I do the micro fishing thing in the summer when I have a little time to kill...

I have one 7' seiryu rod which is better if there is a chance of catching "bigger" fish, a 5' tanago rod and another 3' tanago rod coming to me from Japan later this summer.

I use straight 7X as my line and although I like the tanago hooks, they are snelled and when you catch the tiny fish I am targeting, you need a micro hook disgorger or you will kill them.

Constantly running that snell knot through a disgorger eventually makes it work loose so I use size 30 & 32 fly eyed fly hooks most often.

It's funny though, even though I have more than a few midges in my micro fishing box, the little dace and other really small fish barely give them a look. For me bait is king for this kind of fishing...

...the hard part is baiting a hook that small.

 

[SleepySheep]

...
It's funny though, even though I have more than a few midges in my micro fishing box, the little dace and other really small fish barely give them a look. For me bait is king for this kind of fishing...
---

Yeah, that's why I probably can't become a fly fishing purist, even though I understand the draw. I think some species aren't going to be enticed by anything but bait!

I use straight 7X as my line and although I like the tanago hooks, they are snelled and when you catch the tiny fish I am targeting, you need a micro hook disgorger or you will kill them.

I've had pretty good luck hooking micros without killin' em, but sometimes rely on tweezers for deeper hooksets.

Where does one find a micro disgorger? Or is it something you make yourself?

 

[Bamboozle]

I've had pretty good luck hooking micros without killin' em, but sometimes rely on tweezers for deeper hooksets.

Where does one find a micro disgorger? Or is it something you make yourself?

After bending tiny fine tanago hooks with hemostats and messing up the snell knot, I went searching for something better and was lucky enough to get some of the Drennan micro disgorgers before things got beyond ridiculous with eBay and freight from the UK.

Now eBay forces sellers over there to use eBay's freight partners and they want about $30 to ship something that costs a dollar or two.

I've been trying for a while now to get a couple of extra of the "match sized" disgorgers which sometimes work better on bigger fish. There is a US based Drennan dealer but the freight cost is still a joke unless I build an order to get free freight but I don't need anything else...

I have also used the "midge" size of the Ketchum Release but the Drennan micro disgorger still works the best. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to fabricate something but you want it to be super smooth so it doesn't hurt the fish.

FWIW - Because I have fat fingers, I need a disgorger on almost every micro I catch. I found that having them at the ready is key to releasing the fish quickly. For that reason I have them hanging from my neck on a lanyard I made.