How long will it take?

[Brownie101]

Welcome to the site. My first trout on the fly took me about a year. I started off ffing for bass, and I enjoyed using the fly rod. I asked for one for Christmas that year, and I got one. This was about 7 years ago, (I was 13 at the time) and I had this idea that the only trout worth catching was a wild one, and I was too stupid to fish for stockies as a beginner. 9 months later, and about 25 outings, I went to a local stream, which a neighbor told be had "trouts" in it. My first cast under that bridge, Bam! A 8 inch chub. 2 casts later and i had my first trout on a fly, a 7 inch wild brown, on a size 12 PT nymph. The fishing gods must have been looking down on me that day, because i went back to that stream about 20 more times that year and only caught 4 trout. My advice is keep it simple, buy about 10 Pheasant tail nymphs and woolly buggers, and go out and have fun. Its a wonderful sport, and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

 

[geebee]

the first time, in a stocked pond.

the fish parks are a good place.

it was a windy day and i cast out and the wind drifted the line across the pond and one drift after about 45 minutes and wham !

i lost a couple of fish before i landed one then i lost a couple more.

i was using small ptn's or midges/buzzers in red

the next week, i did the same and caught two. the week after no wind so i tried stripping them and caught one.

its trial and error, and practice.

best of luck.

 

[gmillen]

Thanks guys for all the info! I'll just have to practice there is a pond near my house that I can practice for bass on.

 

[gmillen]

I also have a camp along bluejay

pcray1231 wrote:
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.