How long were you into fly fishing until you started to really figure it out?

The responses have all been awesome and very helpful. This site and its members is/are fantastic. Thank you all!

buymanfishheday said:

The responses have all been awesome and very helpful. This site and its members is/are fantastic. Thank you all!

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I must mirror your thoughts about the the moderators and members being helpful.

Some days I got it....
Some days I am humbled by the fish...
But every day is a learning opportunity!

Great thread!!

JimNovo said:

Some days I got it....
Some days I am humbled by the fish...
But every day is a learning opportunity!

Great thread!!

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To quote Tom Petty, "Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks"

I figure 72 years give or take a few .Still working on my undertow cast . GG

Another newbie here, 4 months into “figuring it out”. So far I have it locked down that the end of the rod with the round thing full of string is the end you hold. I look at fly fishing as not a destination to reach by figuring it all out, but more of a series of life experiences to savor and enjoy. If that means I learn something new along the way, so be it but it isn’t the end all be all

Some things I’ve figured out over the last 55 years of fishing:
- Fishing is better after 9:00 AM
- Fishing in the rain sucks
- If your not catching fish your not fishing deep enough
- Fly fishing is just fishing. It’s not a Rubix’s cube

Close to a year. I grew up fishing with spinning gear, and by the time I was a teenager was a hardcore minnie guy, and quite good at it. Got a fly tying vice, bobbin and thread to make my own minnow rigs. My grandfather fly fished before my time but the rest of my family were spinning guys. My dad ended up in possession of a rod, which he rarely used.

In college I spent a long summer out west on an internship. Idaho/Yellowstone area. I took both spinning rod and fly rod. All the serious guys out there were fly fishermen, I used both, caught a few on streamers using old minnow tactics, but I didn't know what I was doing. Did buy a fly rod. I followed that up by living for over a year in Potter County, where a coworker introduced me to the hatch scene. I was about half and half at that point, but far more successful with spinning gear.

From there I moved to State College for 3 years of grad school and thats when I really dived in and became determined to learn. Set down the spinning rod to get rid of the crutch. Took my lumps for a while, got on FFP's message board, learned a ton, fished with a bunch of experienced guys, had lots of conversations with Steve Sywensky in the shop, read all of Humphries stuff and watched his vids, spent over 150 days on the water per year. And it probably took a year of that before my catch rates caught back up to where I was with the spinning gear. Had 1000 trout by May one year where I kept track (journal Frank Nale style, but with fly gear). To be sure, there are situations where fly gear outproduces spinning gear, and situations where spinning gear is the better tool. I wont say I never pick up a spinning rod, but, I tend to gravitate to those situations where fly gear works better, and its 95% fly gear for me. Mainly mountain brookie streams and timing hatches on bigger water. The main time I still take a spinning rod is when kayaking rivers for smallies, I struggle to cast a fly rod from a yak, and I have broken or lost a few rods in rapids or capsizing, so also a bit scared to take one, lol.

I have been fly fishing for almost 45 years and all I can say is that every time I think I hot it figured out , some pea size brained trout teaches me something new. It is the constant learning that keeps me coming back.

One thing I'll say is that beginners often focus on casting, equipment, rigs and how much weight, fly choice, etc. And don't get me wrong those are somewhat important.

But the #1 most important skill towards catching more is knowing when, and where, to fish. Being at the right place at the right time isn't luck. Its so important that more experienced anglers only judge success against their own expecrations in that scenario, or against others in the same scenario. There are situations where 40 trout is a bad day, and also situations where 1 is a good day. There are situations where a 7 incher is a monster, and other situations where 18" is disregarded as a small, even a nuisance. The expectations vary by stream, season, species, flow rates, weather, time of day, etc. Thats why a background in fishing will absolutely accelerate the learning curve. And most frustrated beginners I have met, the biggest problem isnt the cast or fly, its the when and where. If I put my 10 year old boy or wife in a good situation, they catch fish well enough, and they are by no means highly skilled. And you put me on, say, a rich brown trout stream at midday when its sunny and cold and low, my total is probably gonna be the same as a beginner. 0. My experience just means I try not to put myself in those situations, except when I just wanna cast and don't care if I catch.

Adding to the notion that "you'll never fully figure it all out", and that is part of the joy of the sport.

Second the motion that the best chance for success is fishing where there is known to be a steady population of fish. (I started by regularly fishing in Delayed Harvest and FFO sections)

Agree with the idea that fishing subsurface will produce your best results. (it took me 8 years to figure that out). I catch more and larger trout fishing a tandem of a nymph on the bottom and a weighted wet 18" up from the bottom fly.

If meeting a hatch, match the size and color of the bug with your fly.

Learn to read the water. You have to fish where the fish have the best chance to hide from predators and feed. Typically, this is where the fast water meets the slow water.

Be persistent.

I've been fishing for 35 years and fly fishing for 15, I still am astounded when I catch a fish

It took me 6 months to catch my first fish. That was over 20 years ago and I am still learning. Streams change when they flood and fish find new places to feel safe and feed so every season is a learning experience. Enjoy the time you are on the water learning new things. Fly fishing is never boring.

I've been using a fly rod for about three years now. It is a love hate relationship. I used spinning rods for trout all my life. I got really good at fishing small jigs for trout. I saw a video of a local guy Euro nymphing and was blown away at how many fish he caught on creeks that I knew. I switched over to a nymphing rod and have never caught so many trout. All those years, I was basically nymphing with a spinning rod, so the switch to the fly rod was easy for me. It's such a better tool for the job. I still can't cast a dry fly to save my life but nymphing is the way to catch trout. The most frustrating thing is using an 11ft rod and tying on multiple nymphs. It's so easy to end up in the trees, snagged on the rocks, retying about 10k times. I've almost broke my rod and threw it in the creek. It really made me question if I liked fishing. I simplified things this year. I only use one nymph, no split shots unless it's absolutely necessary and I shorten my rod on smaller creeks. The rod I have you can shorten to 9ft. This has made things a lot easier.

After almost 40 years, I can say I started figuring it out when I realized:
Watching > casting.
Drift > casting.
Casting is still important.
Dry flies are just the best even though I'd likely catch more fish underneath.
Enjoying the company of whoever I'm with on the water and enjoying the creation around me trumps everything else.
Not sure when all that happened... Probably 20 years ago.

"Figuring it out" is a progression. I figured out casting in one season. It took me 8 years to figure out where to fish (long story). It took me two seasons to figure out dry fly fishing. It took me 15 years to figure out that fishing underneath is more effective and produces more large fish. I thought I had things figured out altogether for about 20 years, until I changed my fly selection sequence for fishing underneath when fishing two flies. There are difficult fish that still have me trying to figure things out.

Over 40 some years of purely fly fishing now. Funny thing is after my session of fishing is over for the day I ask myself the " what did I learn today" . I always try to improve on something

Oregon_OwlII said:

"Figuring it out" is a progression.

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Exactly. I knew the basics of fly fishing before I even started. When I did start out, I was actually pretty good at casting (self taught), so I just had to become more accurate. That came pretty quickly. I caught natives on my first outing, so that gave me the confidence that I could become a decent fly fisherman. As time went on, I got to a level of success where I caught trout on almost all of my trips. That's when I realized I loved fly fishing. I still learn something every time I get on a stream, that won't change.

Still pretty new…..into my third year, but definitely still figuring it out as I go. My casting has gotten better (still ugly most times), have tied all my own flies, and have been learning more each time out. This year is my first targeting smallmouth. While I won’t say I’ve figured them out at all, I have been having some good success with them. Trout, however, this year have kicked my a$$. Caught more my first year out.

I think I agree with what Oregon_Owill said above. So far it seems like it will be an ever learning and challenging sport. I love the challenge, and when something clicks and works, that aha moment is like a small victory. I am glad I finally got into fly fishing, and if it takes me the rest of my life to figure out it will at least be a fun ride.

Long story short, Went to Walmart, bought a box that contained a rod, reel, line, backing, and even a DVD for like $35 maybe. Picked up a couple leaders and 1 or 2 small fly assortments. Watched said dvd to learn how to tie aforementioned parts together and went fishing. Caught 12 trout on a black bugger. Next day went to local orvis dealer (RIP) and dropped $400+ on my 2nd rod/reel. That was over 20yrs and countless rods ago and I still havn’t figured it out. It’s a lifelong learning experience, especially with the constant advances in gear/materials. Best advice I would give to any beginner is learn by doing, and not falling into the trappings of todays consumer driven online world. You can catch fish with a tree branch and some fishing line, and that’s the point, right? You can become proficient with a broomstick if you practice enough. By this time next year you will be much more confident and financially stable due to not catching as many trees/bushes. EVERYONE does it at least occasionally. Bad news is all the money you save from not losing flies will be spent 10 fold on other fly fishing stuff….
PS I can’t stress enough the difference a quality rod/line makes. Even if you only have to make a 40ft cast 2x a year, it’s so satisfying being able to do so with finesse