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

[tomgamber]

At this point I have forgotten more than what many others are still trying to learn. I still enjoy the fishing part but I just don't care to make it that difficult any longer. There was a time I was having fun learning the guitar until I didn't have the time to play. Calluses are gone but I still remember the chords. Use it or lose it as they say.

 

[afishinado]

To be frank, I hope I never figure it out.....

No worries there, no one in history has ever had it all figured out. Every trip is a learning experience.

I think a good delineator is when you’re catching fish, AND you understand why you’re catching fish, and if you stop catching them, you’re starting to understand what changes to make to start catching them again.

Brilliant observation. That is the start of becoming a good FFer, but as stated above, no one has ever finished the FFing puzzle with all the pieces. I think that's why most of us are so crazy about this sport in the first place.

 

[Bamboozle]

Which time "figuring it out?"

 

[dryflyguy]

My 2nd time fly fishing, we hit a nice green drake hatch on kettle creek.
With fish rising all over the place.

My mentor provided me with the right pattern
And It didn't take me too long to learn that the fly had to be placed right in the fish's feeding lane with no drag.
And I did pretty well right off the bat

But that was an ideal situation for a beginner to be in.
Stocked fish shortened the learning curve a bit

 

[Wild_Trouter]

I learned on farm ponds catching panfish and bass. Once I got the basics down and was consistently catching lots of fish, I caught the trout bug. I started by concentrating on FFO C&R areas with super high concentrations of fish. And I paid attention to everything around me....air temperature, water temperature, observing trout behavior i.e. what parts of the stream did they favor and why. You learn a ton just by being patient and observing)making mental notes. Wouldn't hurt to keep a mini log of your outings whether you had/didn't have success so you can look for repeatable patterns (weather and water conditions, hatches, flies used, time if year, fish caught, etc). Talk to other FFers that you are having success on the stream. Most of us are very approachable and willing to help. Things will click for you. Once it does, things will become automatic and what you've learned will enable you to catch fish anywhere under most conditions. This is a lifelong journey- just enjoy the ride 👍

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

Evolving.. Dries,wets,nymphs,mono rig( don't call me euro nympher).. Do we ever really figure it all out? If so, probably more about stream hours than months or years.. Fish a lot,different cricks you will get better

 

[GANGGREEN]

I think you're assuming that we all have it "figured out". The fact is that everyone on this forum is at a different level and probably almost all of us feel like we have it figured out to some degree, but you'll find in time that you can ALWAYS continue to learn and that your progression will take fairly large jumps forward probably more than once.

Personally, I started fly fishing when I was a teenager with a homemade fly rod that I constructed with a fly rod's bottom section and a spinning rod's top section. The sections were different colors and I joined them with a very heavy thread and fingernail polish on top of the thread base. It was a horrific looking thing, but it got the job done and I caught many trout on that Frankenstein rod before I was gifted a nicer (albeit still an inexpensive) fly rod as a high school graduation gift from one of my brothers. I'm now 60 and during the interim, I've always done some limited fly fishing and felt like 2 or 3 different times that I had put it all together, but in hindsight, it wasn't really until I retired about 5 years ago and fully committed to learning to fly fish that I really think I did become a much better than average fly angler. For me, it really did take my complete dedication to the sport and I positively refused to rely on a spinning rod if the catch rate wasn't great or if I faltered. When I retired, my rule became that if I was to fish for trout (and often for other species as well), that it WOULD be with a fly rod or not at all. Because I had much more time on my hands (I currently probably fly fish for trout at least 60 or 70 days per year), the learning curve really did flatten out for me and I feel like I do indeed have it figured out now (and would be stupid not to acknowledge that I still have much to learn).

 

[buymanfishheday]

Was the stream stocked RECENTLY?

If it's not a fall-stocked stream, it's likely there's few fish left from the spring stocking, particularly this year after the very dry summer and early fall weather we had.

Funny enough it was restocked about 3 weeks ago. Once I looked into it more, I was fishing upstream from where they stocked it at. Not sure how much that matters

 

[Mikey2006]

Funny enough it was restocked about 3 weeks ago. Once I looked into it more, I was fishing upstream from where they stocked it at. Not sure how much that matters

If you are upstream of the upper limit of the stocking section you won’t find many fish. The do move around but 3 weeks isn’t a ton of time for that. Make sure you are within the actual stocked section and fishing in pools you know they put fish into

 

[JeffK]

Since I have fly fished for 60 years I don't remember exactly, but it seems like for the first year or two I was ecstatic to land a fish or two in a day. I was a good bait/lure guy and hammered to fish in early spring. But when the streams dropped in June I noticed the fly fishermen were hooking up way more so I decided to up my fly game. Then one May day I was fishing a little native stream when bugs started coming off and I caught 8 on dries. That was some day. Was an OK fly fisherman for many years when starting work and raising kids took most of my time.

Back in the day flyfishermen were a secretive crew and I had to learn by myself. Later in life after the kids were more independent I joined TU and fished with some good fishermen I met on-line and my skills skyrocketed. These days many excellent fishermen are willing to share and there is nothing like going out and getting in person help. Hiring a guide is a good idea is you have the bucks. Hire a guide to learn to catch fish, not necessarily to catch fish. Learning skills is way more important in the long run. I generally prefer to fish by myself, but I still enjoy fishing with friends as well who continue to expose me to new ideas.

 

[rrt]

I agree with Post #15.

In my case after almost 60 years of fly-fishing, I still don't have it figured out.

Be persistent! Don't give up!

 

[nymphingmaniac]

Still in my first year. Im totally obsessed. I had a great summer catching bass and panfish but I just cant catch trout. At all. I was out for 4 hours today and I threw everything I could think would work. Zebra nymph, copper john, a couple other nymphs I dont know the name of, walts worm, rubber legs, multiple dry flies, wooly buggers. I caught 1 tiny carp. Snagged lines for days. Lost 5 lures. Multiple tangled lines. How long into the hobby did you guys really start to get a feel for what works? Or start consistently catching trout?

I look forward to every single chance I get to get out fishing but man, its getting frustrating walking out without a nibble. Obviously have a lot to learn yet!

Tough time to fish for trout. Water super clear and low. If its a wild brown trout stream, decent sized fish moved to spawning grounds.
Been doing it 46 years (with two 7 year gaps due to school/work). Been going steady for 18 years now and I am in the category as others- still learning. I just tackle new areas to keep it fresh and me on my toes. Once I was decent at nymphing, I recommitted to the dry fly game. Then I added steelheading. Finally took up SMB fishing wading and then drifting from a raft.
Board: Any suggestions what to tackle next? I can't see myself going salt unless I relocate and that's the only game in town.
Like the meme goes, I went from trying to catch a lot to catching that fish, using this method in an impossible location.

 

[dryflyguy]

Tough time to fish for trout. Water super clear and low. If its a wild brown trout stream, decent sized fish moved to spawning grounds.
Been doing it 46 years (with two 7 year gaps due to school/work). Been going steady for 18 years now and I am in the category as others- still learning. I just tackle new areas to keep it fresh and me on my toes. Once I was decent at nymphing, I recommitted to the dry fly game. Then I added steelheading. Finally took up SMB fishing wading and then drifting from a raft.
Board: Any suggestions what to tackle next? I can't see myself going salt unless I relocate and that's the only game in town.
Like the meme goes, I went from trying to catch a lot to catching that fish, using this method in an impossible location.

I've been at this for 45 years now.

My progression went thus:

Trying to catch lots of fish.
Trying to catch wild fish.
Trying to catch large wild fish - which is the point I'm still pretty much at now

Although I'm slowing down physically, and cant just fish anywhere I want to anymore.
And find myself sometimes now fishing wherever I can get in fairly easily

 

[salmo]

I feel like a dunce in this crowd. I started out as a dry fly guy. That took me about 3 years or so to get my casting and stream reading down. Then it took maybe another 30 years to realize that I needed to step up my game and learn to fish and tie nymphs. With that my fishing became more effective and enjoyable. I catch trout more consistently and under different conditions. Confession here, my time on the water is limited compared to most others on this site.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I find this thread to be interesting because there's so much to learn and because so few of us ever really get close to "figuring it all out", even after fly fishing for decades. I find that I'm a slow learner and incredibly stubborn and because of that, it wasn't until I put everything else aside that I started to learn to fly fish efficiently and effectively (and still have tons of learning to do).

Not fly fishing related, but some will draw an analogy and take something from it. I decided as a young man that I needed to learn to fish a jig 'n pig for bass, so that's what I used for one whole year, spring, summer and fall, nothing else EVER. The following year I wanted to learn to use a spider grub/jig, so that's all that I used spring, summer and fall. I didn't catch as many fish as I would have had I been more flexible with technique, but you can rest assured that I could fish the hell out of a jig 'n pig or a spider grub.

I recently retired and moved seasonally to a lake that has a very healthy Spotted bass population and a dwindling Crappie population. I asked every local about how to find and catch Crappie, including all of the guides on the lake and the biologists for the state. They ALL told me that I'd catch some very big Crappie incidentally, but that there weren't enough of them left in the lake to make it worthwhile to target them. Well, I'm stubborn (as evidenced by my willingness to fish nothing but a jig 'n pig for a whole year) and I vowed to figure it out and to catch good numbers of Crappie on the lake. My first winter/spring (I only live there during winter and spring and spend summer and fall up north), I caught only 5 or 6 Crappie all year even though I pursued them at least 15 or 20 times. My second year on the lake, I caught 40 or 50 Crappie in the same number of trips, but still not what anyone could call "good fishing". Finally, in the third year I had them figured out enough that I caught hundreds of Crappie that winter/spring and caught 50 of them that were at or over 14". Sometimes it takes that sort of mentality to really "figure them out".

 

[dryflyguy]

Yep, there are lots of times, that we think we have things figured out in this sport.
Only to find out that we really dont, and get thrown for a loop
Part of what makes it so fun I guess

 

[dudemanspecial]

Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned much is timing. There are so many things that cause fish to turn their feed bag on and off. Being there at the right time is a huge part of the game when talking about "consistently catching fish". Figuring out what techniques work in different water types when they aren't heavily feeding is one of the more difficult parts of it all, but also the most rewarding. I can be just as satisfied catching one fish on a dry fly all day when I have seen no hatches or risers as I can when I catch a dozen during a good hatch, or nymphing up a good fish in water that doesn't look like prime feeding water.

If you don't have a mix of days where you are catching a bunch vs days that you take the skunk or maybe catch 2 or 3, you probably aren't fishing enough.

 

[td566]

I’m also in the group of still learning after 40+ years of fly fishing. Every outing I feel like I learn a little more. I consider any double digit fish day as a great accomplishment and also feel satisfied on days when I have to work for only one or 2. Any day is a good day to fish, enjoy them all.

I don’t exclusively fly fish and looking back there were years where the fly rod didn’t make an appearance. But I reach for it many more times than any other rod type I own because I enjoy it, even though I have never considered myself a competent caster.

There’s one time in my FF career that it seemed like a turning point for “figuring it out”. That was when I started using bead head nymphs with the putty strike indicators. It seemed to provide that extra water column depth and also extra visibility of a pause in a drift. Definitely gained a lot more confidence in myself.

I also believe that flies you have confidence in helps, but I do have a bad habit of sticking with them even when I’m not catching. I don’t know why I haven’t figured this out yet!

 

[DomR]

It took me about a year before I could regularly catch stocked trout. Longer than that for wild fish. As far as "figuring it out", 45 years later, I still haven't and doubt I ever will. 🙂

Keep getting better at reading water, current seams, flows, lies. Sharpen your casting, work on your drifts. You'll catch plenty of fish. Very few of us master it though.

 

[redietz]

Depends on your definition of "figuring it out." I caught a fish (a pickerel) the first time I went fly fishing as an 11 year old. 62 years later, I'm still trying to figure things out.