Starter fly fishing

[Rasputin]

Have a few rods one is a cheapo greys, another I bought off a member here think might have been Devon fly fisher it’s unbranded but excellent and I have a hardy. Reels from greys and orvis tbh the hardy one is best quality the cheapo less so but tbh I am not bothered nor can tell much of a difference and all get used every time I get out.

Line wise I feel that price isn’t important as an indication of quality but just dumping a 5wt line on 5wt rod because there both stamped with a 5 hasn’t historically worked well for me personally so I tried some lines from other folks and ended up with a mix of weight lines that worked best.

 

[big ears]

@boar & deer i think we needs some answers. Lots of good comments on here and offers from professional guides of assistance.

BE

 

[Utectok]

There are even more disagreements in fly fishing than in stalking, about even more inconsequential variables!

Even more (much more) than in shooting, the greatest sources of variation are you and the environment.

I still have the first very cheap airflo rod I bought when I started out. I convinced myself it was useless, and spent a fortune on all sorts of others, including Sage, Guideline and Orvis.

We recently moved house, and I came across the old rod. Out of curiosity, I took it out. It was great! Turns out the rod wasn’t bad - I had just been a terrible novice caster. In the time since I’d last used it, I had improved enormously.

If I was starting again, knowing what I now know, I’d spend on getting lessons, not gear.

I’d agree there money on lessons is well spent indeed. Took me about 20yrs to lear to cast properly then double handed…. Basically life’s to short lol

 

[jimmy milnes]

@boar & deer i think we needs some answers. Lots of good comments on here and offers from professional guides of assistance.

BE

Keep them all coming B.E. I'm soaking it all up myself as it's something I've fancied having a go at, and recently found a res to have a go on not so far away from the cottage.
Jimmy

 

[willowbank]

Keep them all coming B.E. I'm soaking it all up myself as it's something I've fancied having a go at, and recently found a res to have a go on not so far away from the cottage.
Jimmy

Go for it, you’ll not regret it....

WB

 

[big ears]

Keep them all coming B.E. I'm soaking it all up myself as it's something I've fancied having a go at, and recently found a res to have a go on not so far away from the cottage.
Jimmy

It was the best thing I ever did take up fishing. Fly fishing is just a more active form.

 

[jimmy milnes]

It was the best thing I ever did take up fishing. Fly fishing is just a more active form.

Used to enjoy spinning as a kid but could never just sit watching a wooden float bobbing in the water so reckon fly would fit the bill nicely.

 

[Mungo]

It was the best thing I ever did take up fishing. Fly fishing is just a more active form.

With the distinct advantage that you have to concentrate hard enough that it forces you to stop thinking about all the other crap.

It’s absolutely a form of meditation.

 

[jimmy milnes]

Could I ask if there's a difference between a trout and a salmon rod please ?

 

[Rasputin]

Could I ask if there's a difference between a trout and a salmon rod please ?

Usually a lot bigger and double handed. Big price tags too.

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Used to enjoy spinning as a kid but could never just sit watching a wooden float bobbing in the water so reckon fly would fit the bill nicely.

My late father was an avid fly fisherman,both trout and salmon. His favourite expression when asked if he never fancied coarse fishing:- I can't see the fascination in drowning a pint of maggots one at a time

 

[JMikeyH]

Those are cracking fish.

I would sorely love to spend a few days somewhere where there’s a reasonable expectation of catching sea trout

I don't fly fish (yet) but I do sea fish quite a lot. One of my favourite venues is Loch Etive. Right where the River Awe meets the loch I have seen huge amounts of sea trout there, around mid-October time if I remember right

 

[boar & deer]

Sorry for the lack of replies I can't seem to got SD to work properly at the moment





Basically I will be fishing local day ticket waters but do have a holiday booked for Scotland and the cottage is on the banks if loch rannoch so was got to by a permit and have a go there but nothing serious

 

[big ears]

With the distinct advantage that you have to concentrate hard enough that it forces you to stop thinking about all the other crap.

It’s absolutely a form of meditation.

This 100%

 

[Mungo]

Could I ask if there's a difference between a trout and a salmon rod please ?

About £350

 

[HonestJohn]

Keep it simple! Start on a lake where you don’t need waders and wading poles, flies caught on the Bankside vegetation, etc….do yourself that favour.

If fishing lakes, whether bank or boat, 9 1/2” 6wt and a floating line is my ticket to ride.

Simple forceps to cut leader material and flat nosed to pick flies from the fish. Priest, net, leader material, some flies like Sawyers Nymph and GRHE, Montana nymph and Dawsons Olive for autum and winter, and your good. No one need a big box of flies, trust me! 3-4 patterns will catch fish. Add a few dry flies if you will, about 2-3 types will do!

Whatever you do, keep it simple, if you start going down the equipment and accessories rabbit hole, it will tire you out.

 

[willowbank]

Sorry for the lack of replies I can't seem to got SD to work properly at the moment





Basically I will be fishing local day ticket waters but do have a holiday booked for Scotland and the cottage is on the banks if loch rannoch so was got to by a permit and have a go there but nothing serious

My father and I used to ‘slope off’ when we had the chance to visit a very nice trout water at Tenterden, within the sound of Steam Trains and Church Bells, they were good days.

The water operated a basket system whereby you could choose the trout you wished to take home and release the others to fight another day.

There were 3 separate lakes, one being dedicated to the Dry Fly, I’ve not been back since dad passed so it may have changed but being local well worth a visit.

Willowbank.

 

[Heym SR20]

I much prefer river fishing - it’s so much more dynamic. Stocked trout ponds are akin to driven phaesant.

You don’t need much in the way of kit. But find a good mentor.

Sadly these days are rivers are pretty much dead below any human habitation. A huge amount of work was done in the last century bringing out rivers back to life. In the late 1990’s lowland rivers such as the Windrush, Colne, and even the River Thames down to Wallingford were full of good wild trout and Grayling.

I moved up to Edinburgh at turn of the century- I caught a 2lb grayling in the Water of Leath just down from the dean bridge. All the rivers were full of beautiful streaming water weed with trout and grayling all over. They were hard to catch but they were there.

The Teath, The Esks, The Tyne, The Almond, the Lyne and all the other rivers had a thriving ecosystem, and most had Salmon and Seatrout added to the mix.

And then we water privatisation, huge amounts of building and the regulators hand all their funding pooled.

I walk the water of leith most days. At this time of year it should be teeming with life, lots of fly hatch etc. It used to boil with trout sucking down flies.

But it is full of brown stinking sludge from sewerage. There has been a lot of new housing but minimal investment in sewarage works. In the UK all the water run off goes into the grey water so everytime it rains there is huge amounts of discharge into the rivers. And you will find the same on pretty much all the rivers in the UK.

Why - very simple. All money in the water companies is going towards paying dividends, or in Scotland’s case, fill holes in rest of budgets. As for property development- the developers should make payments towards local infrastructure incuding sewerage. In many cases they avoid this with developments being in multiple different little companies that are just below the threshold, or again the monies have been used elsewhere.

So really I just feel very sad for the next generations as they won’t be able to learn on the sort of fishing that was available all over the country. And mostly pretty cheaply.

 

[DaveNeal]

how did your lesson go ?

 

[caorach]

Basically I will be fishing local day ticket waters but do have a holiday booked for Scotland and the cottage is on the banks if loch rannoch so was got to by a permit and have a go there but nothing serious

I don't personally know Loch Rannoch but I do love the brownies on the wilder lochs. They aren't always easy to catch but are great sport and it makes for a fantastic day out - all you need is a wee stove, lunch, and a small box of flies and you can walk and fish until your legs fall off. There is a little facebook group for people interested in wild fishing in Scotland and there are a lot of people on there who've fished just about everywhere so it might be worth joining up:

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Also if you are looking for some flies for the lochs then get in touch with John Maclean - he is a fly tier from the Isle of Lewis and he does a lot of wild trout, salmon, and sea trout fishing and ties excellent flies for the loch trout. If you drop him a line and maybe set a budget and just ask him to tie you up a few flies to get you started I'd be sure that you will get a little selection of flies that will catch fish. The easiest way to get him is on Facebook and I know he is currently very busy and had stopped taking orders but he might be back into a position to do a few for you:

John Maclean Flies

John Maclean Flies. 11,937 likes · 2,960 talking about this. John has been tying flies for about 40 years now and has tied many patterns in different sizes.

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John's flies are top notch



Don't let him tie you up some without at least including a few Barvas Cripplers, I suspect they were really tied as a salmon fly to start with but I've found them deadly on the trout: