Down With The Lingo. Fly Newbie

[lamponius]

Hi!!

 

i m a newbie myself and it s my first year in Canada and as a fly angler.

 

I started flyfishing by the end of july and my first times on the river were nice but with nothing besides flies in the trees...

 

I read a lot of great advice on this forum (in this topic or others...) but I want to share my recent experience with you and tell what worked for me.

Of course, I realize that i m very far for the most of the guys here...But I really enjoy this sport (I ve tried a lot of type of fishing : carp (is there any in the Glenmore reservoir?), pike, saltwater from the beach, boat... Nothing than you can compare with fishing with a flyrod).

 

Also, I ve to be modest because my biggest fish landed was a 13 inches rainbow trout and I know it s possible to catch a lot bigger!!

 

Though, I caught fish every time I ve been in the water (except one time. the water was very "dirty" (muddy?")) and even if fishes were small (between 7 to 13) I really enjoyed it. I ll try to explain, as a newbie, mu tries and choices. i dont know if it can be hlpfull for someone but I want to share it.

 

I tried to fish with nymphs but honestly guys, it may be more effective, but it s so much difficult. You dont see the fly, you dont know where teh fish is (the bigger the river the bigger the difficulty...) and I dont talk about the catch of the fly...If it s for striking every time something happen on the indicator....I think you lose part of the fun.

 

Advantage of fishing with a dry is you see it...You see when it drags...when you are too far from what you thing water holding a fish, you see the catch, even if you miss the fish, you have some hope. After that, you can wonder "why did I miss him?" and try to figure it out and improve...

 

Second tought would be fishind in small river or stream. Same things that have been said. easier to read it, to see the fish rising...Fish smaller less picky...easier to catch....And water with less people (you cant ask of course but fishes didnt learn to recognize all that mademan flies...).

 

And I want to finish saying as a newbie, that it s difficult sometimes (the most of the time I leran so much reading posts here !) to read you guys talking about 25 inch. monsters, seeing photos with real monsters...But I think a newbie must to be realistic and dont think too much about catching this kind of fish (even if I m between the phase 2 and 3 ).

 

Anyway, good luck to you and I hope you ll catch your first fish before the end of the season...

 

And I want to thank you all for your time and for sharing your knowledge.

[walker1]

Dutch

I agree with a lot that you say about using the dry and not the bobber thing, BUT, this is the Bow. It is alike to many waters but still very unique. The Bow went from excellent dry fly fishing in the 70's, to good in the 80''s to inconsistent in the present. ( Mclennan books) That said however, this year has been an excellent season for dries. The best in 10 years according to one shop owner. I say this and I am not even a dry purist on the Bow. ( most of my dry fishing is south, crow, liv, oldman,elk, etc.)

 

Having success does not always mean catching, but, it sure does help with the newbies and oldies. Lets face it, when we take kids out they get HOOKED when you land anything. My little guy also just likes the experience of getting out but, I think you all know what I mean.

 

The Bow being UNIQUE needs to have a fisherperson who is very addaptive to what is required on that given day. I fish nymphs, steamers and dries. I bet anyone who fishes the Bow a lot would agree that in order to have the most success, teach a newbie to nymph first. ( on this river)

 

You make a good point about the dry for following water trends and drag, but as mentioned by BC, the indicator will also permit this.

[cdock]

OK I don't think I saw this in any other post, sorry if I'm repeating.

 

I'm no pro either but you mentioned you were out OVER the water what sounds like on a tree so I'm assuming you are standing up. You also mentioned the current was 1/3 of the main flow. Stealth my man. They could probably see you and your movements. Stealth is important to this sport as well as all the other great suggestions already mentioned. A fishes vision is up and at a very large angle, depending on depth, but you mentioned 10' of water so at that depth their range of vision is quite large. I've always noticed when fish are rising you need to be out of their vision to be more successful. This may require you to stand back or even kneel from the water's edge 10 -20 feet. It's still hard for me to do that cause you want to be close and in the water but it pays off. But hey keep it up. It took me an entire season to catch my first fish on a fly (on the Bow). I like the suggestions of trying smaller streams. It sure helped me and you can easily identify riffles, runs, holes, seams, etc. Time is running out for these streams though. Keep up the effort and keeping asking questions and you'll be posting in the "Ask the Pros" section. A lot of great advice on this site.

[PlayDoh]

Thanks guys. I've been told that at the moment dries are difficult and therfore I've put them on the back-burner for now. I caught a few and landed 2 one was a monster over 20". However next year I'll have the dries out and get them under my belt as well.

 

cdock, I completly agree with you, and dispite my trying to be quiet and out of sight, just my going out there usually puts them down for a while. The first time I was leaning over the edge trying to see if I could see them, unaware I look like the boogey man doing so. Yet I've tried to work that spot every diffrent way, but I think their only large and smart there, and at the moment feeding on tiny floaters.

 

I found a couple spots where I can drift my flies by me (streamer + nymph) and get into fish so I'm happy. Thanks again for the advice.

[walker1]

Good job. All the advice in the world is good but only through " on the Job" sessions will one have success.

[reevesr1]

Lamponius,

Not to disagree with you my man, because at the end of the day the sport is about doing it how you want to do it, but...

 

My first year as well. OK, to be technical, my second year started a month or so ago. I also have caught fish with dries, and it is a blast. When it is working, you would be crazy to fish any other way. But to me, day in and day out, if you want to increase your odds of catching, nymphing is by far more productive. I am not saying this to brag (or maybe a little!), but I went through a stretch in August/September where I didn't catch more than a couple of fish under 15", and several in the 20" range and a few a little more. As far as locations, my limited experience on the bow tells me that if you think fish should be in the run, they are. Not always cooperative, but they are there. As far as setting the hook at every little bobble, I can see how that would get tedious to many. But I look at it in the opposite way. I just love it when I think it's bottom and the bottom explodes out of the water 5 feet in front of me. Conversely, I hate it when I think it is for sure a fish, and its bottom. Keeps it fun, at least for me.

 

Finally, again while dry fly fishing is just a kick, I find it the MOST frustrating when they are rising and I can't figure it out because of my limited knowledge set. So I just go under water and catch 'em anyway!

 

 

Walker nailed it. Get out there and do it, whatever method you choose.

[lamponius]

Rickr,

 

I see your point and next season I ll try nymphing. But as other people wrote it, fishing with an indicator is very close from other technics with other type of rod (and more efficient in term of casting).

In my mind, flyfishing is just a line and a fly...But that s me...

 

Anyway, thanks for your share, you gave an interessant point of view (Plus, I didn t have so much success than you did...)

[Hawgstoppah]

If were talking about purely the Bow... I challenge you to find a rod - reel -line - presentation - combination system that would outproduce the techniques I nymph with any given day.

 

It's not about the gear, it's about being versataile and adapting to the river you are fishing and being in the zone that THEY want. The BIG, BIG bow river fish are -in most cases - in much different zones than the 10-15 inchers.

 

That being said, like many others, I can count on one hand the number of times I have nymphed the Bow since April. And I had a GREAT season on it, the best in a few years for sure. And the best dry fly year I can remember..........