Welcome to Fly Fishing!

   
 Whenever someone is thinking of taking up fly fishing the first thing to consider is what gear is needed. Honestly there really is not that much needed to get started. It can be much more difficult to find someplace to fish than it is to get the gear to fish with. The classic mistake beginners often make is running out and buying too much expensive gear and then trying to fish in the wrong places. In this post we can take a look at the basic essentials needed to become a fly fisherman.   

    Fly fishing just like bass fishing offers equipment in every price range and every quality range as well. I would never recommend a beginner go out and buy the cheapest or the most expensive gear, but there is some truth to the old saying, ?you get what you pay for?. I began with a gif">

  I soon wanted to advance, only to end up buying another all-inclusive kit of a better quality and found my casting became better with a better rod and line, proving to me I got what I paid for. I still use it today.                                                                                                                                   

   The next mystery that I had to unravel as a beginner was where was I going to fish?  Blue gill and crappie beds proved to be the place to get the knack just like a child with his first Zebco 202. It wasn?t long that I caught a trophy bluegill on a fly rod that helped me to obtain Master Angler Certification from the state. Pride had to be set aside as I learned to cast, hours of trial and error followed even when others were watching. Once the pan fish were off the bed I checked with my local wildlife enforcement agency and they told me all about the trout stocking program at the state park in my back door. This gave me a few months to practice my steeple cast, and by the date of the stocking I was ready for some fun.   


  I soon learned that fly fishing for trout was the most popular and many of the flies that I could find were made for trout. Rainbow Trout are not native to my area, and they die out once the water reaches seventy-five degrees, but one of the National Fish Hatcheries on Dale Hollow Lake is close enough the stocking is plentiful each winter. In other parts of North America trout are among the most abundant fish species which makes locating flies easy. Someday I may attempt to tie my own but with the low cost and abundance in shops and on line, I try to spend my spare time fishing or watching fishing on WFN, and believe me, I have learned much from the programs dedicated to fly fishing on the network. Perhaps when I am retired, I will find the time for "tying flies and telling lies", as I have heard it said, but for now I will buy them. 

  Being a bass fisherman at heart, I will never turn away from bait casters and spinning reels, but there is something to be said about fly fishing. It brings serenity and peace to the soul and spirit like nothing I have ever experienced. And in the winter months, the running water and cold air are completely invigorating. In the spring while the bass are spawning I go back to the fly rod for pan fish to fill the void.


  I have a long way to go to becoming an expert with the fly rod, I still consider myself a beginner two years into it, but as a beginner, I can tell you that taking up the fly will bring a life time of recreation to any angler. And bass on the fly? well that is another post for another time.  

Happy Fishing!