Fly Fishing: A gathering place for those who like to stand in a river waving a stick around.

[Svenster]

@TRAMPER great thread and I too am OCD about fly fishing. My venture started as a young teen on a 60 mile back packing trip in Philmont NM. My parents were not campers or fisherman. One of the camps I learned to tie a black wooly bugger and was handed a fly rod to cast the fly I just tied and caught a small trout. Didn't touch a fly rod again until my late 30s, but that first outing in NM I always had the excitement of that day in the back of my mind. I moved to the NW for my career, didn't know anyone, and by chance stepped into a local fly shop and inquired about local rivers near me, gear, etc. The next 20+ years I have been chasing trout all over Eastern WA, Idaho panhandle, and Western Montana, and British Columbia, primarily as a wade fisherman. My passion for fly tying also followed along with my fly fishing adventure. Several bucket list trips have been checked off my list, one of which was Kamchatka Russia (Sedanka River) chasing carnivorous rainbow trout, and to Belize for bones, permit and baby tarpon. In June I'm headed to Baja for hopefully my first Roosterfish, Dorado and Jacks. I'm new to the whole Salt fly fishing adventures, so much to learn and very different that chasing trout. For me, fly fishing has taken me outdoors, allowed me to experience wonderful scenery along streams and rivers, and catching is just icing on the cake so to speak. Tight lines!

 

[TRAMPER]

@TRAMPER great thread and I too am OCD about fly fishing. My venture started as a young teen on a 60 mile back packing trip in Philmont NM. My parents were not campers or fisherman. One of the camps I learned to tie a black wooly bugger and was handed a fly rod to cast the fly I just tied and caught a small trout. Didn't touch a fly rod again until my late 30s, but that first outing in NM I always had the excitement of that day in the back of my mind. I moved to the NW for my career, didn't know anyone, and by chance stepped into a local fly shop and inquired about local rivers near me, gear, etc. The next 20+ years I have been chasing trout all over Eastern WA, Idaho panhandle, and Western Montana, and British Columbia, primarily as a wade fisherman. My passion for fly tying also followed along with my fly fishing adventure. Several bucket list trips have been checked off my list, one of which was Kamchatka Russia (Sedanka River) chasing carnivorous rainbow trout, and to Belize for bones, permit and baby tarpon. In June I'm headed to Baja for hopefully my first Roosterfish, Dorado and Jacks. I'm new to the whole Salt fly fishing adventures, so much to learn and very different that chasing trout. For me, fly fishing has taken me outdoors, allowed me to experience wonderful scenery along streams and rivers, and catching is just icing on the cake so to speak. Tight lines! View attachment 154072View attachment 154073View attachment 154074View attachment 154075View attachment 154076

what kind of trout (rather Char???? dark body light spots??) is that third picture??? I can’t even say I’m familiar with that! Wow.

Sounds like you’ve had some incredible adventures!!!!!

You’re incredibly lucky to have visited Kamchatka, I talked about hunting there a decade ago or so…. Should have gone back than..

I’m really glad people are enjoying this thread and it’s amazing to see some many passionate fly anglers on here!!!

 

[TRAMPER]

Seeing as a few people on here are from the west and California, have any of you signed up, or done any of the Western Native Trout Challenge?

I signed up for it a couple years ago and as I go west I keep it in mind.

California also has a native trout initiative that REALLY interests me. The fish they have in that state are amazing!

My passion is 100% for wild, and even more so Native fish which for me are Brookies, but in the past few years I’ve really just fished Wild trout streams (NY makes them pretty easy to identify). You western folks have it good! The fish that are native to tiny drainages that have unique genetic markers I find beyond fascinating.

One of these days I’m gonna center a vacation around just Californias Heritage trout but i think I’d better start getting in better shape now…

 

[Svenster]

what kind of trout (rather Char???? dark body light spots??) is that third picture??? I can’t even say I’m familiar with that! Wow.

It's called a Kundzha and you are spot on, from the Char species, and this was in Kamchatka.

 

[Hunterman]

Seeing as a few people on here are from the west and California, have any of you signed up, or done any of the Western Native Trout Challenge?

I signed up for it a couple years ago and as I go west I keep it in mind.

California also has a native trout initiative that REALLY interests me. The fish they have in that state are amazing!

My passion is 100% for wild, and even more so Native fish which for me are Brookies, but in the past few years I’ve really just fished Wild trout streams (NY makes them pretty easy to identify). You western folks have it good! The fish that are native to tiny drainages that have unique genetic markers I find beyond fascinating.

One of these days I’m gonna center a vacation around just Californias Heritage trout but i think I’d better start getting in better shape now…

Look into the eastern sierras and the golden trout area. You don’t have to be in the best shape to get around that area but then again the more walking : hiking you do the less people you will see.

 

[TRAMPER]

Look into the eastern sierras and the golden trout area. You don’t have to be in the best shape to get around that area but then again the more walking : hiking you do the less people you will see.

Thanks! I’ve actually looked at that area, now don’t get me wrong I’m not in the worst shape.. but I’ve seen some guys hike for Paiute Cutthroats and they were in their 20’s and it looked like it almost killed them lol. It does seem if you wanna really chase western trout than now is a better time than later lol.. that Golden Trout area looks AMAZING even just to visit. I think there are 3 species in that immediate area, Golden’s and maybe some Redbands if I remember right?

 

[Hunterman]

Yup are correct. Some steams have rainbows and brook trout too. There is also a hike in / bike in lake Kirman Lake that is supposed to be awesome on a float tube with the average fish going over 20”. Mostly brook trout.

I haven’t gotten back there yet but it’s in my list this summer

 

[TellurideTremor]

Sonmetimes getting TO your fishing spot is just fun as getting in.

 

[TRAMPER]

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Man what a beautiful fish that is….

 

[Stealth Tremor SD]

 

[Stealth Tremor SD]

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Fly Fished over a dozen rivers in Alaska, it will ruin fly fishing for you forever! It’s amazing there. Frequently fly fish the rivers here in CA both on the Eastern and Western Sierra Nevadas, including the Truckee and Owens and must say I am very lucky to have these in my backyard.

 

[Vecman]

So flies are kind of a tough thing to learn from a book. The trick is every river system is a little different and where you live the bugs are nothing like the bugs where I live.

That said as I mentioned above just go into a local fly shop and when they aren’t super busy ask them for a few pointers it fly suggestions. It is sorta their job, now they won’t give you some secret spot but that’s how I started fishing in the west and had some great luck.

Tbh the fish in Wyoming are not at all tricky to catch. If you can get away from the crowds a little and drift a Chubby down the river mid summer you will absolutely catch fish…. The key being get just far enough away from the crowds the fish aren’t pressured. Water temps are run off early season is what makes it hard out there….

Now if you come and fish with me in NY on the Delaware, you’d be stunned at what flies a trout will nose up to and refuse, crystal clear water and tons of food make for picky fish. Out west where the season is short the fish wanna eat!

There are a few YouTube channels that focus on backcountry fishing in the West that can help with flies too, but generally a hopper/ dropper rig with attractor flies will catch fish.

Good luck!!

I get that. I just need to learn the names of the flies. That would be a great start for me. It’s been fun fly fishing with my father-in-law and one of my sons, but still have a lot to learn.

 

[TRAMPER]

I get that. I just need to learn the names of the flies. That would be a great start for me. It’s been fun fly fishing with my father-in-law and one of my sons, but still have a lot to learn.

Ahhhh…. Boy that’s gonna be an undertaking…. Tell you what maybe everyone on this thread can contribute a pic and name of their favorite fly or even flies…. That might be good for a laugh

Here I’ll start.

Obviously my favorite fly is the pheasant tail nymph!! In particular as a Euro-guy one on a jig hook.

Now one for fun…

Sex Dungeon.

Or were you more looking for what a BWO is, or maybe a parachute Adams?

 

[19mystic96]

I might be the only one who thinks this here, but I was listening to a podcast and when the guy was naming off all the different kinds of fly names, it reminded me of the firework scene in Joe Dirt. Some of the names for these things are so weird that they sound totally made up. I had to stop a few times and google image search some of them to make sure I wasn't being tricked.

 

[j.p.rich]

I was born in the Driftless area in Wisconsin and started fishing those tiny streams with a spinning rod at a young age. The season I turned 18, I started bringing a fly rod along as a "transition period" and have not looked back.

Shortly after that I started tying flies.

That was a year or two ago.

Most of my forays are in the mountain west though I'm not above fishing the "home waters" from time to time.

 

[TRAMPER]

I was born in the Driftless area in Wisconsin and started fishing those tiny streams with a spinning rod at a young age. The season I turned 18, I started bringing a fly rod along as a "transition period" and have not looked back.

Shortly after that I started tying flies.

That was a year or two ago.

Most of my forays are in the mountain west though I'm not above fishing the "home waters" from time to time.

This forum has some fine fishermen.

 

[j.p.rich]

Starting to get the itch.....

Hoping to be in Montana mid-June.

 

[TARZAN]

My grandson swears by the mighty grasshopper fly for German Browns!

 

[Bill]

Growing up. neither my wife or I were huge fishers. We'd been plenty, but usually because a friend drug us along or because we were doing an off-shore charter for an event. I have had the pleasure of going up to Canada on a few occasions for "work" to fish. But had never tried fly fishing.

When we hit the road in our RV and headed west we ended up in plenty of places where fly fishing was a "thing" and going on all around us. After a year, or more, of saying we should really give it a try we finally did.

While in Sheridan, WY we found a local shop and arranged a guide. Rather than opt for the drift boat we waded and let the guide know we were interested more in learning how to do this on our own as opposed to just trying to bag the highest number of fish for the day. In the meantime I'd found where one of our credit card rewards programs had some Orvis gear up for grabs.

So we've got ourselves a couple of setups and some gear. Our next stop was in Rapid City, SD. We'd been there before and knew that we were going to be staying right across the street from Rapid Creek. We were able to get in many afternoons of fishing after work. We haven't used them as much as we probably should have ... but because the gear is small and packs down it's a nice addition to what we can do as we explore on the road.

 

[TRAMPER]

Growing up. neither my wife or I were huge fishers. We'd been plenty, but usually because a friend drug us along or because we were doing an off-shore charter for an event. I have had the pleasure of going up to Canada on a few occasions for "work" to fish. But had never tried fly fishing.

When we hit the road in our RV and headed west we ended up in plenty of places where fly fishing was a "thing" and going on all around us. After a year, or more, of saying we should really give it a try we finally did.

While in Sheridan, WY we found a local shop and arranged a guide. Rather than opt for the drift boat we waded and let the guide know we were interested more in learning how to do this on our own as opposed to just trying to bag the highest number of fish for the day. In the meantime I'd found where one of our credit card rewards programs had some Orvis gear up for grabs.

So we've got ourselves a couple of setups and some gear. Our next stop was in Rapid City, SD. We'd been there before and knew that we were going to be staying right across the street from Rapid Creek. We were able to get in many afternoons of fishing after work. We haven't used them as much as we probably should have ... but because the gear is small and packs down it's a nice addition to what we can do as we explore on the road.

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GREAT POST…. Also incredibly useful to me personally. I loved the Black Hills when we passed through them but didn’t really get to enjoy them for any real time. I had thought about a week or two just to visit the Black Hills area and if I can fish all the better! Keep it up!