I have fished all my life including about 10 years on the bass fishing circuit back in the 80's. Hadn't done much lately up until 3 years ago when I bought a fly fishing outfit to keep busy in the evenings on some of the local streams, mostly panfish and small bass. For Christmas the wife got me a starter kit for tying my own flies, which I have already exchanged for a more capable set up and am spending too much time on Youtube and other sites, watching and learning the basics of tying my own patterns.

I can't imagine a group of pipe smokers without a good showing of fly fishermen! How many, how long you been at it, and what can you tell me to help me along (other than it is another darn fine way to become parted from your life savings!!!).

Mister E has it all covered. I have always gotten the most enjoyment in fly fishing for bluegill/bream/sunfish, etc. as they are very tasty when filleted into mouth sized nuggets of love.



I have a Winston 7 wt. rod which just melts in your hands and I could always cast it just as far as my 12 wt. Thomas&Thomas. My dedicated Bluegill rod is a super-sweet 4wt., 7ft long Powell from the early 90's in a beautiful Emerald Green color, equipped with a JRyall 2 inch diameter reel, it puts a smile on your face just taking it out of the case.

MrE, thanks for the rundown. I have spent a good deal of time in the past 3 years flailing the water, mostly for bass and panfish in the local small streams that are within a short walk or at most a 5-10 minute drive from our house. I originally started out with a 7wt setup but quickly figured out that it was much too heavy for most of the fish I encounter, so bought a 5wt and then a 3. Wife gave me a nice 4wt Redington for Christmas but I haven't bought a reel and got it rigged out yet.

As for reels, I have a couple of the Lamson reels and a couple of cheapies, I like the Lamsons a lot and they are reasonably priced and will likely get another for the new rod. About half the fish I catch are on wooly buggars in a variety of sizes from 8 to 12 mostly. I have tried floating a few trout flies and occasionally a bluegill will come up and strike it but the wet flies are much more reliable for the fish I normally find. Hoping to find time to branch out to some of the local trout waters, Missouri has some decent trout fishing but I have to make a pretty good drive to get to it.

Thanks for the info, MisterE. I've been tying my own flies for over a year and a half now, but have always fished them with a bobber on an ultralight spincast. Mind you, that's all I've found I've needed to have a good afternoon crappie fishing. I've wanted to set myself up with a fly rod, and with your information, I just might!

Can't believe I missed this thread. I've been flyfishing for almost 30 years - trout & saltwater mainly - & am totally addicted to it. I have a bunch of fly rods, from a 1wt Scott to a 12wt Sage. I also tie my own flies. As much as pipe smoking, it's a way of life.

The more I read on this site, the more striking the personality resemblances are for many of us.

I too have been fly fishing for most of my life. My father and great-grandfather are/were the two primary influences of this. Grandaddy was, well, almost godlike in his flyfishing abilities. Would travel the world using super short rods (much harder to cast as my fellow fly fishing brothers will know) and catching ridiculous fish.

He bought me my first rod when I was 4 (took it seriously, as has been noted). It's actually my earliest and strongest memory of him. He was dying of cancer when he got it for me and I remember standing in the backyard at his house in Wilmington, DE while he sat on the porch in his chair with his old Dunhill pipe with the blanket over his lap and gave me my first casting lesson, the same way he had done with my father in the 50s. Very calm, quiet... "That's good Charles Lee, ten and two, long even strokes, draw with the left hand, think of it as an extension of your arm..."

My earliest memory of doing something with just my Dad is walking down from the fishing cabin in upstate New York (Catskill Mountains, it was Grandaddy's cabin) to this little waterfall area on the beat. There were rainbow and brown trout in the water. That was my first fish, a rainbow trout, caught back in... probably 88 or 89.

Flash forward 14 years and a further extremely potent memory for me with my Dad was a fly trip we took to Montana right before I went off to college. Beautiful times.

In college some buddies and I would go out to the streams around Penn State, up in the mountains. Never caught much, but it was an excuse to get outside and misbehave while pretending to be civilized.

I've let it get away from me over the years however. Something I'll get back to when I'm done with school and have the time again. I do miss it terribly.

ooh ooh me too!

im different though.

have a cabelas three forks rod, does all ive ever asked it to do.

have $100 line on a 15 dollar reel though. Relative sent me SA Sharkskine WF line after i casted his one day on the pond. what a nifty surprise to land in the mail!

i like tying basics as well.

not much moving water, mostly pond here which im sure would get the elitists waders in a bunch.

nothing is more satisfying than catching a fish on a size 10 "Deer hair caddis" made from a hide that i was fortuneate to take the previous hunting season. meanwhile right below where your casting, there are deer prints from an early morning arrival that stopped to get a drink! funny circle i say.

camo

Does "trying to fly-fish" count. I have several nice fly rods and reels (in the three to five weight class) but am still trying to learn. Planning on going up to the Rim lakes in Arizona when things start to thaw out in April or May. Mostly trout and small mouth bass.

When I was about 10 years old my dad bought me a JC Penney 8' fiberglass rod and reel combo, then took me to the banks of White's Creek to show me how to cast. My first cast caught my dad's ear. The image and sounds are still vivid in my memory. Later on in life I bought an Orvis Far and Fine with a Hardy reel for the north Georgia trout waters. And I have a Redding 9' salt water combo that I haven't been able to use due to a stroke shortly after I got it. Though I do plan to use it on stripers and hybrids on Hartwell Lake this spring.

Jim

I have an Orvis Far & Fine as well. Great rods. Mine was bought in 1985 & still sees regular use.

Ditto on being great rods! I bought mine in 1980 and have no idea the number of trout and other fish I've caught on it. It's 2 piece graphite for 5 wt line, weighs 2 1/8 oz. with a cork reel seat and has 0780 stamped on the base of the reel seat. Don't know if that's a model or serial # or what. Anyway I love it and by your posting I'm sure you feel the same way.

Jim