FS Digest

Alright so last Christmas I got my fly rod. It is a Wild Water 4 weight kit, I think the line is 5-6 weight, and have the standard WIld Water leader. I have a few dry, wet, and streamers. I want to target trout. How do I begin? I am doing my reading but it is very confusing. How to cast?

Any good youtube videos?

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by KaioZuma

FS Digest

Mad River Outfitters on YouTube has two really good series. One on fly fishing basics and then a specific series on casting. I found them extremely helpful. I watched the basic one, went and fished a couple times and then returned for the casting specific series. If you watch them all at once I don’t think you get the same benefit. Having a base line of info, trying hands on and then going back to polish the casting worked best for me. I’m sure there are other channels but this was the first I found and it worked well.

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by abd

FS Digest

I would agree, Brian at Mad River Outfitters is a phenomenal teacher.

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by blackcanyonangler

FS Digest

You really want to practice casting in your backyard or any open area near you. Once you feel comfortable enough, just go out to any trout river and give it a try. The worst that will happen is you won't catch anything or lose flys. That's normal though. Fly fishing is all about learning and the only way to learn is by doing.

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by GoldContainer

FS Digest

Youtube, practice in a park. The worst place to practice casting is when you're fishing, as the saying goes.

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by MakerGrey

FS Digest

An hour spent on the water is worth a week of reading. Go to your closest flyshop, ask them what is fishing well (probably some sort of nymphs). Get yourself a strike indicator and some split shot for weight.

Go find the slow, deeper pools on your local river and fish them with heavy weighted nymphs and an indicator. Also, get yourself a pair of polarized glasses, even a cheap pair on Amazon makes a world of difference.

You don't have to make amazing casts in order to fish. Just get on the water, move slow, be quiet, and cast your flies upstream and let them drift down the river, if you see your indicator stop or hesitate, lift your rod tip up to the sky to set the hook.

Good luck!

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by BrownsBrooksnBows

FS Digest

I would just like to pitch on the glasses topic. Pair the glasses with a cap. Speaking from experience, I have cheap polarized sunglasses from amazon, they make a lot of difference. But adding shadow on the lenses opened another dimension under water. Any hat or cap that throws shadow down the lenses is ok.

Maybe this is not a problem with high quality glasses, just something I found out on my outings.

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by Kr_Pe

FS Digest

Absolutely! Cap is crucial.

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by BrownsBrooksnBows

FS Digest

I watched Mad river outfitters guides, orvis cast guides, and I practiced in my backyard with some wool on the end. I havent gone to the water before I was able to consistently land on a 25cm target I put on the ground. Also try to practice side and roll casts (roll casts are a bit hard to pull off on grass), bow and arrow casts maybe.

Then go to a open river bank, or the branch tax will take its due. :)

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by Kr_Pe

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Welcome to the Forum, Kalo, Well,,,,,,,,,,, you got a lot of advise, some good, some bad. Your presentation is very important. If I'm teaching someone to fly fish the first thing I do is spend an hour or more with him teaching him/her the the basics to casting, all kinds of casting. then I send him/her home to practice in the back yard, casting to a hula hoop and to watch videos. Then I tell him practice 1 hour a day, 5 times a week for a month. I forbid him to go trout fishing during that time. Lesson 2, will be at a stream and we will be reading the water and fly selection. Using the right flies under the correct conditions. Then he/she can have at it. Call me anytime for a refresher.

The best thing for you to do is to find someone to give you some pointers. If you have a local Trout Unlimited group close by, go to a meeting, or stop at a fly shop, maybe they will help you. Good luck and tight lines.

jepolt Loc: North East Ohio

If you want some advice from an experienced fly fishing instructor, PLEASE, if you do nothing else sign up for a basic fly fishing course. I am quite sure you can find one locally in your area thru a fly shop or an Orvis store. Please, dont skip this step on your journey in fly fishing. All the you tube videos, books and articles will not help you if you do not have the very basics correct. All the great advice you received here is very good. PLEASE, the very best thing you will do is to take a basic class in person with an experienced instructor. After the class practice what you learned. Then hit the you tubes, the books and all the advice you will get from sites like this one. Best of luck to you and have fun on your learning journey to fly fishing!

greyghost

If you are a practiced caster, split shot can help you catch fish. While you are learning, ditch the split shot and put a tungsten head nymph if you want to fish deep. if you want to have more fun, go with a dry fly or try a short line nymphing technique. And yes, a good instructor on a river will get you off to a good start. Then just go fishing. I started fly fishing when I was eight because I saw fly fishers were catching more than just about everyone else. That was sixty eight years ago and while it's tough to wade the fast rivers now, it is still my favorite way to fish.