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Federation of Fellow Fly-Fishing Football Fanatics

Boji Husker said:
Have dabbled with fly fishing, mostly done it with a breakdown rod while backpacking in Colorado, and off my dock in Okoboji. Hardest part starting out was learning not to snap off the fly while casting...
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Which means that you were starting the forward cast too soon, which creates a crack-the-whip effect. If you still struggle with that, you can practice your cast while looking over your shoulder to both see and feel when the line has started to load the rod. When you're ready to start your forward cast, almost all of the line will be straightened behind you, and if you look at your rod tip, you'll see that it's starting to load (bend backwards), and that's your cue that it's time to start the forward part of the cast. Be sure to always start the cast gradually, then speed up quickly, then come to a sudden stop. I've heard it described as being the equivalent of having a rotten tomato stuck on the end of the stick that you're trying to launch: if you start too fast, it falls off; if you don't accelerate, it won't go very far; if you don't come to a sudden stop, it'll collapse in front of you.

Another way is to avoid using a backcast and use a roll cast instead. A roll cast is actually a more useful cast for almost any situation where you're not in a boat or over a large open body of water. Once you get a roll cast down, it's easier to feel the rod loading on a traditional cast that includes a backcast.

Here are some videos that explain this better than I just did:









The Orvis guy, the Rio guy (Simon Gawesworth), and the Casts that Catch Fish guy are the the three that I've liked best, so far. Each have tons more videos if you want more detail or something else related to casting.
 

Middle-aged_Ball_Coach said:
Which means that you were starting the forward cast too soon, which creates a crack-the-whip effect. If you still struggle with that, you can practice your cast while looking over your shoulder to both see and feel when the line has started to load the rod. When you're ready to start your forward cast, almost all of the line will be straightened behind you, and if you look at your rod tip, you'll see that it's starting to load (bend backwards), and that's your cue that it's time to start the forward part of the cast. Be sure to always start the cast gradually, then speed up quickly, then come to a sudden stop. I've heard it described as being the equivalent of having a rotten tomato stuck on the end of the stick that you're trying to launch: if you start too fast, it falls off; if you don't accelerate, it won't go very far; if you don't come to a sudden stop, it'll collapse in front of you.

Another way is to avoid using a backcast and use a roll cast instead. A roll cast is actually a more useful cast for almost any situation where you're not in a boat or over a large open body of water. Once you get a roll cast down, it's easier to feel the rod loading on a traditional cast that includes a backcast.

Here are some videos that explain this better than I just did:









The Orvis guy, the Rio guy (Simon Gawesworth), and the Casts that Catch Fish guy are the the three that I've liked best, so far. Each have tons more videos if you want more detail or something else related to casting.
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Thanks, I did overcome that after losing a few,er..several flies.My brother had a much more difficult time with it than I did though.
 
Always have been an avid fisherman since I can remember. Was always fascinated with fly fishing and when was a out 10 made my own"flies". Actually caught a few perch and bluegills with them albeit without a fly rod.
 
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Boji Husker said:
Always have been an avid fisherman since I can remember. Was always fascinated with fly fishing and when was a out 10 made my own"flies". Actually caught a few perch and bluegills with them albeit without a fly rod.
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I like tying flies for its own sake, and I still use more flies that were bought than ones that I've tied, but it is cool to catch a fish on one you made. I also make my own jigs, spinners, and walleye spinner rigs. I have ambition to start carving my own Rapala-type lures, and I'm trying to figure out how to do some Rapala-type lures that would be small enough to cast with a fly rod. I'm not a purist. I like catching fish, and I like making lures/flies/whatever that help to do that. If you liked catching them on your own flies, you should at least consider trying fly fishing.
 



If anyone is considering fly tying, here's the easiest pattern to tie because it has so few materials (which are all easy to work with), yet it still catches a lot of fish:


You can use almost any thread of any color, any bead that fits on the hook, and any wire that is small enough to wrap well around the hook. You can use different styles of hooks, too, but it works best in small sizes, <size 14 hooks. You can add clear nail polish to make it tougher, but you don't need to. It's a great winter pattern, but it works year-round. If you don't have a fly rod but want to try it, this is a great pattern to hang off of the end of a Rapala or similar.
 
Middle-aged_Ball_Coach said:
If anyone is considering fly tying, here's the easiest pattern to tie because it has so few materials (which are all easy to work with), yet it still catches a lot of fish:


You can use almost any thread of any color, any bead that fits on the hook, and any wire that is small enough to wrap well around the hook. You can use different styles of hooks, too, but it works best in small sizes, <size 14 hooks. You can add clear nail polish to make it tougher, but you don't need to. It's a great winter pattern, but it works year-round. If you don't have a fly rod but want to try it, this is a great pattern to hang off of the end of a Rapala or similar.
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I'd also add this one as an easy, productive pattern, at least in Colorado and Wyoming.

This one is from the 'Pre Bead Head' era.

images-4.jpeg
 
Middle-aged_Ball_Coach said:
I like tying flies for its own sake, and I still use more flies that were bought than ones that I've tied, but it is cool to catch a fish on one you made. I also make my own jigs, spinners, and walleye spinner rigs. I have ambition to start carving my own Rapala-type lures, and I'm trying to figure out how to do some Rapala-type lures that would be small enough to cast with a fly rod. I'm not a purist. I like catching fish, and I like making lures/flies/whatever that help to do that. If you liked catching them on your own flies, you should at least consider trying fly fishing.
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It's funny you mention still buying flies. I know for financial reasons when I first started tying I stopped buying store-bought. I know that limited my 'catching' in some cases because I didn't have all the materials or skills required to tie certain patterns, but I made due. My dad made his own spinners for years and I've still got a box of them he left me when he passed. It is a special kind of satisfying to catch a nice fish with a fly you tied, attached to a leader you made yourself.
 
CrabHusker said:
It's funny you mention still buying flies. I know for financial reasons when I first started tying I stopped buying store-bought. I know that limited my 'catching' in some cases because I didn't have all the materials or skills required to tie certain patterns, but I made due. My dad made his own spinners for years and I've still got a box of them he left me when he passed. It is a special kind of satisfying to catch a nice fish with a fly you tied, attached to a leader you made yourself.
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I like to try tying pretty much every fly that I like until I know that I can do it ... and then I promptly proceed to purchase the difficult ones on Ebay at discount. I love a Parachute Adams dry fly for fishing, but they're a pain to tie, so I buy them. Ditto for tons of other dry flies and a lot of nymphs that have more than a few materials. Also, I no longer enjoy tying much of anything smaller than size 18, and I really don't enjoy fishing anything smaller than a size 20, so I buy my size 20s, and I should probably sell everything that I have collected that is smaller than size 20.

At the other extreme of the fly tying spectrum, I probably fish Woolly Buggers and Mohair Leech patterns more than I should, but those are two of the most relaxing patterns to tie, so I need to use them to justify tying more. Ditto for soft hackle wet flies and a bajillion bucktail streamers of various types, sizes, and colors.
 




CrabHusker said:
I'd also add this one as an easy, productive pattern, at least in Colorado and Wyoming.

This one is from the 'Pre Bead Head' era.

View attachment 24926
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Yes, you're right that it's both easy to tie and very effective. I add a black beadhead to mine, and put some peacock herl in for legs and fluff, and bingo!, I just tied a Beadhead Brassie....



Then I want to add some partridge hackle for legs, and all of a sudden I just tied a variation of a Copper John without the biot tails, so, hey!, we should add some biots!...
 



I caught a small rainbow and a handful of crappie on Sunday. The water level is still too high so I was casting while on my tippy toes.
 

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