fly fishing

[zukrider]

in colorado, i have a fishing deficiency. there are so many places to fish! lived here my whole life. ive caught 5 fish, biggest of which being an 8" rainbow. the problem, at least in my opinion, i dont have the patience to cast and wait. ergo, i want to learn to fly fish.


so, i am in need of some direction. gear, literature, general advice. i dont want to do the beginner tour/guide help thing. i like to read and learn. im having difficulty finding a good read though.

as far as gear suggestions, i would like to enter this new found obsession as affordably as possible.
any help would be great. thanx, joe

 

[Cody1771]

try to find a club near by. its alot easier to have someone show you first hand. you can usually get away with the cheap-o fly fishing combo's until you get a hang for it then start loosing money to your local shop. there are lots of fly fishing weekend getaways to teach you how. just have fun with it!

 

[spressomon]

Most of the Orvis stores provide a couple different lesson sessions on all things fly fishing including hands-on fly casting instructions. Check out your local Denver area Orvis stores for schedules, etc. Free.

 

[cchoc]

If you want to read about casting, the book "The Cast" by Ed Jaworowski is excellent. "Presenting the Fly" by Lefty Kreh is also a great book, and "Practical Fishing Knots" by Sosin and Kreh is a good resource.

Temple Fork rods are nice and fairly affordable. They also have a line of reels but I'm not familiar with them.

 

[Wander]

+1 for Temple Fork rods, Orvis also offers a good entry level package that is a good value, Reddington is another with good entry packages. All have great warranties and many times an upgrade in the reel will allow you to keep the rod for a long time as you progress. Out west I would think an 8-9 ft 5 wt would be a great all rounder rod.

 

[Outdoor Logic]

Step One : Find local Fly Shop, start buying little things here and there.
Step two: Bring the owner his favorite beverage ( Coke, monster, Coors)
Step three: hang out a little longer after you make your purchases..

Now after you have done that you can start picking the owner, workers brains on where to fish, what to bring... they also tend to know about used gear for sale....Try looking up a message forum like this one but that is based in CO and about fly fishing.. Amazing buys on QUALITY used gear.
Pick a couple of " guide to fishing Colorado" type books..

I think the best bang for the buck and quality is Reddington ( mentioned above) Pair that with an Okuma reel and some double taper floating line and you are set. The double tapper is nice because when the one end gets messed up just flip it around. Once you get more comfortable you can choose something more aggressive like a shooting taper or rocket taper.. That really helps out on long casts in windy conditions. Plus it keeps the false casting to a minimum which is very important on CO water that gets heavy pressure.

Lean to roll cast you can do 80% of your fishing with a simple roll cast... Just go to Youtube and type in how to roll cast fly fishing... But most of all sit and stop for a second Colorado has some of the most beautiful water, it will make your soul happy.. As an old timer once told me " you can learn to cast a fly in 10 minutes, but take a lifetime learning to fish"

 

[K2ZJ]

" you can learn to cast a fly in 10 minutes, but take a lifetime learning to fish"

THIS!!

I can't answer your fly fishing question, however, how much do you fish? If you have been fishing for years and only caught 5 you are doing something wrong. Learn what to fish with, for the types of fish that are where you are fishing. Follow that? There are no hard fast rules, but in general fish go after certain baits which change depending on the season and weather and...

But, it is called fishing not catching.

 

[mandm1516]

Get yourself a Tenkara rod. Below are 2 links--I have the 12' Iwana from the first link and the 12' Caddis from the second ($135 and $50 respectively). All you'll need besides that is a simple $10-20 line (high visibility fluorocarbon is pretty popular) and some flies.

No reel, it telescopes from 20" to 12' long, weighs nothing so it's easy to pack in and out, and setup takes about a minute. I got mine last fall and have fished 50 times since, pulling out my conventional gear only once.

Casting it is easy and there's not a lot of extra stuff to worry about (line management, drag, etc). With limited line length you have to move around a little more to reach the spot you want to drop a fly but you can put a dry fly into very small pocket water and by keeping the line off the water, keep it there to drift very naturally. I don't like fishing nymphs but it's the same thing with this--no line drag & don't need a strike indicator because you just watch & feel the line.

It's not ideal for fishing big water, streamers, etc but for smaller creeks or pocket water it's awesome.
.
http://www.tenkarausa.com/index.php

http://tenkaraflyfish.webs.com/apps/webstore/

Mike