Fly Fishing

[Steve]

^^^ This is a good suggestion. Or check with any of your local outfitters. We have a mom & pop outfitter here that has their own free demo days and classes. They even just built a lake just for trying out kayaks and fly fishing equipment.

 

[MA_Trooper]

All great suggestions. Go to your nearest park and cast on the grass. If you go to a creek you might get distracted by trying to catch fish and get discouraged when your casting suffers. Practice practice practice. It takes a lot of time and patience to get good. And once you get good you'll realize it's impossible to completely master the art. ;)

 

[Justin_0237]

I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with this place in Northern California but I get to spend 10 days along the trinity river. Bound and determined to catch me a good size fish. I'll let you all know how it is

 

[Jasalvas]

I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with this place in Northern California but I get to spend 10 days along the trinity river. Bound and determined to catch me a good size fish. I'll let you all know how it is

Sounds like a great trip! The Trinity River is a great place to be. It is more popular for its steel head but it is a healthy river system so the residential trout should be there in healthy numbers. You may get into some summer run steelhead. Also a few brown trout.
The fish will mostly take nymphs and streamers. There is a fly shop in the town of Weaverville and they will have the best recommendations for flies and how to fish them.
Have a great trip and take plenty of pictures!

 

[Jasalvas]

So I have been wanting to get into fly fishing for a long time and received my first fly rod for my birthday this year! However, I have no idea what I am doing. I have watched youtube and have kinda figured out the basics of casting and what not. I grew up fishing off boats so fishing in a river will be very different than what I am used to. That being said, I was hoping I could get some info from you more experienced anglers. What part of a river is best for fishing, is there a certain type of flow in a river that fish favor? I most likely will be fishing for trout. Are there any tips/tricks I should know?

Hey there. There are endless resources and some of the best are talking to people directly. There were a series of videos I watched when I first started fly fishing and I learned quite a bit from them. I have included a link below:


An old set of videos but the information is solid (there are 6 videos). It will increase your understanding of how to fish a river system and increase your catch rate.

Enjoy!

 

[Justin_0237]

Sounds like a great trip! The Trinity River is a great place to be. It is more popular for its steel head but it is a healthy river system so the residential trout should be there in healthy numbers. You may get into some summer run steelhead. Also a few brown trout.
The fish will mostly take nymphs and streamers. There is a fly shop in the town of Weaverville and they will have the best recommendations for flies and how to fish them.
Have a great trip and take plenty of pictures!

Well just returned from my trip and no luck. I guess this time of year isn't really good for any steelhead. Usually the river around this time of year is flowing at about 900cfs but they have been flowing the river around 1200-1600cfs. Lewiston lake we heard was great for some trout fishing and we didn't catch anything. (Using powerbait to spincasters). We talk to locals and they said the steelhead are in big bar right now so we traveled up to that town and nothing (even after stopping at the local fly shop to pick up what they say will work) I will say though that trinity county is such a beautiful area to explore and I will be going back in September to catch me a steelhead...hopefully

 

[Truckerbizz]

Just got back from my first time fly fishing!

 

[Jasalvas]

Just got back from my first time fly fishing!

Cool video, thanks for sharing! Beautiful area man.

 

[Jasalvas]

Well just returned from my trip and no luck. I guess this time of year isn't really good for any steelhead. Usually the river around this time of year is flowing at about 900cfs but they have been flowing the river around 1200-1600cfs. Lewiston lake we heard was great for some trout fishing and we didn't catch anything. (Using powerbait to spincasters). We talk to locals and they said the steelhead are in big bar right now so we traveled up to that town and nothing (even after stopping at the local fly shop to pick up what they say will work) I will say though that trinity county is such a beautiful area to explore and I will be going back in September to catch me a steelhead...hopefully

Too bad nothing was hooked. I know there is a number of resident trout in the river system as well.
With the Trinity, trout tactics are used for steelhead as well (high sticking with indicator and size 18 nymph). I would have thought you would have gotten into a brown or two.
Anyway, hope it was a great trip regardless.

 

[Justin_0237]

Too bad nothing was hooked. I know there is a number of resident trout in the river system as well.
With the Trinity, trout tactics are used for steelhead as well (high sticking with indicator and size 18 nymph). I would have thought you would have gotten into a brown or two.
Anyway, hope it was a great trip regardless.

Yes it was an amazing trip! I didn't try any nymph fishing (I guess I should have) but when we went to the fly shop they sold us some flies that have been hitting lately and they were size 10 so they were fairly large for what I am used to fishing. But hey that's the name of the game and onto the next river! Lol

 

[Tim D]

Any Tenkara fly fisherman here?

 

[RiverCityDave]

Any Tenkara fly fisherman here?

I haven't weighed into it myself, but I have a friend who is a fan, and I've watched them numerous times.

 

[Ranger]

I just started fly fishing. Got into it on the cheap, on a rod and reel given to me. Have been maybe 8 times. Caught one 8" brown on a crystal stimulator. Have had maybe 20 bites, apparently I suck at settings the hook. I fish so far in streams close to me. Best creek, and clear Creek here in Colorado. Love it so far.

 

[NWNavigator]

New here to Overland Bound, but not to fly fishing. I've been at that game for over half a century and now make my living helping folks learn more about the sport. Equipment is just stuff and is easily found, but knowledge comes with time, practice and the occasional help from someone with the experience you are working towards. Kind of like most things in life. What I love most about the sport is not the fish or the fishing, but the places fish are found. Water has always been a healing place for me when life gets out of hand. I find myself getting into Overlanding to find more of those beautiful places and perhaps a little peace.

Occasionally my guys in the shop and I head off to camp and fish with a few friends. If anyone here in the NW is interested in joining one of our non-guided get togethers let me know. Right now we're planning a Black Friday fish-in on the Deschutes River. I normally bring a hot lunch for all and folks add what they want. Kind of like Stone Soup. It was a bit chilly last year, but everyone had fun. We caught a few Steelhead and some nice Trout too!

I also work with two groups here in Oregon, Project Healing Waters and Casting for Recovery. Both use fly fishing as a means of healing. PHW gets our Vets on the water and CFR hosts breast cancer fighters. I'll be blasting down to southern Oregon tomorrow for the CFR retreat to help with their on-the-water session. It's great fun and very rewarding.

So on that note, I offer whatever help I can to all of you fly fishers and want-to-be fly fishers. I would just say, it's not about the fish. It's about having fun and enjoying the great outdoors. Travel Safe.



Blitzen River near Frenchglen, OR (we caught and released some nice fish!)

 

[NWNavigator]

Hit the Rogue and North Umpqua for summer Steelhead this weekend. Probably should have focused on the fishing, but my camera got in the way...



Protected area on Steamboat Creek. Soon to be part of the Frank Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary. I visited with Frank and Jeanne on my way home. They are treasures, just like these fish.

 

[Chris Zawacki]

@Murphy Slaw , you don't have to wait for retirement
Once a year, in the spring I think, Orvis does a big nationwide event where all of there stores (almost all of them anyway) host a free workshop for all skill levels. Find a buddy with a fly rod and borrow it for a day. It is some top notch instruction. Most local fly shops and guides will do something similar throughout the year and even let you borrow their rental gear. They'll have you casting in an hour or two.

Great info, Ill have to look into this.

 

[NWNavigator]

Any Tenkara fly fisherman here?

I just started carrying and using Tenkara Rod Company's line of rods this past summer. The guys came out from Idaho and did a little demo for everyone one Saturday. Not fully caught on here in Oregon, but I have had a lot of fun on smaller streams during my summertime travels. I keep two Tenkara rods in the 4runner at all times and have been building specialized lines for different situations. Just another tool in the box. To be fair, I keep 2 6wts., 2 5wts, and 2 4wts. in the rig as well. Never know when you might run into a Trout apocalypse.

 

[NWNavigator]

Dang, not a lot of traffic here in the fly fishing thread... well, I just got back from 5 days in Montana. The Rio/Sage crew hosted me on the Missouri River. Great time had by all...

 

[llibrm]

i just recently got involved with fly fishing. I got a new orvis rod and it snapped within a week. So, I borrowed my father in-laws Sage. Wow what a trip. We were in the Methow Valley on the east face of the North Cascades for all of July. The weather was less than cooperative and kept postponing my first time out. The rain was hard enough that it would muddy the waters to where try to fish was not even worth wading out. Finally made it out and it was so cool to see those fish swim right up and bite the fly (nymph). It was also very frustrating to see them come over, bump the fly and turn. I'm hoping to get a new rod this holiday and get back out there. Unfortunately there is not a good fly fishing near me, but a trip once a month seems feasible for a little RnR with the family.

 

[NWNavigator]

Unfortunately there is not a good fly fishing near me, but a trip once a month seems feasible for a little RnR with the family.

Once a week is much better.... it does wonders for your attitude.
Don't get too focused on the gear to start off. Build your tackle collection like you build an Overlanding rig, as you learn. You'll be making tweaks to it all the time. Buy the best you can afford, but remember there's quality at all price points. Do your research! Get hooked up with a local fly shop or fly fishing club and ask questions!

AZ ain't the PNW, but you all have plenty of golf courses and they all have ponds they use to collect golf balls. There's plenty of bass, carp and other critters to pull on between Trout trips. Just have fun and practice your casting! Pick up a good DVD on the subject. Joan Wulff's casting video is a good place to start...or take a lesson. I see guys all the time with $800 fly rods that don't know how to cast.

I've been packing a fly rod around for 53 years and in the industry for 18. I can always find someplace to get the line wet. Some places are just more scenic and productive than others...

The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the beautiful places fish can be found. Good luck!



One more tip. Never fish with a guy in a banana suit. It's bad luck. I got attacked by a six foot Lemon Shark that day. Had to kick him in the beak to keep my leg intact. The Shark, not the Banana.