Was out fishing yesterday and am happy to report that I caught my very first trout on a fly rod using a flying ant. I caught an 11" brown and wow!!! What an experience!!

I was floating the ant along the edge of a large hole when the trout came up, almost clean out of the water, and took the fly. WOW!!! I almost forgot to set the hook and, to my surprise, did so without yanking the hook out of its mouth. I was pretty trout-crazy at that point! After I played the fish a bit while stripping in line, I had to look at my buddy and ask "okay, now what???". He got a good laugh and after a moment I had landed the trout, grinning ear-to-ear. It was a beauty. I measured it, got the requisite "first fish on a fly" pictures and after releasing it, retired that fly to a special place of honor among my fishing gear

What an experience!!! That was exactly what I was looking for when I decided to give fly fishing the old college try a few weeks ago. I'm glad I did and getting that first fish under the belt was an amazing thing! Now I understand why so many fly anglers with much more time under their belts told me "wait till you get that first one off the top"... well.. pun fully intended.. I believe I'm "hooked" for life!