A newbie's 2nd season

[FishnDave]

I'm wrapping up my 2nd year of "serious" fly fishing. I never have the fish figured out, and water clarity, temperature and other factors make it almost impossible that 2 fishing outings will be the same!
I'd been fishing a local pond pretty hard all Spring and doing well, and then a fellow FAOL'er visited, and showed me some new flies/tricks that worked as good (and sometimes better) than what I had been using. Wonderful!
And then adding species is always fun, too. I was fortunate enough to tangle with a few catfish last year, and over a dozen more this year. And I finally got a number of carp to hit, and landed some, including my personal biggest ever (and I grew up fishing for them with my Dad!). Also added some of the exotic species while in Florida this past Spring. What a blast!!
Although I always feel more "satisfied" when I catch some fish, fly fishing is fun in itself...much more so for me than with an unsuccessful "spin-fishing" outing.

[Ironhead]

Getting back into fly fishing only several years ago I can feel your pain, however just remember what they say,"A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work." I'm far from being an expert on ready the water and most of what I know is from trial and error (and the great info I've gotten from this site). However the most important thing I learned is to be flexible in my approach to fishing a body of water (river,pond,ect.). If you find a spot you think fish are holding up don't rush to it but fish your way to it, including places you don't expect fish to be. Sometimes the places were you don't expect fish to be are exactly were they are. Now I'm not saying go out of your way to fish these spots, but there is no reason not to cast to them while you approach the spot you want to fish. The same goes for presenting your fly. If nothings taking it, before you try a different fly or different location change the way you present it to the fish (even if it's not the 'proper way') sometimes it works. When the fish aren't bitting it's the perfect time to experiment.

[Greg F]

DLP,

Sorry you had a tough year, I went through the same thing when I started fly fishing all by my self. I knew absolutely zero. The flies I bought at the hardware store in Truckee: were they wets, dries, how do you fish upstream or downstream, surface or deep? How's my backcast, I don't know but I'm snappin' off flies. Didn't catch anything, of course.

Read, read the books by Dave Hughes, Ralph Cutter, Gary La Fontaine. Read California Fly Fisher. Read about bugs, read about fish, read about techniques. I devoured those books. I still didn't have a place to store it in my brain because I didn't have the experience. Then a guy took me to a lake, showed me what to do and I caught a beautiful rainbow trout. Then some guys took me to a river and showed me what to do and I caught some trout. Then it clicked.

You need a fly fisher to show you what to do. When you went to the Bear with those guys you really got introduced to where and why and how. You hooked up with the club and went to Downieville. I pulled 4 trout from one hole there just two weeks ago. Look how much I have learned! I joined our club and there is a bunch of people just drooling to take somebody fishing. Get those guys in your club to show you how.

Greg

[CO_Flyfisher]

The flies I bought at the hardware store in Truckee:

Actually, that (Ace) "Hardware" store has a pretty decent fly-fishing gear selection! Better outfitted than some stand-alone shops are. I found and bought a Simms fishing shirt that I hadn't been able to find anywhere else, and I paid less for it too!