How about some help? We are starting a new Men’s Ministry at church and I am to give a “workshop” on learning to fly fish. We have a few guys who are just getting started. What are the basics that you have learned from someone and those that you learned by trial and error? What should we cover? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated either on this thread or by PM.
Many thanks,
Dick xfishcop
“Keepeth thy backcast uppeth”…Quoting late friend & mentor Jim Birkholm, aka Castwell…RIP old friend.
Mikey
I got a lot of good information from a bunch of folks along the way, but most of what I actually learned was by trial and error. I summarized that, as still a relatively new fly angler, in a Reader’s Cast article in February 2012 titled “Three Teas For Trout.” To find the article, go to the Articles on the home page menu, go to “Reader’s Cast” and then scroll down to 2-13-12.
Briefly, the article covers the three teas - timing, tackle and technique, further described as - fish where they is, not where they ain’t; feed them off their menu, not yours; and serve them off a silver platter, not a tv tray. The three teas are still the basis of discussions I have with the beginning anglers that I run into.
All the best to you as you introduce new anglers to fly angling.
John
Always wear eye protection! I was at the emergency room last week with my brother as he stuck a size 2 streamer in his bicep but it could have been much worse without proper safety gear. I learned that beginners should not be casting big wind resistant flies even if they do want to catch a bass.
A person new to fly fishing should never start out by fly fishing. It will often become so frustrating for them that they will go back (OMG) to gear fishing. 
First they need to learn to cast. Period. You bet wear eye protection, even if they are only casting yarn at the end of their leader while casting on grass. Learning the proper timing for casting 35 to 45 feet will make their first experience at fly fishing far more enjoyable.
Many years ago I had a friend that I invited to go fishing with me at a private lake, fishing from the bank. I knew he had been fly fishing for a while so I never considered watching him cast. As I was rigging up my rod, he was ‘casting’. He asked me if I could help him learn to double haul so he could get his fly out on the water farther. That was when I watched him ‘casting’. He had almost no line out and was waving they fly rod around like it was a fly swatter. So I told him we would not worry about double hauling, first he needed to learn how to cast. I put my rod down and started him on the right approach to casting.
So, teach them the timing and technique needed to actually cast a fly then worry about the fishing part.
Larry —sagefisher—
He was doing pretty good with a piece of yarn on the bank. He had trouble with the wind resistant gurgler I gave him first so I switched it out with a weighted streamer that I thought would be more forgiving. He could feel that loading the rod better but still got out of sync and caught himself with the backcast. The worst of it was the doc destroyed my fly and wouldn’t give us a discount on the bill for a replacement. He wasn’t in any pain until they gave him the tetanus shot so we clowned around and had more fun than they usually see in the E.R.
Thanks for the input. We will wear eye protection and use yarn as we get started. John I printed off your "Readers Casts.
Thanks again, appreciate the help.
Dick
Lefty Kreh has a pretty good dvd teaching the basics of fly casting. I think that would be a good teaching aid.
I find it interesting that most, if not all, of the responses so far have to do with casting, admittedly, an important aspect of the sport. However, my most memorable lesson, including all the casting lessons I had, came one day when my mentor and I went to the river and to my surprise, he said leave your rod on the bank, as he did with his. We then began picking up rocks, turning them over, looking underneath them and plucking bugs (nymphs) from the river and catching flying insects. We spent a good deal of time examining these critters until I had an understanding of mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, dragon and damsel flies as the food trout eat, that I was trying to imitate, how to identify them and their behavior. That profound experience in one afternoon gave me a fundamental understanding of what it was I was trying to do. I still remember that little brook in Connecticut fifty years later, could find it to this day but I honestly don’t remember if we caught any fish that afternoon. Of course, this same mentor and I spend many hours on a grass tennis court fishing for grass trout until I had an equal understanding of presentation (beyond just casting) and many hours during the winter huddled over tying vises putting it all together so that now it all (occasionally) works and I catch a fish. We’re friends to this day even though life and circumstances have physically separated us by half a continent.
canoenut -
Sounds like you had a mentor who understood and could teach the “Three Teas For Trout.”
Your post is a Reader’s Digest version of my article on the Reader’s Cast. Nicely put.
John
Dick -
When I first considered taking up fly angling, I found it all a bit overwhelming, what with all the fly rods, fly lines, leaders, flies, materials, etc. It ran counter to one of the major endeavors over my lifetime - to keep it simple.
So I decided to try it, but only on the premise that I could keep it simple, and if I couldn’t then I would walk away from it.
I’ve been relatively successful both in keeping it simple, and succeeding ( enjoying ) at it in that way.
But some folks like things complex and complicated, and if that’s your thing, you can be successful with that approach also. You can make it wild beyond your wildest dreams.
The point being - you can make it what you want, you can do it the way you like to do it, and you can enjoy it on your own terms. I think that is a point worth making to anyone considering taking up fly angling.
John
IMHO, the movie “A River Runs Through It” was one of the worst things (and best things) that happened to fly fishing. I believe the actual fly caster was Jason Borger who was shown to be seen casting “hundreds” of feet with grace and beauty. However, fish are in the water and not in the air. For this reason I begin newbies to first nymph fish and not concentrate on dry fly casting. The roll cast is the first and foremost cast to master and all others can follow.
You can’t catch a fish if your fly isn’t on or in the water.
I have always heard, and believe, 80%+ for what fish eat live in the water, the remainder lives on the water.
Begin by learning how to tie flies. I started tying a year before fly fishing. Almost 44 years later, it’s what has kept me exploring this passion.
PT/TB
Its been my experience that most students know more about learning, than instructors know about teaching.
Well said Paul! I being a terrible instructor, learned more from my grandkids while trying to teach them how to used the rod and line to propel the fly. (Note that I did not use the word CAST.) Yes, students can be very perceptive. They quickly understand that to catch a fish the fly needs to be on or in the water most of the time. To them, how it gets there is of secondary importance. Oh well, they did catch fish. Like Scott said, keep it simple.