Hello all,
This is the first time that I have posted anything on here, so I am sorry if it’s not in the right category.
Last summer I decided that I wanted to learn to catch fish on a flyrod. Prior to that I had spent some time with a $25 flytying kit tying various combinations of fur and feather onto the shanks of whatever hook I could find and then flailing the water into foam with them on my flyrod. Most of this behavior occured when I was around 10 and told my father that I wanted a flyrod for christmas. My dad, an avid bass angler had absolutely no idea what to tell me when it came to using a flyrod or tying flies. As a matter of fact, at the time that I recieved my flyrod for christmas I had never even whitnessed a person flyfishing. I had gotten the idea from a tv show where they were catching trout in alaska or canada. Our home was a long way from alaska, and if we wanted to catch trout we just went to Lake Tanneycomo with a can of corn and a box of worms. This was not necessarily the most nurturing enviroment to learn in. I did manage to catch a few smallmouth and some bluegills, but quickly grew tired of the constant frustration and closeted my flyrod.
Back to last summer… So I was visiting the Bass Pro Shop and found myelf standing in front of a small display of flyrods. They were all the store brands and looked very nice and I couldn’t resist picking on of them up and playing with it. Bad idea. When I picked up the rod I remembered those few very nice fish that I had caught on a fly 15 years prior. I guess thats what age does to you, helps you to remember the best parts of things…
So I went home, dug out my old eagle claw, made half a dozen casts in the front yard and headed off to the pond with half a dozen streamers that I found in my tackle box. Not the ideal situation, but I didn’t care. I managed to catch 2 or three crappie and one small bass that day. I also came to the realization that the nebraska wind was going to make flyfishing difficult. No matter, I was hooked. So i went home and tied up a few more streamers (all i knew how to tie) and went to the library to check out a few books. Epiphony: fly tying books are the most bewildering thing on the face of the planet. One of the books had nothing more than pictures of beautiful flies and lists of materials. The best of these helped only slightly, as they seemed to be missing major steps in the tying process, and told me nothing about how to fish them. I caught a few more fish, tied a few basic patterns, and decided that I needed a new flyrod. So I went back to Bass Pro and started trying out rods in their little pond. I found one within my price range and started the process of deciding on the proper weight. Out in the standard 15 mile per hour wind i discovered that I could cast an 8 weight far more effectively than I could cast the 6 weight, and that along with the saleman’s advice sent me out the door with a brand new hobbs creek 9’ 8 wt flyrod.
I have since become aware that I have done something similar to hunting squirrels with a .270. Granted, it does work, but its a bit more rod than is really necessary. So I am considering looking into another rod. The first question that I have is what weight would you reccomend? I spend most of my time fishing for bluegill, crappies, and this pesky fish called the white perch. Occasionally I go after bass, wiper, or northern pike but I have the 8 wt for those days. Also, how does one decide on what lenght they need? Does anyone have any suggestons for a decent, cheap rod? (I realize that i will have to upgrade eventually but I am a full time college student and I have a year left to go)
Finally, I was hoping that someone could come forward and help me out with a few good recipes for panfish flies, or at least tell me which ones are my best shot in the archives. I have been following the fly tying guides written by Al Campbell, and I am slightly better off than I used to be in terms of tying flies. I just have no idea where to begin as far as finding appropriate patterns, especially given that right now the fish aren’t taking surface flies (except the stocked trout, and they won’t last long). Does anyone have any suggestions? I emailed Mr. Campbell to ask him these questions but I am sure that he is very busy as he has not gotten back to me yet, so I was hoping that the group could steer me in the right direction.
P.S. I caught my first 2 trout on a fly last week. They were only about 13 inches long and had been stocked last fall by the game and parks commission, but they were trout. I had to brag to someone, sorry.
Chris
