I caught my FIRST fish on a fly rod earlier today :D, a 5" sunfish, on a black sponge spider with white legs on my home lake. Was using my TFO 8’6" Pro special with an Orvis Clearwater reel. The little bugger had been slapping at the spider for several minutes, guess I ticked him off enough throwing it back at him time and time again he finally gave in. Had several other slaps/misses but no more hook ups with the fly rod. No pics, left the phone in the truck, but I’ll remember how he looked for a long time. Also caught a 10" bass while shooting some docks close by.
I took my Ride 115 today to see if I could FF from the yak, and had watched a couple of utube videos and picked up some pointers on that, and the tips seem to work for me anyways. I even got brave enough to attempt to stand up in yak, and was successful in standing up AND no tipping over either. I still have some learning to do on the standing up part, well, on the FF’g as well, but I’m gonna mark this day down as successful.
Congrats on the first fly rod catch, I think you will enjoy all fish caught while fly fishing just as you did your first. Sounds like you had a great day all around
I’m a kayaker as well. Honestly, I think that is a perfect platform for fly fishing. Combine the stealth of a kayak with the presentation of fly fishing, and it’s an absolute hoot for catching!
Awesome Jimp; I remember that moment for me too. Some of my friends don’t understand, but I’d rather cast a fly rod all day and catch nothing than throw bait and pull in fish after fish.
Jimp, Congratulations, bream can be a lot of fun. The surprise bass are a bonus not to mention the catfish and grass carp or common carp you may encounter. I have a neighbor who has made the mistake of asking me to introduce him to flyfishing, he also moved from flyrod owner to flyfisherman recently. I am not as hardcore as Prairieschooner, reeling in fish after fish is still fun to me, but my spinning and casting rods are covered with dust. Oh, congrats on not turning over the yak, I am the resident crash test dummy.
Yeah, I’m not so sure I would prefer casting a fly rod all day with no hook ups over catching fish after fish either. That would be a tough one and would probably pick the multiple fish day as well. It was a satisfying day for sure to see the end result of catching something on the fly rod tho. I doubt my spinning rods will gather much dust as I fish for crappie quite a bit, went yesterday as a matter of fact. LOL.
Well, you know, it’s called “fishing”, not “catching” ;)! OK, maybe my statement was a little too bold, but to me “how” really is more important than “how many”.
I plan on going for some crappie using the fly rod, thanks for the tip on the streamers. Been trying to figure out how to get some depth and was thinking the streamers, and have some 1/80 and 1/100 jigs as well. Just have to go out and try it :rolleyes:
Microjigs can be killer, one of the largest bass I have caught on a flyrod was on a 1/124 oz. jig. Bass about 5 1/2 lb. made for interesting few minutes.
Congrats! Now just relax and learn, since you got the monkey off your back! Crappie can be a blast on the fly. Some of my better crappie have come off a small black leech and #10 Clouser minnow. Even during the summer, they will chase bait into the shallows! But I am also a BIG believer in using “the right tool for the job”, and sometimes that is not a fly rod. I am also becoming a huge fan of slip corks and a simple mallard flank jig.
I have tied and used many No. 8 bugger with my 5 wt. BTW, I got the 1/124 at BPS, they have about a No. 10 hook, they cast well and are not deadly it you do a chuck and duck and don’t duck. The 1/124 oz are toward the bottom of the page. http://www.basspro.com/White-River-Fly-Shop-Fly-Fishing-Jig-Heads/product/3085/
well, tied 'em on and did not do well at all in the casting department, pretty ugly but gonna keep at it. For some reason, I’m determined to learn this FF thing. All I seem to be able to cast halfway decent/consistently are poppers and sponge spiders. I can get somewhat decent casts with the micro jigs but not consistently.
Get in your back yard and learn to cast the flyrod using no flies, just the line and leader. Once you get use to casting the line start casting with old flies with the hook points cut off so they won’t grab hold to anything and keep working your way up in weight until you can cast a 1/32 on a 5wt. Learning to do this takes time, don’t get caught up in trying to make long cast but try to make a good short cast. Distance will come in time.
I stand up fly fishing in my Ride 135 all the time. You will learn to trust the stability. The Ride is a super-stable hull designed for fishing. Keep at it.
Crappies caught on a fly rod from your kayak taste better than crappies caught any other way.
Nothing wrong with mono, especially for practice, when using heavier flies cast with an open loop.
The tapered leader turns over the fly better when using heavier flies.
