Time to Take Up Fly Fishing

Spring Runoff Day

A River Runs Through it

If you haven’t already read the book or watched the movie A River Runs Through It by Norman Mcclean, I highly recommend you put it on your list. It is a beautiful true story about life in western Montana, but a big part of its charm is its use of fly fishing as a central metaphor. Mr. Mcclean’s vivid description and recounting some of the most gifted and illuminating prose on the subject. Fishing is an endeavor that is nearly as old as time, and fly fishing is an evolution of the practice to a truly sport/art-oriented form.

Fly fishing relies on the generally careful presentation of an artificial lure (fly) on light tackle. One of the most significant distinctions in fly fishing is the use of the line as a propellant to cast and present the fly. Put another way, the fly fisherman casts the line rather than the lure. Spinning or spin-cast fishermen rely on the weight of the lure itself to drag a thin and light line behind it in the air during a cast; whereas, the fly fisherman relies on the weight of the line itself to carry a relatively light lure along behind it. Because of this fundamental aspect of fly fishing, it is a casting form that takes a good deal of practice to become competent, let alone accomplished.

Nearly all sport fish can and have been caught on a fly with a fly rod.

The Intrigue

The thrill of fly fishing is tricking a wily fish into taking a small lure often made of feathers, yarn, floss, thread, and or beads. This involves sometimes a lucky guess as to what might work. Other times it may require a very careful investigation of what the fish are feeding on presently. Sometimes a dry fly (floating via surface tension on the water) provides the right presentation, while other times wet flies like streamers or nymphs will produce the right response. Some fly fishermen refuse to fish wet flies, espousing the purity and challenge of dry fly fishing. Most are a little more pragmatic, and if you want to be routinely successful, nymphs will produce fish on a more regular basis.

The second major thrill of fly fishing is of course landing the fish once hooked. Because of the careful presentation, the leaders used in fly fishing are on the light side for the fish size you are targeting. This means you have to execute very careful techniques in successfully landing your fish. The rods and lightness of the line provide for a lot of excitement in landing fish.

Beyond the thrills, there is the quiet, anticipation, mental effort, and peace that bring you all the way into the moment. Fly fishermen on point are not daydreaming or thinking of their bills. They might be thinking as far ahead as looking for the next good fishing spot, or where to send their next cast, but that’s about it! Fly fishermen and women are focused. Focused on the cast, on the drift, on the presentation, on the strike, on the battle, on the netting, and on smiling for the camera. This focus on the present and the anticipation of the strike make days fly by. Even on some of the worst fishing days, the joy and anticipation that comes with every cast creates many wonderful moments.

Getting Started

Time will give you the opportunity to get better at casting and making your presentation perfect under various conditions and with various kinds of flies. You will have to learn to choose the right rod, line, tippet, and action for the application. Study the best flies to use and learn and perfect various knots. It may not sound like a lot, but fly fishing is a hobby/sport that allows you no end of improvement opportunities. Also, this is the kind of activity you can do as long as you are able to walk and cast, well into the later stages of your life.

Nearly all sport fish can and have been caught on a fly with a fly rod. This includes large game fish like Tuna and the different kinds of Sailfish, all the way down to tiny stream-run trout and the lowly carp. “Classic” sport fish include trout, salmon, steelhead, tarpon, and bonefish. I think that most of the fly fishermen and women I know all consider the various species of salmonids and char to be premium quarry, much in the classic way presented in Norman Mcclean’s Montana-based story.

Fly fishermen are adventurous and are continually pushing the limits of what species of fish can be captured on the fly. If the fish will feed anywhere near the surface or not overly deep (20 feet or maybe a little more), a fly can be presented. For many years, the tarpon was considered a nearly maximum challenge for the fly rod, but lately anglers are attacking large game fish like tuna and marlin with a fly rod.
For most of us, fly fishing opens up a bigger basket of opportunities that include bodies of water that hold trout, various sunfish, all freshwater and many saltwater bass species, pike, walleye, bonefish, some other shallow coastal species, and (ugh) even carp.

Fly Fishing Gear

Fly lines generally are meant to either sink or float, or sometimes a combination of a floating body with a sinking tip. The line is meant to present the fly at a specific level within the water. Lines also come in a range of weights that are designed to present flies at various casting ranges and delicacies of presentation. You can spend goodly amounts of time and money just selecting and trying out fly lines; however, it is a safe idea to purchase one floating line (either weight-forward or double-taper depending on your needs) and one moderate sinking line on separate spools for your fly reel. This will allow quick changes from one type of fishing to the other. Many are able to do all they wish with only the floating line.

Rods are selected based on the primary terrain, waters, and fish you are after. Longer rods tend to cast farther and with a little less control. Small rods will be better for tight presentations where casting distance isn’t at a premium. Likewise, lighter rods/lines will present more delicately but may not have enough spine to horse the fish in before it tangles in roots or something along those lines. Lighter rods are more fun in general, if other considerations aren’t predominant in rod selection.

I doubt there is a single state in the union or province of Canada that does not produce ample fly fishing opportunities. This is a sport you should be able to do just about as expensively as a picnic, once the equipment is purchased. Legitimate beginner sets run around $150 including rod, reel, line, and maybe a few useless knick knacks. If you can get by without waders or a float tube (figure $150 each for those), a couple dozen flies, fishing vest, a few doo-dads to make your life easier (forceps, tweezers, dressings etc.) and a good net will set you back maybe another $150 or $200 and you are good to go. You can definitely get a good start for around $300.

Custom or top-shelf rods will run you anywhere from $500 to $1500 (and up), while a quality reel starts around $100 and quickly moves up to $300 to $400. So you can see that even on the high end of the gear, you can get a really smokin’ outfit for less than $1000. My advice is to start small with a quality beginner’s kit, like the ones offered by Echo. If you are sure you will like this sport and won’t give up, then a $200 to $300 rod will make your life better, as will a large-arbor disc drag reel in the $100 – $200 range.

Fly fishing gear is mostly meant to last a lifetime. Reels need to be cleaned and lubricated periodically, and fly lines will wear out and require replacement. But the rods and the reels themselves should stand for a lifetime of use if not abused.

Why Fly Fish?

In my opinion, fly fishing provides one of the rarest opportunities to enjoy nature in a relaxed and calming way while making almost constant use of your problem-solving abilities. There is nothing stressful about figuring out the best presentation or drift, nor in selecting the right fly and approach, so don’t get me wrong. Using your brain to solve puzzles while enjoying nature and reaping the rewards of the perfect cast, presentation, fly, and hookup are hard to describe. A sense of satisfaction, that doesn’t quite cover it. You realize you can solve the riddle, you can catch these beautiful and seemingly crafty creatures. The achievement of becoming a bona-fide fly fisherperson is one that puts you into a rare class and it is truly something of which you should be most proud.