The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing Read online

  The Orvis Guide To Beginning Fly Fishing

  101 Tips for the Absolute Beginner

  Tom Rosenbauer

  The Orvis Company

  Copyright © 2009 by Tom Rosenbauer

  Photographs © 2009 by Tom Rosenbauer

  Illustrations © 2009 by Bob White

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018.

  Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

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  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Rosenbauer,Tom.

  The Orvis guide to beginning fly fishing : 101 tips for the absolute

  beginner / Tom Rosenbauer.

  p. cm.

  9781602393233

  1. Fly fishing. I. Orvis Company. II. Title.

  SH456.R664 2008

  799.12’4--dc22

  2008052281

  Printed in China

  To Bob Murphy (1944-2009), who was always

  the perfect hunting and fishing buddy: A patient

  mentor, endless source of advice on everything from

  steelhead fishing to dog training, and a true gentleman

  who inspired everyone he ever met to be a better person.

  I’ll think of you whenever I’m on the water.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Preface

  Introduction

  PART I - Getting Started

  1 - How do you get started if you don’t have a mentor?

  2 - The best way to practice your casting

  3 - The two knots you must be able to tie on the water

  4 - Exactly how much fly-fishing gear do you need to get started in trout fishing?

  5 - What to get after the essentials

  6 - Planning your first fishing trip

  7 - What to do when you first get to the water

  8 - Fly fishing in urban areas

  PART II - Equipment

  9 - Pick a rod by line size

  10 - How long should your rod be?

  11 - How to pick a reel

  12 - Large-, mid-, and standard-arbor reels

  13 - Picking the right waders

  14 - What to wear under waders

  15 - What color clothing should you wear?

  16 - What fly line should you use for starting out?

  17 - When to use a sinking line

  18 - What’s the difference between a weight forward and a double taper line?

  19 - How to connect a leader to a fly line

  20 - What is backing and how do you tie it to your reel and line?

  21 - What is a tippet and what do you do with it?

  PART III - Casting

  22 - How do you cast in the wind?

  23 - How do you increase the length of your casts?

  24 - How should your leader, line, and fly land on the water?

  25 - Keeping your fly line slick

  26 - How to keep from hanging up in trees and brush—and what to do about it

  27 - What rod action do you need?

  28 - When you need a roll cast

  29 - Why does your fly keep hitting your line?

  30 - Why does your line pile up on the water?

  31 - Casting from a boat

  PART IV - Techniques

  32 - Which direction should you move when fishing a stream?

  33 - Do you need a net or can you use your hands?

  34 - How to land a fish without losing it

  35 - How long should your leader be?

  36 - How to avoid upsetting other people on the water

  37 - In lakes, what do you do once the fly hits the water?

  38 - Is it worth fishing an area with canoe or boat traffic?

  39 - Releasing fish properly

  40 - What is drag and how do you stop it?

  41 - What is the best way to wade a fast river?

  42 - What to do if you hook yourself or someone else

  43 - Where should you hold your rod tip after casting?

  44 - Why do you keep breaking off fish?

  PART V - Flies

  45 - Should you use barbless hooks? Why do they come barbed?

  46 - How do you know what size fly to use?

  47 - How to keep a dry fly floating

  48 - How to pick flies out in a shop

  49 - How to sharpen a hook

  50 - How to thread a fly if you have poor eyesight

  51 - Should you wear a fishing vest or an alternative?

  PART VI - Trout

  52 - Do you have to match a hatch to catch trout?

  53 - Do you need to change the way you fish for different trout species?

  54 - Where to find trout around rocks

  55 - Getting started in nymph fishing

  56 - How to plan your first trout-fishing trip

  57 - How do you know what insect the fish are taking?

  58 - How does water temperature affect trout fishing?

  59 - How does weather affect trout fishing?

  60 - How fast should you gather line when fishing upstream?

  61 - How much do you need to learn about insects?

  62 - How to decide what nymph to use

  63 - How do you fish for trout in very small streams?

  64 - What to do when you can’t see your dry fly

  65 - Preparing for your first float trip

  66 - Reading currents to find trout

  67 - Setting the hook on trout

  68 - What do you do if a rising trout won’t take your fly?

  69 - What do you do if the water is dirty?

  70 - What do you do if you don’t see any trout?

  71 - What do you do when you scare all the fish?

  72 - What is a mend and when should you do it?

  73 - What is an emerger fly and when should you use one?

  74 - When is the best time of day to go trout fishing?

  75 - When to fish streamers

  76 - Where will you find trout in a lake?

  PART VII - Warmwater Fly Fishing

  77 - Flies to use for smallmouth bass in rivers

  78 - How to find a bass and panfish pond close to home

  79 - How to find bass in a pond or lake

  80 - How to fish a bass bug

  81 - How to fish a bass streamer

  82 - Picking the right leader for warmwater fly fishing

  83 - When and how to catch carp on a fly

  84 - Where to find smallmouth bass in a river

  PART VIII - Saltwater Fly Fishing

  85 - How do you catch fish on a fly in the surf?

  86 - Which tide is best for saltwater fly fishing?

  87 - How to get started with redfish and sea trout on the fly

  88 - How to get started with stripers on the fly

  89 - How to set the hook on bigger saltwater fish

  90 - Preparing for your first bonefishing trip

  PART IX - Tackle Care

  91 - Do you need to clean your gear after each trip?

  92 - How to keep your rod from breaking br />
  93 - How to find leaks in your waders and how to patch them

  PART X - Advanced

  94 - How to fish small dry flies

  95 - Taking better fish pictures

  96 - Spotting fish in the water

  97 - How to catch trout in the summer when the water is low and clear

  98 - How to fish dry flies when nothing is rising

  99 - How can you get started in fly tying?

  100 - Can you catch trout on a fly during the winter?

  101 - A dozen fly-fishing books you should not be without

  Preface

  IT LOOKS IMPOSSIBLE. AND CERTAINLY TOO COMPLICATED. But there is a moment in the life of the beginning fly fisher when he suddenly turns a corner. What seemed unintelligible now makes good sense. What seemed disconnected is marvelously all part of a coherent process. What was impossible—casting a fly beyond one’s shoelaces, choosing a fly with even a faint chance of gulling a fish, “reading” the water, catching a trout or a bass or a pike or a bluefish—now is something one has done and something one can expect to do again many times.

  Ah, it’s not only possible, but great fun. There is a kind of electric shock when a fish strikes your fly, and a quiet satisfaction.

  Fly fishing can indeed seem impossible. There seem to be a thousand occasions for error. Mostly, the people I’ve met who have tried and then not pursued fly fishing fall into a variety of different camps. Some find it too fussy; some are frustrated trying to learn the few basic casts. Some lose their first couple of fish because their knots didn’t hold. Some like spinning or bait casting or trolling or catfish grabbing and don’t know why they should change. Some are afraid to fail. Some try fly fishing and don’t master it enough to find pleasure there. I felt many of these issues myself when, after a childhood fishing in other ways—quite successfully—I began to not catch fish with a fly rod.

  I had no mentor, but I persisted. And when I finally got to doing it fairly well, and with decent success, I found that the further I practiced and the more time I spent on the water, the more proficient I became at it, the more inexhaustible its pleasures were. I have now fished far and near with immense pleasure. And I have become fascinated by how people learn and how they develop.

  This nifty little book by Tom Rosenbauer will save the novice much of the discomfort I felt and will bring him—or her—to a position of some confidence. I have read previous books by Tom, and all reveal his special clarity and helpfulness. He is a superb fly fisher and an excellent, patient teacher.

  What makes The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing particularly valuable is that it is the distillation of many years of teaching novices and more advanced fly fishers what they need to know to fish better. Tom knows all of the questions most frequently asked, and he knows the most practical and helpful answers he has given.

  The questions: answering these is the heart of this book.

  Here are the central problems beginners have, the questions that have kept them from progressing at a decent rate. Clear, practical, genuinely helpful advice—that’s what this book provides.

  How I wish I’d had Tom’s book when I had so many of the basic questions, when I knew so little I once threaded a fly line through the little keeper ring (used to hold the fly on the end of your line) and wondered why I couldn’t cast.

  This little book is chock-full of valuable answers and hints and tips—and it will quickly get you on the water, catching a variety of fish, enjoying yourself greatly.

  Bravo, Tom!

  —Nick Lyons

  February 2009

  Introduction

  YOU WALK INTO A FLY SHOP, REVOLVE AROUND THE FLY bins for a few minutes, wander back to the wall full of gadgets, then finger the endless file of fly rods that all look the same.You’ve been told you need something called a tippet to go fly fishing, but don’t have a clue what a tippet looks like, whether it attaches to the rod or the reel, or how much one costs. Meanwhile, the shop manager is deep in quiet discussion with a couple of weathered young guys who are probably guides, and although she looks friendly, you’re afraid to ask such a basic question, so you leave unfulfilled and frustrated.

  This is your book. In close to forty years of teaching fly fishing—in print, on the Web, in schools, and through podcasts—I’ve heard it all. I’ve also heard the same questions over and over through the years, and they really don’t change much with each generation of new fly fishers. Fly fishing is easy in concept (you cast a tiny lure out there on a weighted line with a skinny leader, and a fish bites it) but we often get caught in the nuances. How quickly do I strike? How long should my fly stay on the water? How quickly do I gather line?

  I’ve tried to pre-empt these common questions by setting them down in manageable bites that will answer your questions and get you jump-started quickly. There are many comprehensive books on fly fishing, but often you just need a quick answer and don’t have time to read through a chapter or two to get it. I think you’ll find many of your questions are answered here. I hope I’ve provided quick enough answers to get you going, and to encourage you to study the topic in more depth with other resources, including the list of essential books I’ve provided in the last chapter.

  Fly fishing is popular and visible today. It’s elegant, intellectual, and it takes you to the most beautiful places in the world. Looking at generalinterest magazines and television commercials, you’d think every third person in North America is a fly fisher. Yet as far as we can determine, out of forty million anglers in the United States, only about five million are serious fly anglers. The attrition rate of this consuming sport is high because in order to do it well you have to do it often, and most people today don’t think they have the time to fly fish often and thus never become proficient enough to feel comfortable. Part of the problem is that adults and children just don’t have enough free time in their lives, but more specifically, people think they have to get on an airplane and fly to Montana or the Bahamas to have fun fly fishing.

  In fact, most of us have a place to fish with a fly within five miles of our homes. Steelhead run rivers in the middle of Rochester and Chicago and Cleveland. Largemouth bass, tarpon, and exotic peacock bass lie ready to grab a bass bug in the canals around Miami. World-class carp fishing with a fly is found almost everywhere, even in downtown Denver and Los Angeles. I learn something new every time I go fly fishing, even though I’ve been doing this for so many years and live on the banks of a trout stream.You will, too, and the skills you develop while having fun catching eight-inch sunfish in Central Park will serve you well when you do find time to take that exotic trip.

  —Tom Rosenbauer

  February 2009

  PART I

  Getting Started

  1

  How do you get started if you don’t have a mentor?

  IN THE FIRST PART OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, FLY-FISHING skills were passed from parents, patient relatives, or friends to novice fly fishers. A lucky find at a local library might turn up a ragged copy of Ray Bergman’s Trout. But without the advantage of helpful videos, modern photographs, and clear illustrations, learning fly fishing without a mentor was an exercise in frustration. Today, you have rich sources of information, from hundreds of books and DVDs to free resources on the Internet. But when you need to ask, “What went wrong with my cast?” or “How should I present that dry fly?” these sources fall mute.

  The best place to begin is at a fishing school. The emphasis in schools and clinics is on fly casting, which is the most difficult aspect of fly fishing to master, and whether you learn to cast from a school or on your own, make sure you’re comfortable with the basics of casting before you go fishing. Most schools are run by people with proven skills at teaching fly fishing and you’ll benefit from their experience at identifying quick ways to improve your fly casting. You can choose from independent schools, classes run by tackle companies, or free clinics held by local fly shops. But not everyone has the time or the inclination to lea
rn in a classroom setting. To some they are a painful reminder of high-school algebra. Others are too anxious to get right on the water and enjoy the calming sunshine of a June morning in the middle of a river.

  The next best option is a reliable and understanding fishing guide. Some guides are comfortable with novices and others have neither the temperament nor the patience to spend the day removing a client’s flies from streamside brush. If you want to learn on a guide trip, explain to the guide that you are a rank beginner—do not overestimate your skills, as a guide can see through your deception after a few casts—and that you are interested as much in learning technique as you are in catching fish. If the guide seems reluctant on an initial phone call, make a polite exit and try a different guide. And pick your location carefully. Saltwater fishing for bonefish or tarpon, fishing for trout on rivers that are termed “technical,” or steelhead fishing in the middle of winter are not places to learn. Fishing for trout in stocked or wilderness waters where the fish strike eagerly, chasing small striped bass or redfish in saltwater estuaries, or fishing for bass and panfish in lakes are experiences that will teach you important skills and still allow an expectation of a fish on the end of your line.

  You may not want to pay for a guide or a fishing school because of economics or principle. Finding a mentor is difficult but not impossible these days. First, in any social situation, try to identify yourself as a beginning fly fisher. It’s amazing how many fishing buddies have come together this way, and the bonding that can happen when two fly fishers realize a common passion in an otherwise boring or uncomfortable event is almost instantaneous.

  Join a local Trout Unlimited, Coastal Conservation Association, or Federation of Fly Fishers chapter. These organizations often have a circle of members who take great pleasure in introducing new people to fly fishing, and if you show interest in volunteering for local stream improvement or cleanup projects you’ll get acquainted quicker than you would by sitting in the back corner at monthly meetings.