New to Fly Fishing

[Dawson Hobbs]

Hi there.  My brother has convinced me that I need to give fly fishing a try.  Unfortunately, he lives several states away.  I've done a pretty decent amount of fishing with spinning gear but never tried a fly rod.  He claims the strategy and skill is a lot more like bird hunting which I love and that I will quickly become addicted.  So, I'm probably opening a can of worms here but I'm looking for suggestions for a decent casting instructor in the area.  Any other tips appreciated as well.  I talked to the folks at the Orvis store in Arlington and they said you guys were a good group.  

Thanks in advance!

[TurbineBlade]

Fly fishing is obsessive, so you were given good advice ;).  I would encourage you to get with a FFF-certified casting instructor.  The FFF-certified instructor program isn't so much an "award for good casting" thing, but a "teaching certificate" to instruct other fly casters.  Much of what they do is instruction, communication based in addition to casting competency.  

As far as practicing on your own, just keep in mind that there are several ways (styles) people use to cast a fly rod.  So long as your loops are good, any/all of these styles are totally acceptable.  So anyone who watches you and says "you need to make your arm look like this" is full of it ;).  Some people look like they are throwing a frisbee, some look like they are saluting an officer, some use a lot of wrist, others use none, and on and on.  The only thing that really matters is the loop.  

If you want to see examples, compare Lefty Kreh's side-elbow style to Joan Wulff's front-elbow style.  They cast totally differently, but both are awesome casters.  

That's just my take -- 

Gene

[namfos]

Welcome from all of us OCD worms here. If TPFR had a First Lady, I'm sure she'd say, "Just say 'No' to bait."  Gene, a/k/a Turbine Blade is "right on" about the various masters of fly casting. A few others are Mel Krieger, Ed Jaworowski, George Roberts. I started out to learn casting with Swisher & Richards "Fly Fishing Strategy. "  Also check out www.sexyloops.com/ - they're also on YouTube and I just found they have a free iOS app but they'll nick you 6 X $1.99 for the content. 

Also see: http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Resources/Locate/CastingInstructors.aspx

Mark

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 6:14:21 PM UTC-5, Dawson Hobbs wrote:

...I will quickly become addicted.  So, I'm probably opening a can of worms here..."

[dhobb...@gmail.com]

Thanks, that's good advice.  On the advice of my brother and some others I picked up a 5 wt. setup.  Of course I got it just in time for the nasty weather and don't know when I will actually get to schedule some time to learn what to do with it.

[HeaveToo]

Some of the Orvis stores offer a free class about flyfishing.  The Woodbridge store use to when Duber was there. 

Welcome to a highly addictive sport!  I have two addictions; sailing and fly fishing.  Both can get expensive but there are ways to cut the costs a bit.

Learn to tie flies.  It is a great cold weather way to keep the addiction going!

[Ashley Frohwein]

Yeah, if you really want to save money, start tying flies:

But in all seriousness, you can save money tying certain flies, such as woolly buggers, which will get you by for much of the initial learning phases. 

[Rob Snowhite]

Some awesome events coming up to visit: 

Tie Fest - Feb 20

Lancaster fly show - March 5-6

Va Fly Festival - April 8-9

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 21, 2016, at 10:54 AM, Ashley Frohwein <ashleyf...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, if you really want to save money, start tying flies:

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But in all seriousness, you can save money tying certain flies, such as woolly buggers, which will get you by for much of the initial learning phases. 

On Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 10:44:26 AM UTC-5, HeaveToo wrote:

Some of the Orvis stores offer a free class about flyfishing.  The Woodbridge store use to when Duber was there. 

Welcome to a highly addictive sport!  I have two addictions; sailing and fly fishing.  Both can get expensive but there are ways to cut the costs a bit.

Learn to tie flies.  It is a great cold weather way to keep the addiction going!

--
http://www.tpfr.org
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[John Mathews]

Dawson,

Turbine is largely correct.  While some principals apply to all casting, styles vary.  Get the basics down pat then adapt them to the casting situation.  Don't get sucked into the mindset that distance dictates casting proficiency, putting the fly where you want it far outweighs distance. Learn to honestly self evaluate your cast and get all the evaluations and help with your cast as you can. Many clubs and groups off free to inexpensive instruction, take advantage of that every chance you get. Then, I can't stress this enough, practice, on grass or water but practice regularly. Some fly fishing is just blind casting all day, some is casting to a suspect area and some truly is like hunting with a primitive weapon. I've found that all have their own set of rewards.  Good luck to you.

John M

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 6:14:21 PM UTC-5, Dawson Hobbs wrote:

[Dawson Hobbs]

Thanks all.  I'm sure i will be back with more questions.

[namfos]

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Fire away!

Mark