Good summary. I wouldn't worry too much about length - getting the important information in it is of most importance.

I have a fellow backpacker that just got into fly fishing. Probably because of all the trout I caught in the Cascades a year ago. It took the longest time just to get the nomenclature down and it would have helped if I had your article to have pointed him to.

The cool thing is that we assembled his backing, line, etc. while on the trail in Yosemite this September. Before the trip was over, he caught his first trout on a dry fly! He's hooked for life.

Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad y'all found it useful.

Hey kelkay,

Thoseflies look like they would be killers with White Bass!!

If you would like to get rid of some, shoot me a PM.....

Somnipod, you might want to send Kelkay a private message so that you know she sees it.

1-18-10 seems you need to hold your flies up to the light and make sure you see hues of pink

Very helpful!

New guy here...to Texas and the forum. I really want to pick up a flyrod and start flyfishing. From the looks of things, I'll be fishing a lot more since it costs so much to hunt in Texas. I used to cast a little in the yard with my grandaddy's flyrod a long time ago. Would it be possible to have one rod to catch freshwater(bass/panfish) and reds/trout in the flats on the coast? I thought a 7-8wt might work, but have no clue. Never fished saltwater before, but looking to start this year(mainly just wade fishing). I'm in the BCS area(wife teaches at A&M), so is there anywhere in-particular you would suggest going to get set up?

quackadikt

You could do it but the lighter end, panfish and such, would be much less fun on the eight weight. A bit of a winch.

Now you could get by with two setups. But me, I have twenty thirty an undetermined number of fly rods so can count on leaving at home the one I ought to have brung.

But seriously, for about one hundred a piece you could have two pretty nice setups. If you were to eBay it you could come in quite a bit less than that.

10-roger. Maybe I'll get a 5wt setup to learn on the smaller fish first, and then get a 2nd one later on. Thanks

Interesting stuff here. I recently started fly fishing in Central TX rivers and creeks. I especially target the white bass during the spring spawn.

Roll Casts. with the narrow creeks and streams and over hanging trees located there, I had to learn (self taught) to roll cast. In the post of "how-to" I see a section suggesting casting instructions. Is there a website (besides you-tube) to demonstrate the proper technique/s to "roll cast"? Especially when the vegitation is heavy around the area being fished. I'm having some difficulty acheiving longer distances using the roll cast. I figure I must be doing something wrong.

I seem to catch alot of fish using my self taught roll casting method, but I find that at times I can really make a mess with my line. For the most part, my casting distance is sufficient. But there are times when more distance would help.

I'd appreciate any PM or suggestions.

I've got a question for you guys.

What do you do when you pack up you pole and store the reel? I haven't picked up a hard case yet, so I've been putting the reel back in the box just like when it left bps. It usually comes right out with no problems, but a few times I find myself spending five minutes picking the leader out of the reel. Today it got behind the spool and wrapped around the gears. Is there any easy trick to storing the reel with line on, or is this just part of it?

There are all kinds of little reel storage bags, containers etc. that can be found online. As for the leader thing, Google "flyreeldots" as one possible solution.

i have a question that i'll probably learn with time. but, it sounds like fly tying is a pretty big art. i'm wondering, is this because some catch better fish or is it because fish swallow them so easily? i know how easily fish swallow my hooks when i'm using bait on a bobber, i've never fly fished, but it would seem to me like fish would swallow flies a lot easier than worm hooks. am i wrong?

Interestingly, and I'm not sure why, but there seems to be less swallowing of flies than live bait. I suppose it's that one has to hit it early before they catch on and spit it out?

I have another question that doesn't appear to be answered in the write up (but hopefully with all of us noobs asking questions it can become better with time). It appears there are many pieces of line on the fly rod's line. From what I gathered, a backing, the line, a leader, and a tippet. It seems that the backing may not be a necessity and presumably doesn't come with the el cheapo kits you can buy. Wise investment when starting out or just something that would complicate the learning process? Also, how is it all tied together? You have 4 pieces of line that presumably could be changed out, so are they tied with special knots? And lastly, care of the fly line. With conventional rod/reel fishing, you reel the line in and let it sit in the reel till next time you cast, be it 5 seconds or 5 years. With the fly line being more important to the casting process, are there special ways to clean/dry the line to help it keep it's effectiveness or has line become modern enough that you can just reel it in and let it sit like a regular reel/rod? I could just see that being my biggest noob mistake, is I go fishing, just reel it in without doing anything special, and the next time I go fishing, I can't do it for the life of me, and give up thinking it was me that just couldn't hack it lol.