Trout fishing.

[ZeroLogic]

Well its almost in season again up here in PA. I want to pick up a fly rod, but I'm clueless when it comes to the whole fly fishing thing. Can anyone give me any tips or pointers when picking out a fly fishing rod?

[exrider49]

dont feel bad bud im right there with ya, i ordered a cabelas fly rod and reel combo a few years back and hardly used it...you ever come up to ohio and do any fishing?

[ZeroLogic]

I'm a HUGE lake fisher, bass, catfish ect ect. I never been to Ohio, just one hell of a drive for me. I'm just tired of seeing all the old timers with their fly rods pulling trout faster than I can cast.

[exrider49]

yeah i know what ya mean.. i live in conneaut ohio, the conneaut crick it is suppose to be rated one of the top cricks for steelhead fishing and man lately it is has been getting so crowded from out of town people you cant even find a spot to fish unless your down there at 4am..but the crick just unfroze and im pretty excited to see what kind of a run we get this year..average fish caught last years run was an easy 10 pounder

[ZeroLogic]

Now thats a big fish.
What kind of pole do ya use?

[Pappy]

I asked this sort of question on a local hunting site I frequent....some of the responses were pretty good.




FLY gear.

Wow, this is a HUGE subject. I will be basic. For WV, I would recommend a 3-5 wt fly rod. You will want a weight forward or a double taper fly line. Either will work fine, but the double taper is going to roll cast better for you. You will need leaders as well. 1 - 6 X will cover pretty much everything for you. You are also going to need tippet. 2-8X will cover most situations as well. Reels are not that important for around here as they are mostly a line storage device and you wont be using the drag around here often.

I like the Cabelas 3 forks series of rods. Very good price and a great starter kit for the novice fly angler.

Flies are a whole other chapter. For this, I would recommend that you go to a local fly shop for the stream you will be fishing and let them show you what you should buy based on time of year and what they fish are feeding on. A few things you cant go wrong with are egg patterns and basic generic flys. Woolybuggers are good, as are elk hair caddis, hares ear nymph, bead head prince nymph, royal wulff, adams fly. However, these are just basics, you will need specific flies for the rivers you will be fishing. There are an almost endless number of things to consider when fly fishing.

Personally I like to keep it simple. I went through the Sage RPL+stage of fly fishing. I felt I had to have the best equipment there was. However I think I was wrong in that approach.

Personally I think the "keep it simple" approach is the way to go.

The most important thing to trout fishing in streams is being able to read the water. I have seen a lot of guys with the most expensive equipment go home empty handed. Then watch an old timer with a Zebco 202 combo come through and clean out the stream!!

Again the trick to trout fishing is understandfing the body of water you are fishing then use the proper bait to take home your dinner.

Live bait is a very effective way to catch trout. It is not the "sexy" way to do it. But it is probably the most effective way to catch trout. Small worms and small minnows on light line will go a long way.

Also stealth is very important. Remember you are in their world. Do not splash around. Do not approach from the sun. Stay out of the feeding lies. Do not muddy up the stream unless you are fishing with worms. Muddying up the stream whilel fishing with worms will turn the trout on real fast.

[exrider49]

i use a 8' cortland endurance noodle rod with a gander mountain 10 ball bearing reel.. the pole has a lifetime warranty. no matter how it breaks it gets replaced for free...thanks for the info. pappy i might break out my fly rod this year and see how many trees i can snag

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[Pappy]

I was into fly rods pretty heavy when I lived in MD and before I got back into atv's. We had tons of trout streams that offered a ton of oppertunitys.

When I got sick in 2005, I lost alot of things relating to my memory and couldnt tell you much about what gear i had or what worked etc. I havent picked one up in years I do remember doing alot of tree trimming...that i cant forget

Using the fly rod to me was more about using it and the grace that goes along with it (I had no grace, but those that can handle them properly are gracefull to watch..lol)

[exrider49]

haha yeah snaggin trees is about the only i catch with one..i am hoping to land my first steelhead this spring run on my fly rod...this is the first fish i caught on my new noodle rod..caught it on a chrome/fluorescent yellow lil' cleo

sorry for the quality picture, its from my phone


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[Pappy]

we have a few more weeks until we start fishing for crappie and such. they draw the lakes down for the winter but should soon start letting them fill.

the rivers can be hit or miss until january. right now they are pretty good but alot of debris (logs and such)

i can drive a few hours and be in some serious trout country...might just have to take a few days and give it a go