User:Air Force Guy
How I Got Into Fly Fishing
Wow...it was a long road for me!
As a kid growing up in Northern Wisconsin, my parents loved to fish for sunnies and an occasional northern or bass at the Gordon Flowage. They usually fished the lakeside of the dam. Of course we used worms and night crawlers we dug and plucked from the grass ourselves the night before. We almost always supplemented our table with the fish we caught. I first used cane poles, then old casting equipment relatives gave me, and finally with money I earned from my paper route when I was 10 or 11, a Zebco 606 spin cast outfit. In my mind I was into serious big time fishing then! I used this equipment for years then one day as a teen, an uncle gave me what he called a salmon rod. It was a 9-foot steel rod fitted to accomodate a fly reel. The only thing I really remember about it was that it was quite heavy. I bought a cheap fly reel for it and started carrying it stuffed down the back of my waders while fishing the river/spillway side of the dam. When I saw a fish take something off the surface I would replace the Zebco for my salmon rod already loaded with a popper and begin flailing the air. I only used poppers for sunfish and maybe an occasional bass but this outfit did introduce me to the idea of fly casting.
That was the extent of my fly-fishing experience as a young kid/teen though. I did catch some large bluegill on poppers and even a few bass, but for the most part I pretty much stayed with my Zebco using worms, minnows, and lures chasing mostly northern and an occasional bass or walleye. After all, I was into the big fish by then!
As a young adult, the beginnings of my fly fishing experience took a hiatus for several years. Most of my fishing friends back in those days preferred sitting in a rented boat anchored over a prospective hole that was almost always in the hot sun. Since proper hydration was important, a cooler of beer was always accessible too. In my mid 30's I moved to Georgia to learn that lakes down south are really reservoirs mostly surrounded by private property with no place available to rent a boat. Fishing from shore was almost impossible if even accessible. As a result, I made the second strategic fishing equipment purchase in my life and bought an open face ultra-light spinning outfit with the idea that I'd start fishing for trout in the hundreds of miles of North Georgia Mountain streams. Some good old boys I served in the Georgia Air National Guards with told me about corn, cheese, and even marsh mellows for bait but I pretty much stayed with my fishing roots and stuck to worms. I continued to use the ultra-lite for about a year catching very few trout, I might add.
One cold winter day, while freezing my backside off waist deep in a north Georgia stream during a snow storm, it occurred to me that if I was going to really get into trout fishing, I should really be casting flies and not "bait". That very day during my evening trip back home to Athens, I made the decision to buy my first fly rod and reel. This was late 1988 and as a new mostly lurking member of @FF, I queried the list for information as to the appropriate weight rod and line for the type/size streams I would be fishing. I ended up buying an 8 ft 5/6 weight South Bend rod from Cabella's. With the reel, backing, and line I think I paid $125 for the entire outfit. At the time, I thought this was a lot for a rod and reel and as a single parent of 2 teens; it certainly represented the top end of what I could afford.
This purchase turned out to be the best fishing related decision I've ever made. I loved that rod, mostly I think because it was the rod I used to truely fuel my desire to become a fly fisherman. Unfortunately, about 4 years ago, I broke the top 5 inches off and although I had it fixed, it no longer retained its original action and casting capabilities. I still have the rod but no longer use it. Instead, I now use it's replacement, a 4 weight, 8' 6" Cortland II, or one of the other two I've since purchased, a 3 piece GLoomis 6wt or an Orvis Pro Guide 4 piece 4 wt.
Two years ago I decided when not on the stream, I could still experience fly fishing by learning how to tie my own flies. Today I can tie an acceptable EHC, Stimulator, Chronamid nypmh, Sulpher Imitation, and Adams. I've done some worms and inch worms too but I still have a way to go in the tying arena. I pretty much still buy many of the flies I still fish but last year I did catch my first trout on one of my EHC and I've caught several on other flies I've tied.
Occasionally, I still take off for Falls Lake, about 10 minutes from my home and fly fish from shore for bluegills. I grew up catching sunnies and I guess they're still in my blood. Heck, I just love getting out to practise my casting.
