Trout fishing newbie

[fieldwanderer]

Where to start.......

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to have a long (ish) casting lesson but a new job forced me to postpone taking the sport up but, I happened to handle a very cheap shakespeare rod the other day and have decided it's time I actually gave it a go but on a bit of a budget to start with.

 

I've done a bit of reading up and shopping around and think I'm settled on a rod but wanted some opinions just to be sure. I'll then need a little bit of guidance about my first outing. 

 

For now though, much as I like the idea of little slow, crystal clear streams. There looks to be nothing but lakes nearby, one reservoir (toft newton) which doesn't really float my boat. Am I right in thinking a 9' #6 with wf6 floating line would be a good place to start? It's a medium-fast action apparently and I intend to start out with dry flies.

[Fatcatsplat]

I tend to buy line 1 weight bigger than the rod. Airflo do a really good starter kit with pretty much everything you need for under a ton.

I think dry fly is harder than wet because your cast needs to be spot on, landing nice and gently.

A few hours practising your casting on a lake is infinitely more fun than practice casting in your back garden or local park.

Have a look at Fishingmegastore.com, especially in the reader offers section.

 

Edited to say, that rod sounds a little heavy for stream fishing - I'd probably go with a 9ft, but a 4 wt

Edited April 19, 2018 by Fatcatsplat

[Dave at kelton]

If I was expecting to fish mostly lakes I would go for a 9ft 6in rod at around 7# weight. You can pick up rods as cheap as chips if you don't go for the big names and look on ebay. If you want a reel I have two rimfly king size with spare spools and lines I am happy to discuss a deal on if you pm me.

[fieldwanderer]

Thankyou, it'd be on ponds because that's about all there is nearby and I went a little heavy because the one fishery is a reservoir - it's closest to me out of the few available but I'd rather go to the smaller ponds.

 

Tell me if that's the wrong approach though

[fieldwanderer]

I have a reel but I'm not sure what wt it's intended for so I'll give yours some thought, thankyou 

What I have in mind at the moment;

Daiwa trout fly rod £35 on ebay 9' #6 but I could have a 9'6" #7 for the same price - wouldn't the lighter, shorter rod be more of an all rounder?

#6 wf floating line and backing line £10. I'm not expecting miracles from it but it'll get me started  (#7 if I go for a heavier rod?)

 

Also a couple of packs of leaders and assorted flies £9 

£55 in total if I use my reel, not bad I think. I can make a priest while it all comes through the post. I have course fishing nets that should work ok on a pond until I get a proper one.

 

As always though, please say if you can see a better way 

[oldypigeonpopper]

5 hours ago, fieldwanderer said:

Where to start.......

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to have a long (ish) casting lesson but a new job forced me to postpone taking the sport up but, I happened to handle a very cheap shakespeare rod the other day and have decided it's time I actually gave it a go but on a bit of a budget to start with.

 

I've done a bit of reading up and shopping around and think I'm settled on a rod but wanted some opinions just to be sure. I'll then need a little bit of guidance about my first outing. 

 

For now though, much as I like the idea of little slow, crystal clear streams. There looks to be nothing but lakes nearby, one reservoir (toft newton) which doesn't really float my boat. Am I right in thinking a 9' #6 with wf6 floating line would be a good place to start? It's a medium-fast action apparently and I intend to start out with dry flies.

hello, if your not going to fish reservoirs that rod should be ok, get a few buzzers black/red/green/ maybe a few small long shank damsel nymphs/gold bead, and a few montana s, if not catch and release buy a marrow spoon and see what the fish are eating,  happy fishing  

[fieldwanderer]

Placed my order, now the next question(s) is about etiquette....

 

I've been a coarse fisherman for more than 25yrs now and consider myself to be better mannered and more considerate than most so my behaviour itself shouldn't be a problem at all. It's a lack of understanding that may let me down - the only real example I have so far is cleaning your fish, is there an area and/or bins provided usually or should they be taken away whole and cleaned at home (dubious in summer if you ask me) or is there some other arangement?

Any other practicalities you can think of?

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, each fishery should have there own rules so just ask,  my advice is buy a bass bag to put any trout caught and keep it cool,  buy a cheap cool box to store in motor,   most i know take trout home and gut and clean for freezer

[Dave at kelton]

Practicalities and etiquette vary between fisheries and aside of good manners are generally governed by fishery rules so check those first. It is not uncommon to see landing nets, unhooking, types and size of flies and the like covered. A bass bag is good advice and remember they work on the principal of evaporation so soak them and leave them to dry with fish in, re soaking from time to time. There is nothing worse than seeing fish broiling in plastic bags in warm weather or bass bags left in the water.

I have made various priests and the simplest is to put the end of a 12 in length of garden hose in  boiling water then squeze a AA battery in for the weight. The priest can be cut to length (I use 8ish in)  and being flexible fits easily in bag or pocket.

If catch and release try not to handle the fish but unhook in the water inside the net using forceps from your course tackle. Carry a small pair of pliers or multitool to flatten barbs if required.

I am sure you will be fine so just enjoy.

Tight lines

[oldypigeonpopper]

50 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, each fishery should have there own rules so just ask,  my advice is buy a bass bag to put any trout caught and keep it cool,  buy a cheap cool box to store in motor,   most i know take trout home and gut and clean for freezer

to add i have a mesh bass bag so just drop in the water, take home in a larger waterproof bag with bass bag inside

[fieldwanderer]

I'm almost all set!

I just need a license but I'm leaving that as late as I can so I get every bit of use I possibly can out of it

 

And some flies, I'll ask what's working at the fishery and buy a few there but any suggestions would be very welcome (dry flies please, I have a small selection of wet flies ready to go). Am I right in assuming all buzzers are wet flies, even the furry ones?

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, just buy this book and will tell you all you need, can get for a few £s, a pocket guide to MATCHING THE HATCH, by Lapsley and Bennett or more technical the waterside guide by John Goddard

Edited April 23, 2018 by oldypigeonpopper

[Fatcatsplat]

2 hours ago, fieldwanderer said:

I'm almost all set!

I just need a license but I'm leaving that as late as I can so I get every bit of use I possibly can out of it

 

And some flies, I'll ask what's working at the fishery and buy a few there but any suggestions would be very welcome (dry flies please, I have a small selection of wet flies ready to go). Am I right in assuming all buzzers are wet flies, even the furry ones?

You can buy it when you want, but it still runs out April 1st every year....

[panoma1]

20 minutes ago, Fatcatsplat said:

You can buy it when you want, but it still runs out April 1st every year....

I think you'll find it now expires 12 months from the date of purchase?

[Westley]

49 minutes ago, panoma1 said:

I think you'll find it now expires 12 months from the date of purchase?

Correct. 

[fieldwanderer]

Turns out last year's still has about a month to go  been a good day really!

[Bobba]

As to fly presentation on the day, you may wish to consider a Flourocarbin line/tippet. Almost invisible in the water. It may be my fly fishermans' imagination but I seem to get better results using fluorocarbon than other products.

[Fatcatsplat]

55 minutes ago, Bobba said:

As to fly presentation on the day, you may wish to consider a Flourocarbin line/tippet. Almost invisible in the water. It may be my fly fishermans' imagination but I seem to get better results using fluorocarbon than other products.

My father in law just got me onto this and must admit I'm getting better results.

[tomaddy525]

Would never consider using anything but fluorocarbon, I use Grand Max for my competition fishing as 12lb has the diameter of other brands 8lb. Shame its £20 a spool

[Dunkield]

I was going to say flouro is strong and thin but very brittle, so take advantage of the reduced diameter and fish much higher breaking strain that you would with mono for example. Also take care with your knots as it doesn’t ‘strangle’ like softer materials.

[Jonty]

Hi field wanderer, glad to hear you're taking up fly fishing. On your fly selection, I appreciate you want to fish dries, but as a beginner, I would advise not completely disregarding the wet flies.  Wets are much more forgiving to a new caster, if the presentation of the cast isn't too great, a wet fly will still sink and then fish all the way back to the bank.  A dry fly with not so great presentation will look suspicious to the fish and  will remain looking suspicious whilst you try to correct it, whereupon, it'll probably sink!!  Whilst you're getting to grips with casting, wets will probably give you a better chance of a fish or two.

[Dave at kelton]

Pm me with your address and I will look out some general dry fly patterns that I have tied up that you can have.

[fieldwanderer]

On 27/04/2018 at 11:26, Dave at kelton said:

Pm me with your address and I will look out some general dry fly patterns that I have tied up that you can have.

Very grateful for this, thankyou 

 

I'll admit, I'm making progress very slowly with the casting but I have a book on the way so I'm hoping to be able to jog my memory - it's certainly a lot easier with an instructor talking you through it.......

Edited April 29, 2018 by fieldwanderer

[Ferret664]

Give a reservoir a chance as well normally beautiful places to fish (I fish grafham a lot ) the fish are normally of a better quality and fight amazingly.  Though I would fish a 10ft wf7 or a 9.6ft wf6 . For me there is nothing better then drifting across a resevior and fishing teams in buzzers and nymphs . Magical ?? 

[fieldwanderer]

Today.... it happened  my life is over.... it will now consist of tying flies, talking rubbish endlessly about fly fishing or either visiting waters or fishing them 

Anyway, the story starts maybe 25 years ago trying to catch the trout in a local river (in south wales) with maggots on a hook with no weights, float or anything much else, of course it didn't work but my "thing" was course fishing anyway so I wasn't too upset. I'd have been about 9 years old but soaked up all things fishing like a sponge so I already understood the principle of fly fishing. It's been burning away slowly, I've spent a while match fishing, tried sea fishing and, more recently, moved into carp fishing but still - fly fishing has always held a certain romance for me, especially after my father bought me a book by John Bailey called "travels with a two piece" years ago.

With a little help from you guys. I've watched hundreds of videos and read a lot too and got out practising my casting a couple of times.

Today was the day, off I went to Cleatham. Now, I'd been a week or so beforehand and the guy came across as such a miserable *ahem* that I found myself dreading approaching him for a second time. As I assembled my rod and got everything organised, I noticed my hands shaking! However, it seems I must have caught the owner on a bad day when I visited as now he was very approachable. 

I tucked myself away from other anglers as best I could and set to work. I tried every fly in my little collection (about 12 ) but drew a blank, the owner and another angler both gave me a fly that they thought would work but still no good despite me now being the last man standing. During the day, I'd missed three takes and my new plan was to move and use nothing but those three flies. 

I'd almost given up hope, I was on my last fly and there wasn't much in the way of fish rising. I made a reasonable cast, and squatted down to hide myself a little bit -I'd naturally started doing it on the first cast, probably after stalking carp with bits of floating bread. I still expected a couple more hours of fishing as the website said dusk is closing time. I was shaking again but this time because the cool wind had finally got the better of me and I started to consider packing up early.

As I watched the little orange/brown fly on the surface, I noticed the owner walking down the bank towards me - my heart sank, I'd have liked to have caught just one, just because it would make my first time extra special. A nose appeared, a swirl, I struck and my first ever trout was hooked! And it was a nice little scrap, just how I would have wanted it to be.

I struggled a little with my new net as I hadn't extended the handle enough but the owner netted the fish for me and I was quick to knock it on the head to be as humane as possible. Sadly, I didn't give myself a chance to notice that it was full of eggs but he didn't seem bothered by that, I assume normally they'd be returned in this case?

So, I'm chuffed to bits with my first trout - a rainbow at just under 2lb. Sadly no photo's but a day I'll never forget.