There is a program on called “Breaking the Surface”. A USA gal flys and an Ausie gal spins. Pretty cool.
There was one episode where they were fishing heavily grassed waters. I think Bone fish, but not sure. The Ausie had a hay day, but the fly gal was struggling. She did land some, but had to work hard to get through the thick grass.
BUT, on all the trout/salmon/steelhead shows, the fly is the master.
I think there are circumstances that we feel we need to change tactics.
Many years ago, I told myself, if I can’t catch it on a fly, I ain’t gonna catch it. I have stuck with this and the challenges have been fantastic.
Fishing from a 6’ high cliff over an Idaho diversion dam while they release water…standing under a large tree with a bush on both sides, cast straight on into a very strong head wind.
As mentioned, I rarely keep fish, but I VERY rarely walk away with out catching one.
I know I will never starve[;)]
Anything can be caught on a fly, the trick is being THAT GOOD that you can get to them, that takes commitment.
I think that this brings up a good point. It sounds like the problems in that grass wasn’t the actual act of fly fishing but that it was the design of the lure itself. She just wasn’t prepared for the fishing situation. She must not have had any weedless flies. Just like weedless lures that you buy you can tie weedless flies. I really feel that there is a flyfishing answer for most angling situations.
This year I plan on learning more about catching catfish, bass, walleyes, and maybe carp on a fly. (I need to get a heavier pole and line for the carp.) I know that these species are frequently caught by many others on flies. So far I really haven’t fished in the places that have many of them yet, but I plan to this year. Thanks to many of you I have more of an idea now on where to go and what to use. I am impatiently waiting for summer!
[fishin]
****I grew up in the Magic Valley, and as a kid spent every Saturday below Magic Reservoir fishing with my Grandfather. The basic equipment was based on a spinning rig and a green wolleyworm. The fish where all big Rainbows with some very large Browns in the tailout below the dam in the fall. In the evenings we would fish hoppers on the Richfield Cannel, Silver Creek, or the Little Wood River. Even though we used Spinning Gear we didn’t use much garden hackle. It wasn’t until later in my life I discovered Billingsley Creek in the Hagerman Valley and the world of Fly Fishing. I got some pointers from the guy that owned the Sporting goods store upstairs in Simmerly’s Market in Wendell but for the most part became self taught. Then about fifteen years a go I moved to Idaho Falls became friends with Ironrod and just about all we did was fly fish. We did take weekly trips to the Dam and did a lot of Steelhead fishing at Corn Creek to use the powers of the darkside. I really enjoy everything about fly fishing. I still go to school and get schooled every time out, but that’s what I love about our sport. The staff down at The University of Jimmy’s All Season Angler has been such a great source of knowledge. Can’t say enough about John down at Clackacraft putting up with me while he gave me lessons with my spey rod, fly tying, and answering all my steelhead questions. But now days it’s just all about getting outside, weather it’s with Ironrod and our crew on Flathead in Montana, Watching as Sawyer kick me Ice fishin, teaching my future son-in-law how to fly fish, or just being out by myself with my dog Rudy. It’s about enjoying something you love so much with some of the best people in the world.[/b] [/b] “Man can learn a lot from fishing – when the fish are biting, no problem
in the world is big enough to be remembered.”[/b]– [/b]Orlando[/b] A. Battista[/b][/b]
Wow those are cool. I don’t think I have the patience for the deer hair one though. I should really practice my hair spinning, but I tend to avoid it if I can.
So far I haven’t tied any with barbells, they’re just plastic eyes that I’ve glued on. I may add some lead or a cone head to some though.
I only have floating line for my 8wt, and I think I’ll mostly be doing fishing in water under 10 ft deep with them, but I may look into getting a sink tip or two for it.
I hear ya. I have the multi tip line for my 8 weight. Don’t use it that often, so couldn’t see buying a bunch of spools. The line was expensive but considering I got 4 lines out of it and only need one spool, it was worth it.
Did the same thing with my 7 weight Spey.
The heads are like 15’ long so, perfect for most rivers and even stillwater.
I like the full sink on my 6wt when I’m fishing leeches, I like the sort of suspending action of the fly. I’ll have to look into a sinking tip for this, but I also wonder if having weight in the head of the fly will give it more action that the more predatory fish will like. I’ll have to do some experimenting.
I know we are talking a floating line here with different sinking heads, but I have a Type VII and a 300 Grain Depth Charge. Both get to the bottom very quickly, but the DC is 30 feet of 300 grain and 70 feet of intermediate.
The DC is my favorite line
But then there is the Density Compensated and the Wet Cell for sinking lines.
