I went fly fishing for the first time

S
Spydeyrch
So I finally did it. I finally went fly fishing. And man did I feel like I was in heaven!! Maybe it was the location, the company, the activity, or a combination of them but it sure felt great. Perhaps it was the fact that I was finally able to fly fish and I had wanted to for such a long time so it was that sense and feeling of satisfaction........ But whatever the reason, I finally was able to get out on the water and I didn't want to leave!!

Last week I took a much needed vacation with my wife, 2 year old (almost 3), and 4 year old. We drove from Beaverton down to Folsom, CA (just NE of Sacramento) to visit my parents. So we took a road trip to visit them. I had to drive the whole time because my wife is pregnant with our third and so she had to rest in the back of our van. It took about 15 hours to get down there.

Prior to heading out, a friend of my dad, found out that I love to fish and wanted to take me fishing while I was down there. He lives about 30 mins north-west of where my parents live. I was intrigued because well, I didn't know the area, and a fishing trip sounded superb!! So I asked what kind of fishing he does. When I heard that he only does fly fishing, how could I turn down his offer!!! I mean .... would it not have been rude of me to refuse such a generous offer? So I was compelled and almost felt "obligated" (hehehe ;) ) to go.

But I have to tell you, the wait killed me! The drive down was 15 hours. And it wasn't the drive that killed me, no ..... it was when I found out Saturday evening that I wouldn't be going fishing until Thursday!!!! So I had about a little less than a week until I got to go fishing.

So during the long wait, I would occasionally email our mutual friend for info. I knew he had a fly rod but I didn't have one. I just had my spinner setup. I asked him if he knew of any good fly shops around town so that I could buy a fly rod and reel. He told me that I wouldn't have to because he had two and could let me borrow one of them!! I cannot tell you the excitement that I felt. It was like I was a little kid again and it was getting close to Christmas time!

So Thursday finally came. I got my gear together and my dad and I took off to our friend's house. We threw our gear into his rig and took off. It took about 1.5 - 2 hours to get up to where we were going. The drive was beautiful. We drove through some pristine scenic areas and super small town locations. We went up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A few nights earlier it had rained down in the valley but snowed up in the mountains. Up on the ridge there was quite a bit of snow on the sides of the road but down in the small stream/river valley where we were fishing, there wasn't any snow. It was a nice 55 - 60 degrees the entire time we were there.

During the drive I talked to Mike, our friend, about his setups. The rod that I got to use was a 9' 6w G Loomis rod. He got to use his 8'9" 5w St. Croix (sp?) rod. He only uses dry flies and has never fished nymphs or streamers. He has only done trout fishing in the Sierra Nevada’s; primarily at the same river where he took me and up at Lake Tahoe. Oh, the river we fished was the Rubicon river. Beautiful river, absolutely perfect!

We parked the car off the side of the road and hiked about .5 of a mile down to the side of the river. It was moving a little faster than normal, according to Mike, and appeared to be a little more swollen than normal, due to the recent rains and snow. Although, Mike did state that he typically doesn't fish so late in the season. He usually stops around mid October, even thought in California trout fishing in rivers and streams doesn't close until Nov. 15th. He wasn't even sure if we were going to get into the fish due to being so late in the season.

I threw on my waders, my gear bag, and grabbed the rod. We talked a little about how he wanted to share the river, some small technique tips, and then split off to start fishing!!

Just holding the rod in my hand felt more natural and relaxing then using my spinner setup. It also felt much more balanced.

I waded across some slippery rocks and started casting. Now granted I had never before thrown a fly with a fly rod. I have used flies on my spinner rod but it is nothing similar when compared to a fly rod throwing flies .... as many of you are probably aware.

So like on my 3rd back cast, I got snagged in some little bushes behind me. The trouble was that they over-hung a little bit over a small cascading waterfall. So it was a little difficult to get to the fly and get it free. But I did it eventually.

So I got back to my spot and started casting. Man, getting that loop / U-shape on the back cast as you bring it forward to the forward cast is very difficult. But I am sure that with time and practice I will get it. So I threw a few flies on the water and had a few fish rise! Mike was actually surprised that they were rising and so that raised his hopes of getting into some fish.

So I continued to fish and slowly moved up stream a smidge. Then something cool happened! I went to pull the line and fly from the water and go into a back cast. As soon as I pulled the fly out of the water, BAMM!!! I fish came flying out of the water with the fly!! I hadn't even realized that it had taken the fly nor when it had taken the fly! But it was kind of funny because this small little 4" wild rainbow comes flying out of the water and almost lands on my lap!! And my dad caught it all on tape! hahaha

The fish landed in the water and I thought that it was gone. My line appears to be snagged under some rocks in the faster current at the top of the small cascading waterfall just behind me. So after fidgeting with it for a few moments, I was finally able to get it free. I pulled the fly out of the water to see if it was still attached or if I was going to need to tie on a new one ..... but guess what ..... the fish was still on the fly!!!! hahahaha

So I released the little guy and started to cast again. With in 3 casts, BAM!!! another fish on! This time I didn't come jumping out of the water at me due to me starting a back cast. This time I saw it rise and take the fly so I was able to set the hook and land it. It was a little 5" wild bow. Beautiful little guy!

Unfortunately for me, those would be the only two fish that I would catch during the 4 hours that we were on the river. Mike did much better!!! He landed a total of 6 fish with the largest being about 7 or 8 inches. But he has been fly fishing for 11 years and has fished that river for years. So I think that two fish within the first 45 mins on my first time fly fishing is pretty good ...... at least in my eyes. :)

The rest of the time we were there was worth every second of it, even if I didn't catch any more fish. There where numerous times that I saw fish rise to take my fly but at the last second they wouldn't commit. There were even a few times where they did take the fly but I wasn't fast enough on the set and they would spit it out lightning fast. Oh well.


continued below........
 
S
Spydeyrch
The river was beautiful!! The majority of the time we were fishing little pools, small riffles, small cascading water falls. Every once in a while we would come to a bend in the river and find a huge deep pool!!! They were completely enclosed on the side by large granite cliffs with no room for wading/ At those points, the only way to get around them was to go behind the granite cliffs and take the trail up and down. It was really cool thought because if when went to the top of the cliff and out to the edge above the water, we would be about 70' above the large pools. They were crystal clear and you could see all the way to the 15' / 20' bottom. The coolest part was seeing the trout, big 12" ones, just calmly swimming around, slowly rising ever once in a while in the shade to sip a small insect or some other food. They seemed quite confident; probably due to the large cliffs on each side, the deepness of the pool, and the shadows of the surrounding hills falling on the water to give them some shade.

We hiked probably a total of around 5 miles that day going up and down the river. Around 4:30 it started to get dark and we were almost back to the car. We just passed the first big pool from earlier in the day where I saw those huge 12" trout. I wanted to try my spinner setup to see if I could entice some trout out. My dad, what a guy, carried my rod and some gear the entire time. And he didn't even fish!! He just wanted to get out and watch me and enjoy the mountains.
So I grabbed my rod and wadded out into the pool as far as I could. I cast I don't know how many times, change lures several times, but not even a bite. It started to get to dark to see so I finally stopped. Using the spinner rod after using the fly rod seemed just so, mechanical and cluncky. Not very natural. that being said, I am not giving up spinner fishing any time soon. Even once I get my fly gear I will still do spinner fishing just because I love it so much. :)

We headed back to the car and unloaded our gear. I had a ton of memories, a wonderful experience, a bigger fever for fly fishing than before, and a greater respect for the outdoors. All in all, it was a wonderful time! A heaven on earth for just a few hours.

I did lose about 6 flies due to whipping my wrist and snapping the fly off in mid-air, mid-back cast. I got snagged more times than I probably actually cast. I had my fly-line pull my leader, tippet, and fly through the guides several times due to lifting the tip of the rod when I shouldn't have. I caught the "biggest fish" (myself, hehehe) a few times. Luckily it was only my shirt or waders. I slipped once and soaked my left arm and lower back, hahahaha. I got stuck halfway in the river with a strong current about halfway up my stomach and almost lost my balance. I got to try out some new chest waders, which I loved!!! Much better than my hip waters which have holes, hehehe. At times when I thought I had just managed to actually do a good cast, all my line would go out about 10 feet in front of me and then all of a sudden stop and all fall on top of the water in the same spot. So all my line would coil in the same spot. Hahahaha

So yeah, I have a few things to work on and improve but I had a blast. I think it was the best fishing trip I have ever had to date!!

I will try to upload some of the video later when I can get a copy of it from my dad.

Take care everyone and keep fishing!!

-Spydey

P.S. sorry about the super long post. I just wanted to make sure I shared all the details I could remember. Plus I was excited that I finally got to fly fish. What a wonderful way to fish!
 
S
Spydeyrch
Sorry, double post, don't know why or how it happened. sorry.
 
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C
ChezJfrey
If you ask me, that trip, even with the snags, falling in the water, etc., was a complete success! :)
 
B
benkearney
Welcome to the addiction. You will never look at a river/stream the same again.
 
K
kayakkid
I have fished the Rubicon it is a beautiful place!
 
S
Spydeyrch
kayakkid said:
I have fished the Rubicon it is a beautiful place!

Yes it was. It was spectacular. Just the type of place I had imagined going fly fishing on. I think that my next dream spots would be Yosemite, Dechutes, Yellowstone, and some other smaller places.

-Spydey
 
G
GDBrown
Another Addict!

Another Addict!

I will always long to go back to Montana and fish the Madison again!:pray:

There are 12 step programs for this addiction ya know. It starts with 12 steps to the edge of the water.....:rolleyes:

GD

Sounds like you had a good intro to fly fishing. I've fly fished OFF and on for over thirty years and just started using nymphs this year. It took me six hours before I could tell when the trout had taken the fly. Dry flies make it a no brainer. Setting the hook at the right time is another subject altogether.
 
B
bigsteel
way to go,,thats what its all about.exce3llent story and glad you like the sport of fly fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
O
OnTheFly
Spydeyrch said:
Yes it was. It was spectacular. Just the type of place I had imagined going fly fishing on. I think that my next dream spots would be Yosemite, Dechutes, Yellowstone, and some other smaller places.

-Spydey

As Halibuthitman would say, 'The force is strong in this one'. Wow! You are clearly thinking outside the box with those three destinations.
 
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S
Spydeyrch
GDBrown said:
There are 12 step programs for this addiction ya know. It starts with 12 steps to the edge of the water.....:rolleyes:

hahahaha. I think that I like that program. Now if I could only convince my wife that it is a good program and it will help with the urges, hahaha lol

-Spydey
 

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