returning fisher, new waters

[Hasa]

hey there!
I'm looking for advice on gear, tactics, and maybe spots to look to get lines in the water. I grew up fishing, but poverty and mental health issues kept me from pursuing it after I got out of high school in 2009, being in a much more stable place now I want to get back to grips with the skill set.
part of the problem is I learned to fish in the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, and Minnesota), mostly on warm-water lakes for bass, walleye, and lake perch... knowledge both well and truly rusted, and less of use for a couple of the types of fishing I want to pursue.
in particular, I've gotten very interested in the Tenkara style of fly fishing, as well as surf fishing... though I'd love advise for any other types of fishing to try out, like going for salmon and steel-head, or lake fish as well!
thank you in advanced for info, and gear recommendations!

 

[SnailEye]

you're opening a great can of worms with lots of directions you can go. Tenkara was developed in Japan for fishing small streams and creeks. I haven't tried Tenakra but I do like to target small streams and creeks with a light weight, conventional fly rig. I would look up info on fly fishing those type areas. Start with your "standard" type fly's. Elk hair caddis is my go-to and has been doing very well lately. Ask for recommendations at your local fly shop. If you don't have any gear yet I would start with a starter kit that most rod companies typically sell. That should give you all the basic gear you need to get out on the water. Maybe look at joining a local fly-fishing club. Most importantly just get out on the water. That will teach you more than any YouTube video, fishing forum, or whatever. Just go fish.

 

[Fummus]

Snail is right about huge can of worms being opened, however I have never been one to fear lumbricus terrestris, so I'll throw in my two cents (rounded down to a mildly unpleasant odor due to inflation). I have a tenkara rod and enjoy it quite a bit. Havent done much with it this year due to life stuff, and have yet to catch anything noteworthy with it, but do enjoy the heck out of it and catching such as I have with it. Mostly I go with spider style wet flies, but can't see any reason other styles wouldn't work. Would also agree with Snaileye about elk hair caddis as a solid go to pattern. I would also suggest an older pattern, the Renegade. It's a double hackle wet fly with peacock body and in my experience anything with peacock in it is a good bet. As for surf fishing I chase pink fin perch from the beach when I can. Nothing fancy, just a high-low rig with sandshrimp, burkley gulp sand worm in camo, or mole crabs for bait. Happy to chat more if you want.

 

[Hasa]

thank you both for the suggestions! and I think I'll do just that Snaileye, I've been due a day out of town for a little bit anyhow.

I really appeciate the bait suggestions for perch as well, Fummus, I've got a trip to the beach coming up here soon with my partners and a few friends for a non-fishing related event (launch of a add on for a online game we all play together), but given last time around the servers were a bit of a mess, I'm planning to bring my fishing kit along if I can find the room in the truck. so it's timely advice indeed!

 

[Ohawas]

Oh bud just wait till you get on some winter steelies. For steelies, salmon, and ocean fishies I use my 8wt setup, but I'll change out the spool with different line for different species. When I'm fishing the Jetties or for winter steelhead/salmon I use SA's sonar titan fast sinking line. For summer steels and surf I use the SA andarro line (floating). The andarro allows me to skate a fly, just don't ask me if I know how to do it. SA Sonar Titan is great for rolling casts in fast water, also great for depth finding off the jetties for rockfish.

Trout? That's a bigger question to answer.

 

[TheKnigit]

Another vote for the elk hair caddis fly. This time of year I am a huge fan of almost any variation of the Orange Stimulator fly for lakes and rivers in the alpine region of the Cascades.

I am not sure where you are located, but if you can get to the Cascades almost every single creek and small lake is chock full of brook trout. The creeks can be a little interesting finding holes and open water. There are normally a lot of downed trees and brush, so you might have to do a little bush whacking. They are great little streams for Euro nymphing, and I would imagine a tenkara setup would do well. If all else fails, and double check the regs before you do this to make sure that bait is legal, but a free weight worm drifted through holes will typically do very well. Most of the fish that you will find will be small. 4"-6" seems to be average in most of the streams that I frequent, but there are lot of them and they are a kick the pants to catch. If you can find some sort of holding water that is at least a foot deep there is a chance for a larger fish.