Hello all,
Totally new to this fly fishing lark but really looking forward to the summer ahead. Had a lesson last week so have an idea how i need to develop my casting but obviously need practise time. Got a couple of questions, for now anyway

When you first arrive at a Stillwater (which I’ll be fishing initially) how would you go about selecting first whether you use a dry, wet, nymph etc then the exact one to use? Is it just experience, conversation with other anglers, weather, a bit of investigation into what's moving on the water? I'm a bit perturbed about the latter as I think I may struggle to identify what is what yet.

Also what tackle do you carry on your person, I’m not looking at luxuries like 6 different reels but more like the basics that you couldn't survive without. For instance would everyone carry a spoon and a Priest?

Cheers for any help.

Gazza

I had precisely this problem - still do if I visit a new still water.

Some of each of these is what I do - posting on the forum and looking at the fishery threads has worked really well. As a general principle I lean to lures and mini-lures in the winter (and would do in really hot weather if we had any and if I wasn't fishing on rivers and there's nothing rising - which for practical purposes means never) and in spring and Autumn expect to fish buzzers and nymphs, But those are expectations - always moderated by local knowledge, fishery reports and the forum threads. If you're going to a new water for the first time, post a question on the relevant still water thread - or start one if there isn't one! People are on the forum usually because they want to share and help others.

Tight Lines
GD

__________________
We come from dust; we return to dust. I'm going to fish

Welcome aboard.

Pretty new myself but I will have a stab at offering some advice.

Whatever type of fishing I do, first thing I would do when I arrive at a venue is have a walk round. See if there any obvious signs of fish - cruising subsurface, disturbance, fish rolling -- or especially in this case rising. If you see fish cruising subsurface or rising on a nice warm day I would start on a dry.

If you dont, and theres not an obvious abundance of fly life whizzing about then perhaps start with a wet/nymph. Equally if it is cold and the fish are more likely to be lying lower in the water.

As for "matching the hatch" don't worry too much about lack of knowledge - that will come in time. For a start try and get the size and profile and vague colour of fly right and you will give yourself a chance.

Good luck it is a terrific branch of the sport that I am enjoying tremendously (coarse? what was that again?) and I am sure you will too.

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

Hi Gazza,

Welcome tot he forum and I am sure you are going to love fly fishing.

I am from Yorkshire too so if you let me know where you are going I may be able to help you with flies that will work best. As for colour, that's a bit of trial and error with a lot of observation about the insect life you can see around you, int he grass, rushes, bushes or empty shell cases on the surface (best to look at the downwind shores for these).

As for the choice of insect life cycle to imitate it all depends on what the fish are doing at that time. If you can see trout breaking the surface, not leaping like dolphins, then they will be feeding on surface or surface film food so a dry ly or suspender pattern would be the selection to use. If there is no movement on the surface but you can see trout cruising at below you or the odd flash of a white mouth then you would be looking at fishing mid water. If you see the long flashes of silver then that would indicate a fish turning on it's side which usually means it is feeding on nymphs.

Personally I carry only what I need to fish: 7wt rod with matching line and reel, a vest which contains tippet of varying strength, a selection of flies from bloodworms to dry flies, forceps, clippers for cutting tippet off, landing net, priest, Gink and a bag for the quarry. Anything more is a hassle.

Hope you enjoy cracking the code and when you do you'll be pulling them in or atleast cursing of the missed ones.

Tight lines.

hi gazza welcome to the forum

Starting off flyfishing can be daunting as it is a life long of learning.

Time of year and weather conditions are a good guide to start off with rather than worry about what is hatching and not knowing what they are,but dont discount it as looking at the colour of the insect is a good clue and guide for choice of fly colour.Try not to fish huge flies even on stillwaters size 10 is a good all round size of fly.If there is plenty of movement on the top of the water its no use using a sinking line and fishing the bottom,floater with a suspender buzzer and buzzers would be a good choice or a dry fly.swirls on the water surface opt for nymphs and buzzers,no movement at all,bright day go for nymphs and lures(not huge) overcast days and no movement on top try lures and nymphs and even buzzers.if they are feeding and taking off the top a dry fly is best.

I have tried to cram as much in as I can and there is alot more to it than this believe me and if I was to give you any good advice is to ask the staff before you go out and fish,every time you go, as you will learn depending on the help you recieve,how to fish the different styles,ie wet, dryfly, buzzer, lure etc throughout the year and this will give you a grounding for next years learning.Dont just get stuck in using just lures,learn to fish the whole range dry,wet,buzzers etc and your chances and knowledge will grow from this.

Watercraft and reading the water takes time ,but its fun,it does take a long time and you will gain alot from this forum with that,take the information you need from it.Even the most knowledgable of anglers here learn from the new angler aswell, so I hope to learn from you also and im still learning myself.

If i can help I will.

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Kevin

Thanks very much for the advice. I have to say it's great how there seem to be so many people willing to offer advice both on the net and on the banks.

There will be more questions to come though!

Gazza

Your not the famous gazza?

Welcome to Yorkshire fly fishing Gazza,
I started this year too.

I have found that taking the time to watch the water, and crouching down at the edge looking for what's going on, and fishing a few things out will give you all the clues you need.

Then look through your fly box and try something similar.

Today there were large black flies on the water surface of my local reservoir. When I watched, they were't hatching, they were being blown on to the surface. I fished one out and I believe it was a black gnat. I also saw some hawthorne flies that I'd read about. I watched them on the surface and fish were taking them. I looked through my fly box and chose something that looked the same. It had several rises, but no takes. I obviously wasn't presenting it properly, but at least they had a look!

It's much more fun than simply putting on a lure and pulling it across the bottom. Do that at the end of your session if you can't bear to go home empty handed!