Tomorrow morning i intend to fish the river for the first time and although i have read books, i was wondering if anyone can give me any last minute tips. The river is the Wharfe near Wetherby.
I am going to try both dry and wet fly, i won't be deep wading on my first visit not that the river is deep at the moment, but i mean that i won't be taking any chances until i get used to it.
I am going to start fishing with a 5wt set up a furled leader well greased with a five foot tippet greased attached to a black spider. Attached to the hook i am going to tie on a wet fly.
Is this a good set up to start?

Two tips:

1 - Pack spare dry clothes - if you don't have them you'll want them.
2 - Expect to spend you first few outings learning about your river - and enjoy it.

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Plusnet/Madasafish > Liars to the internet community

1. Take your time.
2. Spend 10 minutes sitting on the bank, looking at the river - what's hatching?. Work out where you're going to wade and how you're going to fish the likely looking spots.
3. Take regular breaks, check your leader for wind knots - try and think about what's happening at the business end of your tackle.
4. Most important, take time to enjoy being on the river.

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[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]

If you don't see any fish rising concentrate on faster water, use a fairly big, visible dry fly like a klinkhammer and flick it into fast flowing streams and the small pockets of calmer water that you get in the faster water. You're fly will only drift fr a couple of seconds in this fast water before dragging but thats usually enough and you can get a lot closer to tthe fish and get away with a lot more presentation-wise than fishing slower stretches of the river.

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Steve


"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." Paul O'Neil

above or below wetherby if your above im presuming collingham/linton stretch ???

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

I would befriend someone who knows what they are doing.
It will shorten the initial steep learning curve, after that its up to you to develop your own observation skills, techniques and tactics.
If you cant do that , take Lighthouses wise advice and sit on your ar$e and observe, its amazing what will reveal itself.

Just a thought but do you know what type of fish holding water you will be looking for and what will be hatching at this time of year? Two basics ......

Take Lighthouse with you.

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http://www.haddonestate.co.uk/rivers/rivers.php
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Hi Bruce, below Wetherby to start, but might pop up to Collingham later!

Thanks for all your advice. I probably should have been more clear, in that i have course fished rivers and streams for thirty years, so i have pretty good understanding of the river and stream.
Fly fishing has become my passion on lochs and reservoirs and i now feel that my abilities can be tested a little more and it's time for a new challenge on the rivers. Not that there isn't a million more things to learn about fishing lochs and reservoirs.

hey andrew , today was my 1st. time out also i have a used 5-6 wgt. and was useing a green wollybugger beaded head landed 1 rainbow and 1 brooking with a fair amount of line tangles and brush catches behind me , but it was fun.