Hi All

I've just joined this site (plus a few others) and am looking to learn more about fly fishing. I'm pretty much slap bang in the middle of England.

For the past couple of years I've been freelining earthworm (plus a couple of split shot to give some sinkage) on a nice local small river. I'm after the brown trout (a fly-fishing club stocks the water a mile or two upstream).

But I'm just getting into fly fishing. (I did some wet fly as a kid in Norway on the wide mountain streams; youth is indeed wasted on the young!) I'm also thinking of joining the aforementioned club, partly to put something back and partly to master (or at least attempt to learn) the art.

My brother has taken me to some stillwater venues to teach me to cast but I can see that fishing on a very small and wild river will require different tackle and techniques!

My brother gave me an ABU rod and a reel (with some #4 floating line), plus some dry flies.

So I've looked on the web and bought some flies from "The Essential Fly" website - mostly little nymphs, as well as some light leaders. Was that a good thing to do? I've no idea!

And it seems I need to work on "roll casting" - well, OK, I think I can give it a go!

So: I need advice, tips, tricks - anything that will help me, please!

Cheers

Ollie

hello ollie, i presume you dont need a permit where you worm fish?? but i would try and join that club then maybe you would enjoy the fly fishing way. as for advice you would need to mention the area and water near where you live as there maybe forum members around to give advice on here.

Thanks. I usually just give the farmer £2 and I can fish all day.

I've found a club member here and PM'd him.

welcome to the forum

I think you'll find quite a bit more to fly fishing-quite an education. I'm over sixty and still feel like a novice!

__________________
The scenery in the Grand Coulee area of eastern Washington was worth the air fare on its own!

Hi flyfishy61
I am too a new comer to this site but after it popped up so many time whilst I searched the WWW I thought it was best that I too joined and contributed.

advise; use the tackle you have, ABU are a prestigious outfitters and their goods are of the best quality. Yet note that rod length can be important, due to the situation you are facing. Think of your casting ability and whether you can cover the stretch you will be fishing. Your casting shall quickly improve with practice and covering all the water is not normally essential. Also get a cheap copy of any book that can teach you the art you wish to acquire. My advise is teach yourself Fly Fishing(1958) by Maurice Wiggin this book has stood the test of time!

tips; For wild brownies a tapered leader (nylon consisting of a tapered point so you will need to learn an appropriate knot for connecting two pieces of nylon) is a must but not essential. Remember the fish will sometimes easily swim away in disgust of our trickery when they are disturbed by a shiny flash of thick nylon (or a pvc line for that matter, more so). Brown trout will like faster oxygenated water in low condition and you will be surprised by the white water you see and the dinning room the trout holds within it.

tricks; learn how to mend your line through the current. So this keeps your fly seeming naturally flowing downstream. This is easily learnt through the use of a dry fly so you know what effect you are having on your deceiving artificial fly. It is simply a flick of the belly of the line away from the current to counter act the drag placed upon it by the current. Oh and don’t strike too hastily and keep your rod up when playing a fish!

Best of luck, hope you catch a grayling- such an illusive cousin of the trout