Fly Fishing Beginner/Newbie – Guaranteed to catch a fish!

I often speak to the fly fishing newbie and more often than not they have ‘blanked’ or had 1 bite all day. Well, 95% of the time they are fishing on a stocked still water, so lets use that example and I know that no matter where they are fishing there will be plenty of fish in the water. So why don’t beginners catch many fish. The answer, at least from the fly fishing newbie, is that they cant cast far enough. My reply is a considered and well thought out answer….”RUBBISH”. I can teach anyone and I mean anyone, to cast a line 40 feet every time with 20 minutes tuition. Without tuition, the newbie can cast at least 30 feet, if you consider that a rod is on average 9ft and you have 9ft of fly line with 9ft of leader, you are casting a fly 27feet from where you are standing just by using the simple ‘ Hammer’ technique (see Casting your Fly section).

You know, sometimes us Fly Anglers make life a little too complicated, we deliberate over so many things, but newbie’s are 10 times worse due to lack of confidence/knowledge. I would like to bet that we would catch at least 1 more fish every visit if we made a quick decision and stuck to it for 30 mins at least. Too often do I see people change fly, then cast 3 times and change again, then change line from floating to sinking and back again, Give your choice of  tackle a chance, you thought it would work so don’t change too quick as you will be spending more time with the fly in your boat or on the bank than in the water. In fact, if you think about it, how long is your fly actually in/on the water? Not very much if you consider the setting up, casting, moving location, changing tackle, etc.  Solution = keep you chosen fly in or on the water for longer and guess what…..

Choose 3 flies !

Just as a suggestion, try this once. Your basic set up would be to have floating line on with a 9-13ft leader (if you can manage it) and the wind if there is any coming over your right shoulder (if you are right handed). Then, try to pick 3 flies, a wet, a lure and a buzzer pattern and pick one to start with don’t change for 30 minutes, in the 30 minutes spend 10 minutes fast retrieval, 10 slow and 10 medium whilst casting within a 30 ft arc, and then change to the next fly if no joy. When you get to the buzzer, instead of the fast retrieval section, just leave your line static. I pretty much guarantee you will at least have a bite in the 30 minutes and more likely a fish. However, this will give you confidence that A) there are fish ion the water and B) that you have the right fly on.

Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Best of Luck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!