Anyone Fly fishing?

[plowhog]

Elbow to elbow with a bunch of people catching hatchery raised fish on just about every cast.

I am lucky to live in an area where there are many rivers and streams that go through unsettled forested areas. I pretty much never fish anywhere that another person is at-- almost all my fishing is with only me and who I hiked in with.

 

[MossRoad]

That's cheating... according to some.

Yeah, I get some dirty looks from the fly snobs... :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

I am lucky to live in an area where there are many rivers and streams that go through unsettled forested areas. I pretty much never fish anywhere that another person is at-- almost all my fishing is with only me and who I hiked in with.

Most of my fishing is on hard water (ice). It never fails, I'll be the only one out there on a 500 acre lake, I'll turn around, and there'll be some guy drilling a hole 10' away from me!

:laughing:

 

[Wagtail]

Next year, the World Fly Fishing Championship is being held here in Tasmania!

World Fly Fishing Championships 219 | WFFC 219

C'mon down... you've got over a year to plan as it's on from the end of November 2019, which is the beginning of our Summer.

[Or c'mon down now and get some practise in. :fishing:]

 

[check]

I used to do quite a bit of dry fly fishing in the rivers of eastern Washington, Idaho, and Western Montana. Loved to camp and fish from the banks and take a nap along the shore during mid day when they weren't biting.

I tied my own flies, caddis, drakes, hoppers, etc. It was a great hobby at lunch time when I worked in a Boeing cubicle. Eat a sandwich, pull your vice out and clamp to the table edge and tie a few. Had a good friend that should have been a guide instead of an engineer for a day job.

We floated the Yakima several times with great luck. But mostly I enjoyed bank fishing and wading. Learning the rivers is key. Knowing how to read the water, the 'pillows' and dropping your fly (not that) against a grassy bank for best presentation to the fish became an art form.

A great hobby while soaking up nature, but like golf, I have found it too time consuming. Can't wait for retirement.... I have so many hobbies, I will probably be busier than I am now!

I hear ya Dragoneggs! I grew up not too far north of you, fishing the rivers streams of the Rocky Mountain foothills, in southern Alberta, over 50 years ago. (my God, I cannot believe it has been that long!)

Me and my father and my two brothers were ardent fisherman, and we ONLY used fly rods with automatic reels. (Ever seen an automatic fly reel?)

We used bait a lot, but also flies. Caught a lot of Trout in those streams! Lovely memories of camping out in a tent, with our pink ‘58 Pontiac as our trusty steed. For years and years afterward, I aleays made a big deal of how much “clearance“ a car had before I would ever consider buying it. That old Pontiac had a lot, and we forded a lot of streams as we worked our way up into the mountains as far as we could get until the trail became impassible. Then we stopped and fished.

A great way to remember your childhood.

 

[MossRoad]

I've got an automatic fly reel sitting in a box somewhere. Found it at a garage sale for a buck. :laughing:

 

[dragoneggs]

I've got an automatic fly reel sitting in a box somewhere. Found it at a garage sale for a buck. :laughing:

Never seen one. Please post a pic or two if you can!

 

[bunyip]

I have seen an old spring model and more recently a battery operated job, the former was quite heavy and the latter I only saw in a catalogue.

 

[MossRoad]

OK I went down and searched 4 boxes of fishing gear, and, of course, it was in the 5th.

It's a Shakespeare Model 1835.

You wind out line just like a regular fly reel. When you pull the lever, it winds up automatically. There is no crank. It also has a latch where you can keep it locked into the re-wind position all the time. Not sure what you'd use that for.

Back view.



Front view.


Rewind in action (live photo)

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a nice video someone posted on youtube that shows how it works, how you tension it, rewind speed, etc.... they are neat little reels.

 

[houstonscott]

I own three of those, one green just like that, one red, one black.

 

[MossRoad]

And here's an honest to goodness fishing story....

The first time I was fly fishing in our local river, this was the early 70's, it was a filthy cesspool. After large rains, you'd see human poop, toilet paper, condoms, feminine products, etc... floating down the river. Quite nasty, but when you're a kid, unsupervised, and your parents don't have a clue where you are, you do stuff that you don't yet know better than to do, eh? So I'm fly fishing, and this pink and orange thing comes floating down the river. I can't believe my luck(and the irony) because, you know.... I'm fly fishing.
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Swear on my mother that thing came floating right by me. I used the rod tip to pull it in and I've kept if ever since. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

While going through the many boxes of fishing gear, I also came across another excellent find I got at a neighbor's house when they had a moving auction. I think I was 14 or 15. It also cost me a buck...

 

[bigtiller]

While going through the many boxes of fishing gear, I also came across another excellent find I got at a neighbor's house when they had a moving auction. I think I was 14 or 15. It also cost me a buck...

View attachment 573973

Pocket fisherman, slightly better than a..........Nope, it's the worst fishing pole ever. :thumbsup:

 

[dmccarty]

Yes to fly fish as a kid but never on a river. Lake fishing in FLA and LA. We would go out in the canoe in the late afternoon, fish for a few hours, and bring home a bass or two and at least 10 blue gills without much effort.

Mostly with store bought flies. Still have the heavy fiberglass rod too, not a fancy, dancy, ultralight rod.

Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

Pocket fisherman, slightly better than a..........Nope, it's the worst fishing pole ever. :thumbsup:

Nope..... Surprisingly, I've found something worse. Much worse. :laughing:

 

[Diggin It]

I don't fish for 'em. I just swat 'em when they land on me. Not pink and orange though.

 

[bunyip]

Another fly fishing story:
Was fishing in New Zealand many years ago and had been casting nymphs as there was no surface movement, suddenly it happened, a long continuous pull with a few bumps, never felt a fish like this but it was a big one and nothing I did could turn it, it just kept pulling and bumping the line and I was not able to slow it down.
I followed the river for about a mile and a friend I was with packed up his gear and followed as he saw the bend in my rod, this took about an hour and this thing was not tiring, we finally got to some shallow rapids and I spotted my opponent, was a dead sheep I had picked up on the bottom and I had felt every rock it went over.
Truly a trophy but not one to boast about.

 

[MossRoad]

Hahahaha! Nice! :thumbsup:

 

[cqaigy2]

Man, a water logged sheep, yuck!