I got down to Charter Oak North Lake and set up shop on one of the docks to get out away from all the stuff on the bank I would get caught up on. Rhett suggested I try out a floating fly and twitch it back slowly so I pulled out my pack of flies and went to grab a floating fly when I realized, I have no idea what the hell a floating fly looks like... So I just grabbed a brown one with some hair and a couple really small feathers from my pack and tied it on.
My first cast was very awkward and only managed to get the fly out about five feet from the dock. The fly sunk. My second cast was equally as awkward but I managed to get the fly out about fifteen feet. I was super ecstatic about that, and then I remembered I was fishing and stripped in the slack and gave a few small twitches on my line. One more little twitch and the line started moving! I snapped the rod up and had my first fish on the fly hooked!
I fumbled with the line for a second because I had a few feet coiled up beneath the rod that didn't get cast. I remembered you can strip line in to bring in little fish so I tried and the line went right back out. I stripped it again and held it with my rod hand while grabbing another handful of line to strip in. I finally got him up to the dock and swung him up and over the rail:
A monster, I know.
So I got the fly loose from him, let him go and cleared the gunk off my line. A third awkward cast produced a distance similar to the second. I stripped in it in just twice this time before the line started moving! I snapped up the rod again and had a little bit of a better fighter this time, but I was stripping in line like a pro now. :) A few seconds later, fish number two was being lipped:
Another little guy but I was so excited to just be making casts into the water and actually catching fish that I could've cared less about the size. I got him back in the water pretty quickly, ready to keep my streak up.
Thats when it all went downhill. We had a storm roll in and the winds started picking up randomly. About three casts later I got my tippet all knotted up to the point where I had to cut it and tie something else on. So I tied on the only popper I have and gave it a few casts but it was increasingly difficult with the wind. I decided to put up the fly rod and try to catch a couple more bass before I had to turn in.
I tried a rattling crankbait, buzzbait, and finally resorted to a 7" Powerworm over the next 45 minutes or so with no bites. I booked it as soon as I saw lightning in the distance. The storm is currently raging around our house.
So thats it, a very successful first outing with the fly rod, if I do say so myself. I need to check out some youtube videos or read some books or something on how to cast, because I feel like a total d-bag flailing around so dramatically just to get a fly out 15 feet. Any suggestions are very welcome.
I'm planning on going fishing again on Friday, weather permitting. Hopefully I can post some pictures of a couple big bass and quite a few more fish on the fly.
4 comments:
Congratulations on your first fish with the fly rod. You seem to be determined to get the hang of it all, and, that is a big advantage to have when trying to learn any new fishing skill. Before long you will be casting, hooking, and, landing fish as if it were second nature.
congrats on the fly caught fish. My first catch on the fly was a blue gill about that size.
For casting, it's all about timing. As long as the line takes to straighten in front of you, is the same amount of time you have to wait for it to straighten behind you. Don't start your forward cast until it's fully extended from the back cast.
Take some casts from a position where you can watch the line on both the fore and back casts...wait until it's straight until you start going the other way. That way you can get a feel for the timing.
Way to go on catching fish your first time out with the fly rod. Makes me want to grab the fly pole this weekend and catch some bluegill. Probably better practice for my tourney on Sunday though. You'll get the feel for casting after a while. Clif has good advice above to help with casting.
Thanks for the encouragement guys.
A little over an hour of work left and then I get the rest of the day to try to catcha couple bass on the baitcaster and a bunch of bluegill on the fly rod!
Post a Comment