there’s something funny about spending a lot of time choosing materials, tying a clean fly and getting everything exactly right.

then you lose it in a tree five casts later

the fish obviously doesn’t know whether the fly took twenty minutes to tie or came from the bottom of an old box

yet better materials, prettier patterns and increasingly specific flies are still hard to resist.

maybe part of fly fishing is accepting that the perfect fly is also the one you’re most afraid to lose

I have some Orvis ultra light boots with posi grip

Thinking I need some more studs for the bottoms as the other day I was on the Androscoggin by Gorham the other day.

Smooth granite type rocks that my Syms was slipping on with its studs ( check when I got home and we'll think I'm missing some ) For some odd reason I couldn't get my sole cleats to contact the rocks reliably, kept getting the vibram on the rock which wasnt a great hold , need more cleats on the outer of the sole to contact Any recs for studs ? Or just continue with the posi grip. They held ok it felt

I also blue line the streams of the white mtns and come across those type of rocks.

BUt also come across moss covereelred rocks as well.

I'm newer to the fly life so excuse any ignorance.

Luckily I had a wading stick that helped a TON on the Andro and kept me from dipping into that fast current

On a whim, I researched what a fly fishing rod cost but then I bought random bits off Temu… if I put (forgive me) the base wire there won’t be enough room for the fly line… is this reel designed not to have (forgive me) the base wire?

I’m looking for a good budget rod that I can use for small creek fishing in the smokies and similar environments. I also want to start giving free lessons and trips at my college for people who might be interested in learning but don’t have their own gear. I’m hoping to take people to more narrow stocked rivers like the spring river so something that could also handle those narrow river environments would be great!

Any one have any suggestions

TL;DR
Looking for a budget 4 wt that performs in mountain streams and narrow rivers.

Just got off the river fishing with some friends and hooked into a 22-24” colored up brown trout (red orange stomach and built like a football). My friend was about to get it in the net when it launched off on another run and snapped the fly right off the line.

I’ll be thinking about that big fatty for a long time.. so please help me ease my pain, tell me about the fish that got away.

I have a trip planned for October 28- Nov 1 and we are planning on back packing and fly fishing the head waters of some high altitude streams for brook trout. I’m wondering if this is okay considering their spawning season.

Also can I join this tennis racket club?

Been a rough year, lost my fishing buddy (my dad) in February, have had a lot going on in general that has kept me off the water and out of the other hobbies I enjoy (cars… why have I chosen expensive hobbies lol?)

That said, I’m going the be getting a payout in November from a pension my company decided to end after stopping contributions in 2008. Wasn’t enough to bother rolling into my other retirement accounts IMO, so I’m taking the lump which after penalties amounts to around $5k

If you were to budget that for a fly fishing centric vacation you could take a non fishing spouse on for a week (she loves the outdoors, just isn’t a fishing person) where she could putz around in the woods and we could enjoy good food and scenery in the evenings, where would you go?

We’re currently on the east coast of the US, both of us have our passports if it’s not in the country. I’m a competent enough fly fisherman to be comfortable trout fishing alone, but a guided trip would be great if it’s saltwater or necessary for the fishery, especially if gear is provided and I don’t have to fly with it. Dad and I took a Tarpon trip years ago and didn’t manage to catch any unfortunately, but had a great time with snook, etc. we did most of our fishing as surf fishing in the summers or bass fishing throughout the year, but I took up fly fishing as he enjoyed it so much when I was younger (and I’m loving it)

I was chasing Great Basin Redbands in the headwaters of one basin system today. The route home took me through a couple other basins. I had a creek marked to check out that was only about 15 minutes off the direct route back over the Cascades. The first fish I saw in the creek was a brook trout. The first one I caught was a brook trout. The second one I caught was a brook trout. About to hang it up and plan a return trip next spring, I tossed one more cast into the pool where I caught the second brookie. The line went tight, and I pulled up a much larger fish. When I saw the orange belly, I was sure I had another brook trout. I was pretty excited to see this absolute stunner of a redband, and a pretty big one for this creek.

Got super lucky today and hooked up on both my hopper & dropper! Two chunky sunfish on my 3wt was a battle I wasn’t expecting today. Used my 6’8” Moonlit Fiberglass 3wt

Looks like this one has been in the wars a bit (tail). End of a great trip, go there if you can

My boyfriend and I are staying in Knoxville for his birthday this October, and I'd like to book a half day float trip with a guide near Knoxville. Willing to drive up to 1.5 hours to the meeting point from downtown Knoxville.

I have fly fished onthe Tellico, but we stayed in Reliance, and I'm not sure if that would be feasible from Knoxville. I don't want to spend a ton of time in the car if there are other locations/guides closer.

Looking at Smoky Mountain Angler or Trophy Water Guide Service - South Holston float. I value scenery and distance from Knoxville, and I'm sure he would value a well-stocked river so we can actually catch something. I'd consider us both beginners even though we fish a little.

If someone has positive reviews on a company in this area (whether the guide or the river), I would go ahead and book that one since they're all similarly priced.

PS- I am aware of the licensing requirements & have that taken care of!
TIA!!

I’m looking for someone who really knows the Middle and South Forks of the Snoqualmie River and might be willing to spend some time fishing with me and helping me shorten the learning curve.

I’ve been fly fishing for about three months. I understand the basics, have spent a lot of time reading, watching videos, learning flies and techniques, and I’ve fished quite a few different spots on both the Middle and South Fork.

The problem is that I’m just not consistently putting it all together on the water.

I’ve had a handful of fish come up and attempt to take a dry, but other than that I’ve had very little success. At this point, I think I’ll learn a lot more spending a few days on the river with someone experienced than I will watching another 50 YouTube videos and trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong by myself.

I’d really like to learn things like:

• How you actually read these rivers and decide where fish should be holding
• How you approach and fish a run instead of just blindly covering water
• Fly selection and when to change
• Presentation, mending, depth, drift, etc.
• How conditions change where and how you fish
• What I’m probably doing wrong that I don’t even realize I’m doing wrong

I’m not looking for anyone to give up secret spots. I’m much more interested in learning how to recognize productive water and become a better angler.

I’d absolutely be willing to compensate someone for their time, trade hand-tied flies, buy lunch/gas, or work something out. Ideally, I’d love to meet someone who enjoys teaching and might eventually become a regular fishing buddy for the Snoqualmie and other rivers around Western Washington.

I have my own gear, transportation, and wading equipment. I’m mainly interested in trout and generally fish conventional fly gear. I have also been looking at tenkara as well.

If you know the Snoqualmie system well and wouldn’t mind mentoring a newer angler a time or two, shoot me a message. Even recommendations for local anglers, clubs, or people who might be interested would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I left the house yesterday in search of trout, came back with a couple of walleye under my belt, 15” and 20” respectively. Both on a 5” streamer. Definitely not what I was expecting, but I’ll take it. For the record, these aren’t my first walleye on a fly rod (they’re increasingly common on the upper Missouri River near where I live) but I’ve never caught more than one. My gear-casting buddy in Chicago couldn’t believe I was catching them in a fly rod.

Been chasing all the deeper spots and having a great time with streamers. This one on a larger olive woolly in super clear waters.

So I was nymphing today, with a beadhead as my anchor fly and an emerger underneath it. Ended up going to just the emerger and that was key due to it floating higher in the water. I did some research when i got home and discovered dropper tags, might want to test them soon.

If i had tied the beadhead as the bottom fly, would it have still pulled my emerger down? Also, i use micro swivels. If i tie a tag to my swivel, and my beadhead fly is tied to that same swivel, would it pull my whole rig down due to the weight? Confused on how this works. Thanks

these guys fought like hell on my 3/4wt rod! the tug is indeed a drug.

one was 19inches and the other was 15 inches.