new to fly fishing

newangler · Member

new to fly fishing

coolbee · Veteran Member

Nice to meet you Joe.

Peek around some threads on the boards here. Plenty of good info if you dig around a bit.

For Putah, small is generally best. I don't fish many flies larger than 16. Think small, think midges, mayflies. Light tippet is a must.

Good luck!

Sammy · Member

Putah is a TOUGH spot for a beginner. Make sure you at least have your roll cast down before heading there. Just my two cents.

windknots · Senior Member

Forget about fly selection, you only need a handful of flies. What matters most is your knowledge of bugs, their lifecycles, and how important (or unimportant) they are in a trout's diet. Learn the technigues for presenting something in the proper manner in the proper place at the proper time. "Hot flies" are pointless to chase, this is good news because you don't need a fly box stuffed with every fly imaginable. 99% of the time you don't need to match the hatch exactly, you'll catch plenty of fish with well presented standby flies.

I'd also recommend becoming familiar with hatch charts for rivers, the patterns suggested including size and color, and looking for the most common all around patterns. Don't memorize them, just see how they work and how you can refernce them.

Get a good seine net for sampling bugs, and after reading about bugs, seine the water, kick over stones, shake the trees, and pay attention to what the bugs are doing.

This is what I do for rainbows. Brookies don't seem to care, and I haven't cracked the nut on brown trout but I think they are much more about meat.

Also, look for a local fly shop that does clinics on things like numph fishing. Or hook up with a guide like Bono and you'll be off to a great start.

Oh yeah, don't spend a lot of money on gear, it's your knowledge that will catch fish, not the gear.

Good luck!

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

I was always lead to believe that anglers who wore Simms caught alot more fish than the Hodgeman crowd. confuse At least thats what my Simms sales rep told me!

newangler · Member

thanks for the advice every bit helps

newangler · Member

guess im screwed tho i wear read head. ha

newangler · Member

red head

Bob Loblaw · Senior Member

Putah is tough on new anglers. The mud will suck your boots off, the trees will grab half your casts, and the fish will laugh at you.

Ditto what windknots said. Make sure you get your depth right, and present your fly properly. I've fished next to guys there who have even given me the fly they've been landing fish with and I haven't hooked up.

Putah fish have seen just about every fly and every possible presentation, and if it isn't served up perfectly they'll refuse it.

Just keep them small and deep.

-- Edited by Bob Loblaw on Monday 23rd of April 2012 04:27:49 PM