The Thrill Of The Hunt

My first fly fishing experience was high sticking in the rolling streams of The Smoky Mountain National Park. Hiking and climbing the rocks and boulders to find a likely spot to flick your line upstream.  Watching tentatively, not sure if the dip of your indicator was from the bubbling on the surface of the water or from a trophy trout taking your fly.  Honestly, it was not what I was expecting, but from the start I was hooked.

Since then I've waded into and cast acrosse wide streams.  I've tried my hand at fly fishing for bass.  But mostly, I've been sight fishing.  And I have to say, I love walking along stream banks stalking for trout most of all.

Cold Blooded Angler

It's the middle of October.  The weather is starting to turn cold.  We've had temperatures in the 40s and 50s the past few days.  The leaves are finally starting to red, yellow and orange.  It really is starting to feel like Autumn has arrived.  And I... don't... like it!  I am cold-blooded.  I need all the external body heat that I can get.  We had an EXTREME heat wave in Missouri this past summer.  We hit 100 degrees daily for several straight weeks.  And I loved every minute of it.

And now I have taken up a hobby that involves wading into cold water and standing very still.  This is fine when it's in the 90s and the sun is shining down keeping you warm.  Now the weather is getting colder and I'm starting to think about the prospect of going fishing without the  90 degree temp and sun shining down.  And the battle between the desire to fish and the desire to stay warm is already beginning.

What Is A Catch?

I took the past few weeks off of writing any posts.  Work had gotten a little busy and it was easier to let the blog go for a while.  And along with being too busy to write I was also too busy to do any fishing, either.


I did finally get to go fishing a couple of weekends ago.  My brother, Guy, and I went to Westover Farms in Steelville for a few hours on a Saturday morning.  I was nice to get away and spend some time fishing.  It was also nice to hook my biggest trout to date.  My brother claims it was 2 ft long.  I've been trying to be modest and say 20 inches while still saying my brother called it 2 feet.  Either way is was thrilling to see a monster at the end of my line.

Getting Into Fly Fishing

My first memory of fishing is from Fourth Grade.  A friend and I bought some bamboo poles, dug up some worms and went to a pond behind our elementary school.  Maybe there weren't any fishing in the pond, but didn't get a single nibble.  Honestly I think it had to do with the noise we were making and the fact that we pulled our line from the water about every thirty seconds.  The worms probably thought we were just trying to get them clean and the fish probably thought we were teasing them.  But I did go home with some tadpoles...

Thoughts on Fly Fishing

I was out of town most of this week. The only times I'm out of town without my wife I'm either on business or fishing. This week it was business. But I couldn't stop thinking about fly fishing. Where there any good streams nearby? What type of fly is the best for this area of the country? Would anyone really notice if I skipped dinner and went fishing?

Since I wasn't actually able to go fishing this week I've been thinking. What is it about fly fishing that has captured me? Why can I, someone who has trouble sitting on the beach and enjoying looking at the ocean, stand in a stream and wait for a fish to take my lure? How has fly fishing been able to immediately give me a batch of patience with inactivity that I didn't have before?

Learning Something New

After writing about my struggles with trying to fly fish for bass last week, I realized something.  Not only was my casting geared toward trout fishing.  My style of fishing was geared to trout fishing.  Let's make a comparison to hunting.  Do you hunt for deer the same way you hunt for ducks?  No, not at all.  Lake vs Forest.  Moving target vs stationary target.  Rifle vs Shotgun.  There are a lot of differences.

So in that regard, how do you approach fly fishing for bass?

Trying Something New

I went camping last weekend.  One of my friends lives out of the country, and when he and his family are back in town a bunch of guys take him camping.  The past few times have been on some private property on the Meramec River.  A friend of one of my friend's father-in-law has a campground set up on the river with chairs, grills, and even an outhouse.  We headed out midday on Friday for a night with the guys in the middle of nowhere.  Now, it's been a couple of months since I've been able to go fly fishing.  And from having camped out at this spot of the river in the past, I knew that I wasn't going to be catching any trout on this trip.  The water is too warm and there is too much float trip traffic scaring off the fish.  But, maybe I could try catching bass.

I've caught bass with worms real and fake, but I've never gone fly fishing for bass.  I had gotten a gift card for my birthday so I went to Bass Pro on my lunch break and picked up some fly fishing bass lures.  The salesman recommended a 3-Pack of poppers, a red crayfish, and a dark purple snag-less worm.   I had my bass lures and was looking forward to the weekend.  But to be honest, I didn't have any idea what I was getting myself into...

Book Review Pt 3: 1001 Fly Fishing Tips

This is the final installment of tips and advice from 1001 Fly Fishing Tips.  Part 3 of the book review is actually from the last two parts of the book.  Part 3 from the book is Hatches and Seasons.  You'll find tips on determining what fly to use in a situation to advice on weather and competing outdoor sports (Boom! Boom!).  Part 4 is Travel, Destinations and Species Other Than Trout.  Leaving home to go fishing in the vast outdoors has different conditions to consider, such as extra equipment and dangerous wildlife.

I have to be honest in that as a novice, my knowledge of these topics is even less that in the previous two posts about this book.  So if I seem to disagree with a piece of advice, you might be better off going with the advice from the book.

Let's dive in...

Book Review Pt 2: 1001 Fly Fishing Tips

How do you keep your dry flies dry longer?  Do I really need a hook hone?  What's the best way to get your fly unsnagged?  Keeping your equipment safe and functioning properly is vital to catching fish.  No matter how long we've been fishing there is always advice or a tip someone may have that will make our day on the water less frustrating.

This week is part two of the tips and advice from 1001 Fly Fishing Tips, edited by Jay Nichols.  There are enough pieces of great advice that I felt like I needed more than one post to do the book justice.  Part Three of the book has to do with Hatches and Seasons.  We'll talk about that next week.

So here are the tips on equipment with some comments...

Book Review Pt 1: 1001 Fly Fishing Tips

When I received my fly fishing rod & reel for my birthday last year I also received the book "1001 Fly Fishing Tips: Expert Advice, Hints and Shortcuts From the World's Leading Fly Fishers."  I had a month before my first fly fishing trip.  So I started reading.  Great book!  I think I read it three times in that month.  The book is a collection of short tips on a large variety of fly fishing topics from casting to finding fish to picking the right lure to how to care for your equipment.  It's edited by Jay Nichols with wisdom from Lefty Kreh, Dan Blanton, Bob Popovics and more.

There are enough nuggets of wisdom in this book that I'm going to break this into two posts.  Next week I'll post the tips on equipment and more.  For now, here are some of the fishing tips with some comments from the novice...

Rod, Reel & The Kitchen Sink

So you've decided to start fly fishing.  All you need are some flies and a rod and reel, right?  Then you start looking at fly fishing gear.  Yes, you need a rod and reel.  But you also need to get the right fly line, leader and tippet material.  And you'll need a some strike indicators so that you can tell when the fish are taking your fly.  And if you'll be nymphing it might be a good idea to have some weight so the fly gets down in the water more quickly.  You must have a a line/leader straightener.  A tippet holder is essential.  And a Ty-Rite Jr or Clinch Tool Knot Tyer will make knots simple and easy.  And you have to have thermometer otherwise how will you know how cold the water is?  And how will you know how many fish you've caught if you don't have a fish counter?  And the list goes on and on and on...

There is a lot of "stuff" out there for fisherman.  A lot of gear and gadgets that make themselves out to be invaluable to fly fishing.  But what exactly do you need?  Besides your rod, reel and line what do you really need in order to go fly fishing?  So from someone who just started fishing, and is definitely fishing on a budget, here is my list of the basic equipment that will get you fly fishing without having to buy the kitchen sink.

Fly Fishing Etiquette

As a general rule, fly fishers are among the nicest people I have met. I've had complete strangers offer suggestions on casting and presentation. They've shared with me what flies are catching fish on that day. I've even been given the last fly someone had that they knew was catching fish. But I have met some rude fisherman...


I've mentioned a couple of times how another fisherman cut a fly off my line at Bennett Springs last month. He and another fisherman were facing downstream casting toward the dam. I waded out until I was about 20-30 feet upstream and 10-15 feet past them into the stream. Figuring that this was enough space where we wouldn't be hitting each other with our lines I began casting across the water.  For about thirty minutes I was right.  And then on a back cast our lines got tangled.


He gave me a dirty look as our tangled lines landed on the water. The tangle was closer to him so I let him pull it in to separate our lines. And a few seconds after he had pulled the lines in he tossed my line free. I thought to myself, "That was quick," and started to reel in my line.  And then I noticed that I was missing a fly.  

Fishing Apps For Your Android Phone

One of the gifts I got for Father's Day this year was the Orvis Fly Fishing App for my Android cell phone.  And I have to say that it's one of the best Father's Day gifts I've gotten.  More about that later.  But the Orvis App got me thinking.  This was the only App that I've paid for on my phone. (Yes, it was a gift.  But it's still the same bank account.)  Are there any other free Apps for my Android phone that would be worth having?  So I figured I'd download some free apps and find out.  I downloaded Fishing Knots, Pocket Fisherman, and My Fishing Advisor.  And so, taking into consideration that these three Android Apps are free, here's my humble opinion on them and the Orvis Fly Fishing App...

Learning The Roll Cast

While fishing at Bennett Springs State Park two weeks ago, one of my goals was to practice a roll cast.  I hadn't yet done a successful roll cast on the water simply because I didn't know how.  Last August when I went fly fishing for the first time my brother had attempted to show me the roll cast, but whether from his not explaining very well or my not listening very well, I just didn't  get it.  More than likely it was my YBS (Younger Brother Syndrome) that caused my mental disconnect.


When I took the Orvis Fly Fishing 101 class a month ago I made a point to ask about roll casting.  I knew that it would be crowded at Bennett Springs and didn't want to have to remove my fly from another fisherman's vest, hat or ear because I wasn't paying enough attention to what or who was behind me. Ryan from Feather-Craft explained it to me pretty well.  Well enough that I thought that I had the general idea down and would be able to roll cast at Bennett.

The Outlaw Fishing Trip

The Outlaw Fishing Trip started six years ago with my brother and brother-in-law.  Both of them were fly fisherman and decided to organize an annual fishing trip with the guys in our family.  My father, father-in-law, and my brother's father-in-law rounded out the group.  When my father ended up being the only one on the trip that wasn't somebody's in-law I started calling it the "Out-law" Trip.  The name has stuck.  We've gone to Bennett Springs to fish and have some male bonding time almost every year, and every year has been great.  


Fishing at Bennett Springs State Park has been good to me and bad to me. That first year got me hooked on trout fishing because I caught my limit every time out.  But each successive year my fishing was more and more unsuccessful.  And last year I didn’t catch a single trout.  I ended fishing the stocked pond at our cabin.  But this was all with a spinner rod.  Now I’m a fly fisherman.  This year would be different...

It wasn't Branson... It Was Better

So I didn't make it down to Branson, MO last weekend.  One brother had to work late on Friday and we decided that the other brother coming from Indiana shouldn't have to endure sixteen hours in a car with a bad case of Poison Ivy.  Eight hours would be enough.  But we still wanted to go fishing Saturday morning.  So where could we go that would keep us close to St Louis?  The answer was Westover Farms outside of Steeleville, MO.

I had enjoyed two previous trips and knew I wasn't going to be disappointed with this trip either.  They have multiple types of fishing areas available, a quiet stream, a meandering creek, babbling brooks, even a small pond.  You will find the type of fishing you enjoy as well as getting to spend some time in rural nature's splendor.

Fly Fishing 101

Last weekend was my dad's 70th birthday.  And today my brothers and I are taking him to Branson, MO for the weekend.  We're going to see a show, do some fly fishing and just have a good time hanging out.  But I wanted to plan something with just me and my dad to celebrate his birthday.


Then a few weeks ago I saw a tweet from @thisisfly about Orvis Fly Fishing 101 classes. Perfect!  The class would be a good refresher for him (he's only been fly fishing once) and a chance for me to work on my form as well.  And the class is free!  So last Saturday he and I headed to Feather-Craft Fly Fishing in St Louis and had an hour of learning about casting with one of their instructors, Ryan.

Here are some of the high points of what we learned:

Waders Aren't Complicated?

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my waders springing a leak in the most unsightly of places.  They've lasted for several years and they were given to me by someone who had already used them for a while, so I decided it might be time to start looking for new waders.  It couldn't be too complicated to decide what I was going to get, right?  Waders are just something to keep you dry, right?  Well, do you want neoprene waders or breathable?  Do you want boot foot or stocking foot?  Do you want rubber soles or felt soles?  Or both?  Do you want studs?

This just got a little more complicated...

Book Review - The Fly Fisherman's Guide to the Meaning of Life

I received The Fly Fisherman's Guide to the Meaning of Life as a late Christmas present this year.  It’s a short collection of fishing “lessons” from Peter Kaminsky.  Mixed in among his fishing stories are sections of "Insights" to the various aspects of fly fishing.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Once I got started reading the stories it was difficult to put the book down.  Kaminsky has been fishing long enough to have some good stories and he tells them well.  And while I truly enjoyed the stories, I feel like I will go back to the Insight sections of the book repeatedly throughout my fishing career.  Here are some excerpts from the Insight sections…

A Little Bit of Knowledge

The first time I went fly fishing by myself was not a successful experience. I got my equipment set up and then couldn’t remember how to tie a perfection loop on the end of a new leader. It took me 45 minutes just to start heading to the stream. And once I hit the stream it didn’t get any better. I only spent about 30 minutes fishing. Not only did I come nowhere near to catching a fish I got my line tangled in trees about half a dozen time, lost 4 flies, and got stuck in mud at least
twice. To add to the injustice my waders sprung a leak… at my crotch.

Despite all of this I still didn’t look on the trip as a failure.  I did take an important piece of knowledge away from the trip.  No matter how long you've been fishing you can always encounter a situation that you're not prepared for.  So what do you do?

Addicted To Fly Fishing

I wasn't able to go fishing at Busch Memorial this week.  Circumstances dictated otherwise.  But I was able to go fishing.  My dad and I took my three year old to a pay fishing site south of Fenton, MO called Chip Away Lake & Bait Ship.  I know, I know, paying to fish a stocked lake is not really fishing.  I agree.  But my three year old loves to go fishing with Daddy and I really want her to catch fish.  But that didn't happen.

Do not let this story be a first impression of this fishing location.  I have heard good things about this place.  But with all the rain we've had in Missouri Fenton has had some flooding from the Meramc and Chip Away did not escape it.  The water was high and muddy.  I'm sure that any fish that were there were hunkered down because they couldn't see from the mud.  I'll probably take my daughter back there sometime when the fishing should be better.

While I was standing out there casting out a worm, waiting and then reeling it back in I realized how much I wanted to be fly fishing instead.  So what is it about fly fishing that is so addicting?

Knot Important

I came back from my first fly fishing trip ready to go again as soon as I could.  But it was a couple of months before I was able to arrange a chance to get away.  This time I wanted to go on my own.  I had only the one experience with fly fishing, but I figured that after six years of fishing for trout with a spinner rod I should be able to handle going fly fishing by myself.  I stopped to get a couple of new leaders and some other trinkets and then headed out of town.  A couple of hours later I was at Maramec Springs Park just outside of St James, MO.

When I got to the park I drove around for a few minutes to scope out a good spot to fish.  There were people fishing everywhere and I was buzzing to join them.  I parked.  I got my waders on.  I put my rod together.  I strung my line.  I put a new leader on the end of the line and started to tie a perfection loop on the end for a tippet.  Loop, wrap around, pull through, tighten and nothing.  It didn’t work.  I tried again.  Loop, wrap around, pull through, and tighten… still didn’t work.  

Getting Your Stick High

My first experience fishing with a fly rod was last August in Gatlinburg, TN.  I hadn’t had my gear for very long so I took time to spend a few hours practicing casting in my back yard before we left for the trip.  My brother had shown me a few basics the night I had received my gear so I was ready to give it a whirl on my own.  I set up a plastic lawn chair in one corner of the yard.  I went to the middle of the yard and with about 40 feet in front of and behind me I started casting.  I was able to lay that line right over the top of the chair.  I didn’t concern myself too much with putting the fly on top of the chair.  At this point I wanted to make sure that I had my line pointed in the right direction.  I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with myself.

We got to Gatlinburg and I was chomping at the bit.  I wanted to go fishing before we unpacked.  Of course that didn't happen.  We finally headed into the Smoky Mountains National Park, stopped at a likely place and got ourselves geared up.  As we walked down the trail you could hear the water rushing over the rocks.  Ahead I could see a break in the trees and the beginnings of a wooden bridge.  I was sure that the bridge stretched over across an expanse of water.  I couldn't wait to wade in and to start gracefully sending my line across the water.  We came out of the trees and my jaw dropped in shock as I looked at rocks and rocks and rocks.  And there was also some water.

Where Can the Beginner Go?

So I've actually been fly fishing less than a year.  I started trout fishing about 6 years ago when all the guys in my family decided to have an annual trout fishing trip.  I bought a cheap spinner rod at Bass Pro Shop and headed to the water with everyone else. I caught my limit that first year but only because my brother-in-law was right there showing me what to do. Each following year I caught less and less, but I was still having fun being with all of the guys on the trip. Last year I didn't catch any trout at all. I spent about an hour in the stream without having a fish come within a foot of my lure. But the cabin we were staying at had a pond. So I bought some worms and spent the rest of the trip catching bluegill. At least I was catching fish, right?  No, it just wasn't the same.


The one constant in all of these trips was the abundance of people fly fishing.  No matter where in the park I was, me and my spinner rod were surrounded by a dozen people with fly rods.  I really enjoyed watch them gracefully whip their line through the air and drop their fly exactly where they wanted it to be.  At least that's what it looked like to me.  So while my interest in fishing for trout was starting to wane, my interest in fly fishing grew every trip.


Then last year I was given a fly rod for my birthday.  A month after that we had a trip planned for Gatlinburg, TN.  And after three days of fishing I WAS HOOKED!  The irony is that in three days I only caught three fish and most of our fishing didn't involve casting.  We were high-sticking in small pockets of water.


I've managed to go fly fishing three more times since that first trip.  Some modest success and some abject failure.  You can get all the gear and learn how to get your fly in the general area you want it to be but that still doesn't get you closer to catching fish.  There's a lot of learning involved in fly fishing and it's not all about technique.  


Most of the training I've gotten has come from family.  But after a while you can't expect your family to hang by you helping you to catch fish.  They want to fish too!  And in looking for information online I didn't really find anything geared to a beginner.  And that's where this blog comes in.  


The goal of this blog is to help the new fly fisher find information that will help them not just to be able to cast the fly to where they want it, but to gain some understanding of how to catch fish.  I'm not claiming expert status.  I just want to try to pass along some of the information that has helped me and to (hopefully) explain some of the knowledge I've gained in a way that doesn't take intimate fishing knowledge to understand.


So here's tip No. 1.  Flies can be expensive.  But Orvis has a 20 fly pack of flies that would normally go for $45 that they sell for $10 with free shipping.  You can only buy one per home address, but it's still a great deal and it took less than a week to get to me.  If you can't follow the link below just do a search on SI76TK and you'll find it.


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