Considering Taking Up Fly Fishing

[Sportsman]

Not hard work casting with the right tackle, but landing the fish will make your arm ache

[fisherman]

Pound for pound trout fight harder/faster than any coarse fish you are likely to catch.

 

Nothing more to say really.

Light tackle, on the move all the time and some great fighting fish.

Dave

[salmo6934]

Pound for pound, try catching mackrel on the fly.

[fisherman]

Pound for pound, try catching mackrel on the fly.

 

I would agree with that in the sea but you don`t get many Mackerel in freshwater.

Dave

[MJB]

A 5lb Carp on fly gear will kick a 5lb Trout's arse any day of the week.

[whistlekiller]

In my opinion, a fish is a fish. I get fed up with all the differentiation between coarse and game. The only thing that seperates them is that on some fisheries you can kill some of the trout you catch and take them home to eat which is why the day tickets are dearer.

 

The most intense fight you're ever likely to get in this country is a carp on a 6wt fly rod (don't try it on anything less!). I've caught carp, chub, rudd, roach, perch and pike on a fly as well as trout up to 7lbs and IMO the so called coarse fish always give a better account of themselves. An added bous is you're always mobile and provided there's plenty of room behind you and the fishery rules allow it I would not hesitate to recommend fly fishing above all other methods.

 

I agree with a lot of the posts. About £150-£200 is about right to set yourself up. I'd go for a Greys GRX 9'6" 6/7wt rod and a Greys GRX 5/6 reel with a Cortland 444 or 555 WF7 floating line for kick off.

[Sportsman]

I knew this would happen when I wrote it.

I am not suggesting, and have never suggested that "game" fish are better than "coarse" fish.

I have caught Pike to 17lb Perch to 3lb Brown Trout to 3lb Salmon to 15lb and rainbow trout to about 12lb on the fly. Notice no carp, but I am hoping to rectify that situation very soon

As far as I am concerned, pound for Pound a well conditioned rainbow will fight harder and for longer than anything else on the list.

I agree about mackeral in the sea, and if they grew to 10lb I probably wouldn't fish for anything else

but if you really want to get your string pulled try Pollack off the rocks on a 6 wt.. Brilliant

[Andrew Boyd]

Fished for Carp and trout on the fly.

 

Some Trout can be head shakers, while some will run and run. The best fights have come from over-wintered Rainbows at Bewl. Woooooooooooooooooooooow. Though not as protracted as a Mullet !

 

Browns tend to stay steady and deep while Rainbows are the opposite.

 

I always perfer to fight a fish in deep water which gives another aspect to the 'battle'.

 

Carp are great fun but need to be a decent size ( say 6 - 7lbs upwards ) before they give a "great" account of themselves.

 

Pike. Summer fish are huge fun tailwalking and charging about, winter fish tend to cruse about with short sharp runs before tireing quickly.

 

Fly angler's tend to be frendly types. When I started, many, many years ago, I was surprised at how I was accepted and assisted by the anglers around me. This came as a complete surprise as I too assumed "fluff chuckers to be stereotypical.

[Ian FG]

Josh,

 

One of the great things about fly fishing is that you eat what you catch which just seems so much more logical.

 

I would stick to big English reservoirs (if you are in England) almost

feels like the fish are wild and you are in Scotland.

 

Fly fishermen are (generally) very friendly and less inclined to own a white van (of which I have been guilty of).

[fisherman]

.

 

Fly fishermen are (generally) very friendly and less inclined to own a white van (of which I have been guilty of).

 

One of which I do still go to work in Ian !!! So what is wrong with that ??

 

Dave