# When did you start fly fishing?



## Jack Flynn (Feb 9, 2014)

Gonna see some age on some of ya I'm sure!
I became interested in here we go, 1965 at the tender age of nine. Read in Field and Stream in "Taps Tips" some of ya remember that I'm sure. It was how to cast a fly rod and do a roll cast in five simple "drawings" on one page with limited comments. Traded enough coke bottles and catawba worms at the little tackle shop "Johnnies Bait and Tackle" to get an Eagle Claw combo. Got in the front yard at our house and did the ten o'clock to one o'clock cast for days then hit hit a pond with homemade poppers. Wonderful fun.........


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## NCHillbilly (Feb 9, 2014)

Probably when I was in the 10-12 range, nearly 40 years ago. I grew up right in the middle of some of the East's finest trout streams, so it was just something we all did. I was tying trout flies to sell by the time I was 15-16.


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## Georgia Hard Hunter (Feb 9, 2014)

My best friend and I were high school age early 80's and really into trout spin fishing. We were "so good" that we thought we could clean out a stream of trout so we decided to give the trout a chance and buy fly rods.WOW how the trout have humbled us since then...LOL


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## fishndoc (Feb 9, 2014)

Late bloomer here - spent my youth and early adult years chasing trout around Dahlonega, and Lanier headwaters crappie with spinning gear.  Sometime in the early 90's, my fishing buddy (uncle) and I decided to give the fly rod a try - several frustrating trips at first, but then caught my first trout on a fly and was "hooked".

And, almost as cool as getting into fly fishing, was a few years back when I went back to fishing warm water (kayak) and discovered bream and bass were maybe even more fun to catch on a fly rod than trout.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Feb 9, 2014)

I was about 6 or 7 I guess, my grandfather taught me.  He taught me to tellico nymphs, the first trout I caught on a fly rod was on a tellico nymph I tied myself.  It was his rod, he later gave it to me, I still have it today.


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## jigman29 (Feb 9, 2014)

When I was a kid trout fishing was the only escape I had from a lot of the problems I had in life.I trout fished every day if I could rain or shine and when I was in my early teens I watches a river runs through it and had to have a fly rod.Im sure that movie got as many people interested in fly fishing as where the red fern grows got into coon hunting.I saved all I could get and bought a cheap $20.00 kit from k-mart and have been going ever since.I don't really care for the big water fly fishing but the brush choked native streams of the mountains are my favorite kind of fly fishing.


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## Randy (Feb 9, 2014)

Not really sure when I started but I do remember I learned to cast and cuss the same day.


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## Bream Pole (Feb 9, 2014)

I was in Emory Law School in the mid sixties and a fellow student who was having as much trouble as I was with learning how to study for Law School loved to trout fish.  He took me to a store in Buckhead that is no longer there and I bought my first rod--a 7' Shakespeare President Wonderod.  I have no idea the weight, a Medalist fly reel, a Scientific Anglers dbl taper fly line,  a leader which they put on, a black gnat, a royal wulfe, a mosquito, and a telico nymph and a few very small bream poppers.  I had a small book that told me to hold my elbow up against my side, bring the line back with a snapping motion stopping the rod tip at @ 2:00 and when I felt a tug bring the rod  forward with a similar snapping motion until the tip was at 10:00.  I practiced at Chandler lake.  I didn't  catch any fish because I kept hooking my ear lobe with the bream popper.  Finally I threw the book away having some idea of what was supposed to happen.  I still am not a great with the fly rod, but I can cast a fly or bug without hooking my ear with it landing in the general area intended without too much disturbance of the water.  Never tried trout fishing with the fly rod, but once, and that was in North Carolina at a stream on the campus of a church camp.  I had spied a large rainbow in a pool and spent most of my stay stalking him or her.  Finally it took the telico nymph.  I didn't weigh the fish and released it, but my guess is he or she weighed at least a lb. I have found my ultralight spinning rods and reels fun and effective.  Last trip was to toccoa river about ten years ago, and I caught what I think was a small mouth about 1.5 lbs and my  limit of stream reared rainbows 10-13 inches long--beautiful fish--using a gold bladed black speckled roostertail with a gold treble hook which they don't produce anymore, that is, with the gold treble hook.  I have caught a good supply of bream on the flyrod and want to try for bass in the river this spring.  My current rod is a 5wt 9' TFO which I adore.


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## pine nut (Feb 10, 2014)

If catching brim, bream, and bass on a fly rod using a black gnat, a rubber spider, and poppers counts then about1957.  Go ahead and laugh I'm bound to be about the oldest or longest!  Hah Hah


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## Jack Flynn (Feb 10, 2014)

You got me beat by a smidgen ole man lol


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 11, 2014)

I started when I was 11. My dad got me a pfluger rod, and I caught my first trout at Unicoi state park that year. Flyfishing was too expensive to keep up for an 11 year old whose father really didn't fish at all. Three years ago, at the ripe old age, of twenty five, I caught my first brookie on the same rod. It has been a slippery slope ever since
. Three years, and two TFO's, a Redington, and an Allen fly rod later, I'm still at it, and forever will be. Unless it is a catfish, I almost desire to catch nothing else if I can't do it on a fly rod. Something about flu fishing, it consumes me. This year's agenda? Snook, gar, stripers, and walleye on the fly. Not to mention my beloved brookies. I have 51 small streams written down that I plan to fish this year. Fly fishing has enriched my life beyond measure, especially through the incredible people and friends I have met in the process.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Feb 11, 2014)

jigman29 said:


> When I was a kid trout fishing was the only escape I had from a lot of the problems I had in life.I trout fished every day if I could rain or shine and when I was in my early teens I watches a river runs through it and had to have a fly rod.Im sure that movie got as many people interested in fly fishing as where the red fern grows got into coon hunting.I saved all I could get and bought a cheap $20.00 kit from k-mart and have been going ever since.I don't really care for the big water fly fishing but the brush choked native streams of the mountains are my favorite kind of fly fishing.



I agree with loving the small streams like I grew up on, but I have special kind of hatred for "A River Runs Through It".  I'm glad it got you started flyfishing, but the streams of WNC went from empty to being full of yuppie idiots with $3000 worth of Orvis gear (good gear, just sayin') just after that movie came out.  Pretty soon you had to bring your own rock to stand on.


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## fish hawk (Feb 11, 2014)

Years ago.....My first rod and reel combo was a Western Auto,if that tells you anything.I still have the reel around here somewhere.


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## huntfish (Feb 11, 2014)

Back in 1976, I found a fly rod on the access road into the Russian River campground in Alaska.    Since the Russian River was already fly zone that we fished with spinning gear, I decided to try it.   Mind you, I had no training, no knowledge just the simple understanding of this is a reel, this is a rod, there's line, tie on a fly and add some weight.    I got so frustrated and a man walked up to me to give me the basics.   First true cast, I was hooked......Not only on fly fishing, but really hooked.....to a Red Salmon.   I landed that fish and was done for the day since it was a 1 day limit.   But the joy has continued....


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## WinMag.300 (Feb 11, 2014)

*started*

started when I was around 8-9.  Just fiddled with it here and there for bream mostly until I could drive.  Then the obsession began. Lying to the parents telling them I was going to the mall for the day shopping, and I would drive to Helen for a day of trout fishing, leave by 3 and be home by 5.  A lot of driving to catch trout for a few hours but back then no bills, gas was cheap, and a Honda could be full on a $10.00 tank of gas.  Then I started to appreciate catching Bass and bream again as well.  Left it all behind for about 2-3years and got hung up on women bad, and hunting. Mellowed out and now have a Deep appreciation for my Woman, FLy Fishing, and hunting.


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## Jimmy Harris (Feb 11, 2014)

Dr. Strangelove said:


> I agree with loving the small streams like I grew up on, but I have special kind of hatred for "A River Runs Through It".  I'm glad it got you started flyfishing, but the streams of WNC went from empty to being full of yuppie idiots with $3000 worth of Orvis gear (good gear, just sayin') just after that movie came out.  Pretty soon you had to bring your own rock to stand on.



Interesting.  Do you remember what trout fishing in Georgia was like in the 60's & 70's?  Basically, it was following the stocking truck around to fish for 8" trout.  What do we have today?  Great tailwater fisheries, public and private trophy streams, year round streams, Delayed Harvest streams that are a blast to fish.  We have stream buffer laws to protect the resource because the angling public stood up to the "system" and demanded it.  We have riverkeepers on several streams to guard against abuse because enough people cared about the resource to demand it be protected.  The reason we have a wonderfully diverse trout fishery now is because there is a larger base of anglers who not only care about it but help fund the management.  I fish a lot of streams in north Georgia and western North Carolina on a regular basis and have never found them to be so crowded I was dissatisfied.  The most crowded streams I've ever fished?  The Madison and Gallatin in Montana and the Green in Utah.  But they're still some of my all time favorites.  If you want fewer anglers on the water, plan to see diminished fishing opportunities.  Then go to battle with PETA and the US Humane Society when they try to make fishing and hunting illegal.  I apologize for hijacking this thread but I felt Strangelove's post needed a response.


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## centerpin fan (Feb 11, 2014)

Killer Kyle said:


> Something about flu fishing, it consumes me.



It's contagious!


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## centerpin fan (Feb 11, 2014)

I started in high school, over thirty years ago.  Nowadays, I'm more of a centerpin fan, though.


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## Meriwether Mike (Feb 11, 2014)

Started with a fiberglass rod and basic reel from Howards Department Store when I was probably about 12 years old. Fished for bream and bass with poppers. I still remember catching a dachshund on my back cast at my uncles in Louisiana on Lake Iatt. I was fishing from the bank and the dog wandered into my back cast. The dog was running and howling and when I realized he would set the hook if he hit the line end I was running after him. My uncle heard the commotion and freed the dachshund. The day was saved and the dog never liked me any more!


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## Alphafish (Feb 11, 2014)

I have fished my whole life, and been fly fishing for right at a year now. It has ruined me.


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## Stumper (Feb 11, 2014)

I started flyfishing in highschool (1983), it's my favorite way to fish! Fly tying my own flies well...that's another story!


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 11, 2014)

centerpin fan said:


> It's contagious!



Ha! I typed that on my phone with my big, clumsy gorilla fingers after nearly a bottle of wine. Cut me some slack, Centerpin! Also, excellent retort. Quick on your feet!


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## jigman29 (Feb 11, 2014)

Jimmy Harris said:


> Interesting.  Do you remember what trout fishing in Georgia was like in the 60's & 70's?  Basically, it was following the stocking truck around to fish for 8" trout.  What do we have today?  Great tailwater fisheries, public and private trophy streams, year round streams, Delayed Harvest streams that are a blast to fish.  We have stream buffer laws to protect the resource because the angling public stood up to the "system" and demanded it.  We have riverkeepers on several streams to guard against abuse because enough people cared about the resource to demand it be protected.  The reason we have a wonderfully diverse trout fishery now is because there is a larger base of anglers who not only care about it but help fund the management.  I fish a lot of streams in north Georgia and western North Carolina on a regular basis and have never found them to be so crowded I was dissatisfied.  The most crowded streams I've ever fished?  The Madison and Gallatin in Montana and the Green in Utah.  But they're still some of my all time favorites.  If you want fewer anglers on the water, plan to see diminished fishing opportunities.  Then go to battle with PETA and the US Humane Society when they try to make fishing and hunting illegal.  I apologize for hijacking this thread but I felt Strangelove's post needed a response.



I can see both side of this as I have seen streams that as a kid you wouldn't see anyone on get stomped out.But,I have also seen streams that were silted up and for all right dead be given a new lease on life after a few of these "Yuppie" groups brought in the money to make them good again.I just keep on the small streams that most wont fool with and walk farther than most are willing just to catch a few trout.


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## jrmcc (Feb 11, 2014)

Dr. Strangelove said:


> I agree with loving the small streams like I grew up on, but I have special kind of hatred for "A River Runs Through It".  I'm glad it got you started flyfishing, but the streams of WNC went from empty to being full of yuppie idiots with $3000 worth of Orvis gear (good gear, just sayin') just after that movie came out.  Pretty soon you had to bring your own rock to stand on.



   X2  I couldn't have said it better myself


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## Win1917 (Feb 11, 2014)

Am I actually reading an anti-river runs through it thread in 2014? Lord have mercy it's pushing 25 yrs ago that movie came out! Turn the page already. 

I agree with Jimmy. If we as fly anglers want any clout whatsoever when it comes to stream preservation, access, etc. we need numbers. Fly fishing even after the movie spike was still a very small percentage of the angling public and is substantially smaller now. We don't need to divide ourselves up any further.


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## croaker (Feb 11, 2014)

1975.  

Someone gave my Dad (an incorrigible bait fisherman),
one of them Martin blister pack combos.  He passed it to me.
Been flogging the water ever since...


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## zedex (Feb 11, 2014)

I haven't fly fished-- yet.

 Been thinkin' about it and investigated the gear required. The part I'm having trouble with is whether or not it is any better/successful than other forms of fishing.

 During the fall season, salmon run up the rivers and here, only fly fishing is permitted. Before they take that stroll upstream, many are taken by spinners at the mouth of the rivers. Before that, many are taken in the depths by way of trolling and jigging.

 In the end, it is estimated that as many as 25 million run the major river nearest me. That's a lot of fish.

 The next consideration is bears. Almost everyone has a bear encounter while fishing the rivers. And rocks-- every inch of the rivers around here are rocky and lots of gear is lost to the rocks.

 We really don't have any sizable numbers of fish that can be pursued in deep water on the fly though the occasional angler uses a bucktail lure.

 So, by comparison, is fly fishing a worth while investment? Is it more productive? Are steelhead worth it? 

 I don't know any of these answers so I've held out. In a different area where the rivers and flats provide home to varied species, I'd probably already be in it knee deep. But, there are no flat waters here. Our waters are very turbulent and the only fish to be found are salmon, trout and the rarely caught dolly varden.

 Someone please tell me the attraction to fly fishing over other forms. I always investigate things very thoroughly before making any decisions.


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## jrmcc (Feb 11, 2014)

I wasn't really referring to the movie as much as the fishing small streams and the ever increasing number of fly fisherman here in western nc.


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## jrmcc (Feb 11, 2014)

zedex said:


> The next consideration is bears. Almost everyone has a bear encounter while fishing the rivers. And rocks-- every inch of the rivers around here are rocky and lots of gear is lost to the rocks.


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## zedex (Feb 11, 2014)

jrmcclure said:


>



 We have a lot of bears on this island-- they are protected almost island-wide.

 A few years ago, one tried climbing in my boat that, at the time, was in my yard and I was replacing the stereo in the boat. There were several in the yard that morning.

 Bear, deer and rabbits-- we got way more than we should have. They are protected- even if in your yard eating your veggies in the garden, nothing you can about it but run them off.


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## huntfish (Feb 12, 2014)

Jimmy Harris said:


> Interesting.  Do you remember what trout fishing in Georgia was like in the 60's & 70's?  Basically, it was following the stocking truck around to fish for 8" trout.  What do we have today?  Great tailwater fisheries, public and private trophy streams, year round streams, Delayed Harvest streams that are a blast to fish.  We have stream buffer laws to protect the resource because the angling public stood up to the "system" and demanded it.  We have riverkeepers on several streams to guard against abuse because enough people cared about the resource to demand it be protected.  The reason we have a wonderfully diverse trout fishery now is because there is a larger base of anglers who not only care about it but help fund the management.  I fish a lot of streams in north Georgia and western North Carolina on a regular basis and have never found them to be so crowded I was dissatisfied.  The most crowded streams I've ever fished?  The Madison and Gallatin in Montana and the Green in Utah.  But they're still some of my all time favorites.  If you want fewer anglers on the water, plan to see diminished fishing opportunities.  Then go to battle with PETA and the US Humane Society when they try to make fishing and hunting illegal.  I apologize for hijacking this thread but I felt Strangelove's post needed a response.



Well said Jimmy.

As the previous post complained about the "Orvis" crowd, one must remember that they are often the ones who not only open their wallets when donations are needed, but are slinging rocks, putting in structures.


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## centerpin fan (Feb 12, 2014)

Short answer to your questions:  if millions of salmon were swimming past my front door and fly fishing was the only legal method, I'd beat a path to my local fly shop.

And now ...




zedex said:


> So, by comparison, is fly fishing a worth while investment?



Yes.  Entry-level gear and instruction have never been better.




zedex said:


> Is it more productive?



In your situation, it's the only legal method.  So, it's more productive than just sittin' around the house. 

Having said that, I think other methods are more productive in most situations.  Fly fishing really shines in shallow water.  If the fish are deeper than about four feet, I wouldn't even consider fly fishing.




zedex said:


> Are steelhead worth it?



Absolutely.




zedex said:


> Someone please tell me the attraction to fly fishing over other forms.



John Merwin writes in his Trailside Guide:  Fly Fishing:

_"Fly fishing is an inefficient method for catching comparatively few fish.  Its appeal is found in that paradox, one whose occasional rewards come with persistent, skilled labor and are valued all the more greatly as a result." _

As for me, I really enjoy the casting.  It is beautiful to watch and relaxing to do.  I also really like playing a fish on a fly rod.  The long, limber rod adds to the fight, IMO.   Also ... when the fish hits, you are holding the line in your hand.  This translates into some jolting strikes.  I've had decent bluegill almost take the rod out of my hand.


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## centerpin fan (Feb 12, 2014)

Win1917 said:


> Fly fishing even after the movie spike was still a very small percentage of the angling public and is substantially smaller now.



Really?  You think it's smaller now?  I would have guessed the opposite.


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## Randy (Feb 12, 2014)

I don't agree that fly fishing is inefficient.  I catch as many if not more fish on fly than on regular gear.


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## NCHillbilly (Feb 12, 2014)

Randy said:


> I don't agree that fly fishing is inefficient.  I catch as many if not more fish on fly than on regular gear.



This. I can usually fish behind other people throwing bait and spinners on our local streams and catch more trout then they do, especially deep-fishing nymphs.


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## fishndoc (Feb 12, 2014)

NCHillbilly said:


> This. I can usually fish behind other people throwing bait and spinners on our local streams and catch more trout then they do, especially deep-fishing nymphs.



I'm finding this is true even more often since I started warm water fishing.
I think it's partly cause most flies of fur and feathers seem to look and move a lot more  "natural" than most of the bass lures I used to throw when spin fishing, and also because the fish have seen a couple of thousand spinner baits swim by, but mine is the first wooly bugger they've encountered.
And, sometimes when you have bass holding in shallow water in barely submerged thick brush, nothing can match a floating fly line and a surface popper.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 12, 2014)

Randy said:


> I don't agree that fly fishing is inefficient.  I catch as many if not more fish on fly than on regular gear.



Ditto. If you go hit a blue line, I can almost guarantee that with my fly rod in hand, I can out fish any bait fisherman by at least double. In the summer, for instance, when the water is skinny, I can throw on a 7x or 8x tippet and a #18 or #20 caddis, humpy, or any other popular dry, and ever so delicately drop in on the surface of the skinniest water and provoke a strike. But an average bait fisherman plopping a #12 hook, maybe a sinker,  with worm, or a spinner in the same pool will spook the fish and blow the entire pool.
I fished a blue line last summer sometime in June or July. Started at first light. That afternoon, I stopped after I had brought 80 rainbows and brookies combined to hand. That's not to include all the ones that came off the hook, the missed strikes, and the missed hooksets. I actually started to feel bad for sore-lipping so many fish in one creek, so when I hit #80, I just called it a day. The conditions were just right, and the fish just wanted to eat, but I just can't see someone having nearly that kind of success on those tiny fish with a spinning rod.


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## Win1917 (Feb 12, 2014)

> Really? You think it's smaller now? I would have guessed the opposite.



It's certainly possible locally where you're at things are thriving but on the whole things have slowed down compared to say 10 yrs ago to pick a round number. 

Off the top of my head I can think of a couple dozen fly shops that have closed their doors in recent years. I haven't kept up with the FFF stuff too much but I know of at least 2 councils that aren't even having conclaves anymore and hearing of weak attendance at others. I know a number of large ff shows have shut down completely or scaled way back in recent years. That's all anecdotal evidence of course but that stuff wasn't happening 10-15 yrs ago.


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## centerpin fan (Feb 12, 2014)

Win1917 said:


> It's certainly possible locally where you're at things are thriving but on the whole things have slowed down compared to say 10 yrs ago to pick a round number.
> 
> Off the top of my head I can think of a couple dozen fly shops that have closed their doors in recent years. I haven't kept up with the FFF stuff too much but I know of at least 2 councils that aren't even having conclaves anymore and hearing of weak attendance at others. I know a number of large ff shows have shut down completely or scaled way back in recent years. That's all anecdotal evidence of course but that stuff wasn't happening 10-15 yrs ago.



Interesting (and sad.)

I think our local fly shops are doing OK, but the annual fly shows seem to have died out.


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## zedex (Feb 12, 2014)

I appreciate the input, fellas.

 In my post regarding the legals of fly fishing and keeping mind wondering about investment, I did neglect to point out that we are allowed to keep only one fish per person per day.

 I get it about conservation, but when they talk about how many tens of millions of salmon coming in each year and you are allowed only one, time and money investments come to mind.

 Someone mentioned catching 80 fish in a day not including the 'got-offs" and missed strikes. I have no desire to catch as many or anywhere near it. Not even for the sake of simply catch and release. Three would be good but no more than that and the time to dedicate to fly fishing would be fewer than maybe a 4 hours per month, maybe 5 months of the year. Fresh water license is $56/yr.

 The primary goal for now is to learn about it, the proven techniques and what works when and where. I would think the first step is to learn "match the hatch"- learning what the fish are eating at a given time of year and what flies represent the hatch for various seasons/areas.


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## Randy (Feb 13, 2014)

I am seriously considering opening a fly fishing and kayak shop half way between Macon and Atlanta.  We have nothing down here.  Buck head is closest.


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## bluemarlin (Feb 13, 2014)

Randy said:


> I am seriously considering opening a fly fishing and kayak shop half way between Macon and Atlanta.  We have nothing down here.  Buck head is closest.



Man.. If you could figure out the recipe for success with that, you'd have it made. 
With internet pricing, I buy everything online.


I picked it up in the late 70's... Some memorable highlights have been out in Montana and a few billfish off the Keys, Virgin Islands, Mexico.

I've had some outstanding mornings between Johnson's Ferry and 41 too!


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## jigman29 (Feb 13, 2014)

I love it and would never give it up.I grew up bait fishing and could catch a pile of fish in any stream.The best parts of fly fishing to me are that I can fish way more water with a fly in these tiny streams such as the rocky riffles where a worm and sinker will hang up.But the best part is worm fishing I would let the fish swallow the worm making catch and release almost impossible but with a fly most can be released without much loss.


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## Browning Slayer (Feb 13, 2014)

Jimmy Harris said:


> Interesting.  Do you remember what trout fishing in Georgia was like in the 60's & 70's?  Basically, it was following the stocking truck around to fish for 8" trout.  What do we have today?  Great tailwater fisheries, public and private trophy streams, year round streams, Delayed Harvest streams that are a blast to fish.  We have stream buffer laws to protect the resource because the angling public stood up to the "system" and demanded it.  We have riverkeepers on several streams to guard against abuse because enough people cared about the resource to demand it be protected.  The reason we have a wonderfully diverse trout fishery now is because there is a larger base of anglers who not only care about it but help fund the management.  I fish a lot of streams in north Georgia and western North Carolina on a regular basis and have never found them to be so crowded I was dissatisfied.  The most crowded streams I've ever fished?  The Madison and Gallatin in Montana and the Green in Utah.  But they're still some of my all time favorites.  If you want fewer anglers on the water, plan to see diminished fishing opportunities.  Then go to battle with PETA and the US Humane Society when they try to make fishing and hunting illegal.  I apologize for hijacking this thread but I felt Strangelove's post needed a response.



Got to agree with Jimmy. 

To answer the original question, it was shortly after attending a beginner class given for "FREE" by Unicoi outfitters in Helen. I'm an avid trout fisherman and fish just about every weekend. I've participated in the shock studies on the Hooch, volunteered to rebuild streams and much more. The rivers we have today are better now than they were before. The fishing is better and the fish are larger. I don't really care to catch a ton of fish as I try for larger fish and only throw streamers. I've caught more fish over 18 inches in the last 4 months than I did in the previous 3 years. That is due to conservation and I also live in Utah now..

And 99 percent of my catches go back in the water..


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## fish hawk (Feb 14, 2014)

Killer Kyle said:


> Ditto. If you go hit a blue line,* I can almost guarantee that with my fly rod in hand, I can out fish any bait fisherman by at least double.* In the summer, for instance, when the water is skinny, I can throw on a 7x or 8x tippet and a #18 or #20 caddis, humpy, or any other popular dry, and ever so delicately drop in on the surface of the skinniest water and provoke a strike. But an average bait fisherman plopping a #12 hook, maybe a sinker,  with worm, or a spinner in the same pool will spook the fish and blow the entire pool.
> I fished a blue line last summer sometime in June or July. Started at first light. That afternoon, I stopped after I had brought 80 rainbows and brookies combined to hand. That's not to include all the ones that came off the hook, the missed strikes, and the missed hooksets. I actually started to feel bad for sore-lipping so many fish in one creek, so when I hit #80, I just called it a day. The conditions were just right, and the fish just wanted to eat, but I just can't see someone having nearly that kind of success on those tiny fish with a spinning rod.



You talking about just small streams or any trout water?Maybe that's what you mean about a blue line,I don't know.


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## T-N-T (Feb 14, 2014)

Last season.  And NO looking back!  Thanks to you guys on here who helped me build a starter fly box.  And recommend things I would never have figured out.  Already planning trips for this year!


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## T-N-T (Feb 14, 2014)

fish hawk said:


> You talking about just small streams or any trout water?Maybe that's what you mean about a blue line,I don't know.



You are correct.  Blue and small.  Those tiny fellas are great!  Kyle hooked me up last year with a real learning experience in these waters.


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## fish hawk (Feb 15, 2014)

TopherAndTick said:


> You are correct.  Blue and small.  Those tiny fellas are great!  Kyle hooked me up last year with a real learning experience in these waters.



Thanks,thats what I thought,walking a thin blue line.....I would think the skinny water philosophy would apply to all fish though.Anyone that has been fishing for a while knows you have to be stealthy when fishing small, shallow waters.I would imagine with really light line,small BB and a small hook with a cricket on the end and a slingshot delivery it could be just as effective in the right hands.


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## T-N-T (Feb 17, 2014)

Until you get busted for live bait on an artificial only stream.


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## fish hawk (Feb 17, 2014)

TopherAndTick said:


> Until you get busted for live bait on an artificial only stream.




Hey it's not my fault the cricket decided to jump in the water,just so happened he had a hook in his collar too.


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## injun joe (Feb 17, 2014)

I was lucky that my Granddad put a fly rod in my hand in 1963 at age 5. But he was strictly warm water, bass and bream. I didn't really get into trout until the early '70's. But we didn't chase the stock trucks, we fished underneath the worst log jams we could find on the 'Hooche. There was a dedicated group of BIG trout fishermen around that time that wouldn't use an 8" trout for bait. They broke off a lot of fish but also landed some monsters.


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## BamaRN (Feb 19, 2014)

A fella goes by the handle Stumper taught me to cast in the hunting and fishing dept of the sports authority in the 90's. think my first real stream was a 5 mile hump through the snow at coopers creek with the same fella been hooked ever since. Have tied a few wooly buggers before.  have not been able to do either in quite some time. fixin to rectify that situation real soon.


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## Ruger#3 (Feb 19, 2014)

Only been fly fishing about a year. Had an occasion to watch Randy work a stream, got me interested. Caught a few shoalies  my first summer, I"m hooked now.


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## fredw (Feb 19, 2014)

When I turned 60, I decided to learn two new hobbies....turkey hunting and fly fishing.  I've been blessed to see some beautiful country since.....chasing fish with the fly rod in Georgia, Tenn., NC, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Michigan.


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## metau (Mar 10, 2014)

I became a fishing fanatic at age 5, and was fly fishing at 9. We visited my uncle while on a family road trip, and he had his own well-stocked pond on his property. He let me try out his fly rod, laughing at me while I failed casting, and figured I could use my own fly rod for when we got back home. One trip to Kmart for a blue light special, and I had my first fly rod. Not knowing how, I tied my own flies with feathers I found on the ground and used my hooks for catfish. They were the darn ugliest things you've ever seen, but the bass in the canals sure did love them.


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