From jigs to flies in a weekend

[walking_angler]

Last weekend I had a great time catching sunfish with my son. All of our fish were brought in using Berkley Powerbait Maggots and a small #8 hook. I used a small split shot to get my bait out into the schools. I tried to alternate this setup with a BPS pan fish tube jig, but I was not getting anything more than nibbles on the tentacles of the plastic body.

A day or so later, I was at BPS and a friendly salesperson introduced me to 'minnow head' jigs. He told me that they would fit the BPS pan fish jigs bodies in a better way.

On my way out, I went through the fly fishing section ... this is where the magic begins.

The older gentleman working there asked me where I was fishing, for what, and I told him.

He agreed with the first salesperson's choice on minnow head jigs, but he then showed me some options for flies.

“What?” I said, “Flies for pan fish?”

I told him I didn't want to start fly fishing, I told him that I only had an inexpensive spinning combo.

“That's OK, take a look at this” was his reply.

At this point I he showed me two or three choices for tiny flies. One of them looked like the Powerbait Maggot rig I had been using, and the others looked interesting(red and white with a white fluf, and red and gold with a green bead). At 0.99 cents each, how could I refuse? I left the maggot one, and brought home 3 flies. He also told me to buy a small spool of fluorocarbon to help with my presentation.

I get home, and I use the only knot I know, a trilene knot, and attach my small (tiny )red and white fly to my 6 pound mono line. I decided against using the fluorocarbon because I don't know how to tie fluorocarbon to mono.

Then I forgot about it, the work week came and went.

This morning however, was glorious. Sunfish after sunfish after sunfish. My technique consisted of tapping the water where I could see the schools with my fly and eventually a strike would occur. The other people fishing came over to check tackle, and were surprised to see that a piece of fluff (pardon my ignorant observation) was landing fish after fish. My son and I were giddy! It was unreal. I literally walked up, put my fly in the water and the sunfish were hitting it and ignoring the other peoples bait.

The morning came to a close when as I was using a pair of needle-nose pliers, I pulled my knot free of the fly. I have never had so much fun fishing.

 

Here come the questions:

 

Does/has anyone else used a fly on a spinning combo before with much luck?

How hard is real fly fishing?

Is a BPS fly combo worth it (please don't answer 'you get what you pay for') ?

I have looked for and read Internet articles about fly fishing for pan fish, bass and pike today. How possible is this?

Do people use fly combos exclusively for trout?

Is shore fishing for pike, bass and pan fish with a fly setup nonsensical?

[huntervasili]

Firstly Fly fishing is not particularily difficult... It, like everything else that involves skill takes patience and practice. The BPS Combo's arent a great rod but they will get the job done, I would suggest either getting one of the Cabelas combo's if your looking for something similar or a fairly inexpensive martin combo. I Think Scientific anglers also has a combo out and I dont think they are too bad either. The difference is if you get a low-end flyrod it is more difficult to learn as it is harder to load and cast with a really slow, heavy rod. Additionally you can fly fish for almost any species of fish. Pike, Bass, Panfish, Trout, Gar Pike, whatever you may want, not just trout. If you are looking for a combo for basically all types of fish from panfish to smaller pike and bass, you are looking at about a 6 weight rod. Hopefully this helps you out some, and if you have any more questions I will try to help you out.

 

Bill

[Dara]

As said. Fly fishing isn't really all that difficult.There are a few things you must know and understand. In fly fishing you are casting the line rather than the lure at the end of the line.

I took a night school course a few years ago at our local comunity college on the basics of fly fishing.

Best $80.00 I ever spent. It covered equipment, technique, insect species, and 2 field trips for practical experience. It is a whole new outlook on fishing, and doesn't have to be expensive (unless you get addicted).

Look around for inexpensive instruction. And yes, you can fly fish for any species

[dodger1414]

you should definately try it. i recieved a fly rod as a christmas gift last year ad was able to learn how to use the rod and watnot all summer. proably one of the funnest fishing times i have had in my life have been fly fishing.

[Baldy]

Fly fishing is not hard at all however I would recommend a guru who can show you the ropes so to speak. The hardest part is fighting off the addiction of accumulating a closet full of rods, a shelf full of reels, a desk full of fly tying material and tools and a room full of waders, vest, boots, fly boxes etc. etc. etc.

Casting is really the hardest part (next to figuring out what hatch is in progress) but as Dara said below you are casting the line rather than the fly. This is a hard concept to understand especially when you are trying to land your fly in the seam, just have to remember how long your leader is. There are a number of guides or tutors who can help for a fee but the best bet is if you have a friend who can help you get started as most fly fishers are more than willing to help a convert.

If you do have an interest and are thinking of getting started I would suggest getting a 5 weight rod, reel and line as this will be good for trout, bass, panfish, small pike etc. Not good for steelhead or salmon as you would need a 7 or 8 wt. for this. If you find that you enjoy it you may want to get a 3 or 4 wt. for trout and panfish. Then you need a 6 wt. for bass and so on and so on........

I have left the spinning gear and the float rod in the closet for the last few years and only use fly rods to fish mostly browns, rainbows and smallmouth however we do have incidental catches of walleye, pike, largemouth etc.

Give it a try, you already have experienced the joy of using flies and with a fly outfit and some knowledge of what the fish are feeding on you will have a blast.