Fly fishing

[Innaaa]

How can i get started? Do i need a flyfishing guide or to start by myself?
What rod & reel & line is good for a beginner to learn?
Any input would help. Thanks.

 

[hoop235]

Innaaa,

IMO its best to sign up with a class to help speed up the learning curve. You can do it by yourself but it will be a lot harder and take a lot longer to learn. If you take a class, you can learn what size rods and line weights you need for the type of fishing that you want to do and they will show you the basics of casting which helps really helps the learning curve.
Here are a couple of places you might start looking at:
http://littleriveroutfitters.com/pages/schools/beginnerflyfishing.htm
https://www.hiwassee-angler.com/
Keep in mind that no one rod will do everything great, you need to narrow down the type of fishing you want to do and buy a rod based on that.
I started with a free lesson with Hiwassee Anglers, they usually have two or three free teaching days during the spring.
Good luck, its a fun way to fish and there's nothing more fun than when the Mayflies hatch on the Chick in June/July.

 

[Randy H]

Definitely take a lesson. As Hoop235 said it will make it much more enjoyable. It’s my favorite way to fish still learning every time I go out.

 

[JEEPnFISH]

I had one years ago. I took some advice and bought a 5/6 weight rod, 9 or 10 feet. I spooled with level 5 wt flyline. I caught bass on it, but let me tell you, poppers at dusk are killer for bream. So much fun!

 

[Innaaa]

hoop235 Thank you very much for the advice. I've read articles about fly fishing these days. It seems to be difficult to learn it myself, so i plan to take some lessons. Any recommendations for rod? I used to fish for bass and when it comes to fly fishing, I would probably fish for trout. Someone just said that it's more important to choose the right line instead of reels when fly fishing.

 

[rstewart]

I always carry a flyrod in my boat during the summer. When I can't find the bass it's time to break out the flyrod and throw some popping bug to catch bream. Man what fun.
There is an old man in the Copper Basin area who only uses a flyrod. He is very successful at catching bass. Primarily fishes Lake Hiwassee and Appalachia Lake, both lakes which I have found to be very difficult to catch fish on.

 

[hoop235]

Innaaa,

I would look at a 4 or 5wt rod in the 8'-8 1/2' long range. This would allow you to catch bass but still be able to trout and bream fish if you choose. (There are lots of combos available thru local tackle stores) Yes the line is much more inportant the the reel. In fly fishing the reel doesn't do much of anything except hold the line. Unfortunately fly lines are like bass lines, there's a lot of choices that can get your head spinning. I use a Weight Forward (WT) fly line because it helps in casting in tight places.
Like bass fishing, you have to have two rods. LOL!! One of my rods is a 3wt that I use to catch Brook, small Rainbow and Bream and the other is a 5wt for bass and big river trout. (Think Hiwassee, Clinch, etc.) Watch out it can get addicting and the next thing you know you'll be looking at bamboo.

rstewart,
There's nothing like fishing Appalachia in May when the bream are spawning. Some of those big bluegills will give you all you want on a fly rod. I had a smallmouth take a popping bug that took me about 10min to get to the boat on a 3wt rod up there bream fishing one time. IMO, Appalachia is one of the most beautiful lakes in our area and talk about not fishing in a crowd! LOL!!

 

[swamp]

s one of the most beautiful lakes in our area and talk about not fishing in a crowd!
Knock it off hoop.

 

[Troutbum]

Hey Innaaa,

Good fly shop in Chattanooga on Manufacturer's Road - Blue Ridge Fly Shop. Good guys in there and they will help get you started.

As noted earlier, a solid all-around rod is a 5 or 6 weight. You can cover panfish, trout, bass, etc. with that set-up. A 4 weight is fine if you plan to mainly target trout and panfish but is a little light for bass. A floating weight-forward fly line will cover most fishing scenarios when you are just getting started. An inexpensive click/pawl reel will work fine to start. No real need for an expensive disc drag reel right off the bat unless you plan to go after stripers or fish the salt.

My advice - don't break the bank on your first fly fishing set-up. Buy the best that you can afford but save some of your money for casting lessons. Does not matter if you have a $500 rod if you can't cast worth a darn. I would rather have a $50 dollar rod and be a good caster. I used a cheap combo kit for the first couple of years I fly fished and it worked just fine during that learning period. I upgraded as I went along.

Best of luck. I first picked up a fly rod about twenty years ago and my spinning/baitcasting gear has not seen the light of day since.

 

[hoop235]

swamp - 3/23/2018 11:34 PM

one of the most beautiful lakes in our area and talk about not fishing in a crowd!
Knock it off hoop.

Yeah I guess I need to keep quite on that. Lol!!
But it's kind of like Calderwood, you've got to really want to be there to get there. (Pulling an 18' bassboat thru 300+ turns with bullet bikes flying by is not much fun) emoEek

 

[swamp]

Im just poking fun at you hoop.
Your right about acess to those lakes,
I agree with everything you said.

 

[cbastnagel]

Talk to Mark or Bill who guide on Hiwassee River out of Reliance Fly and Tackle. A 3-4 hour guide trip is a great way to learn casting and to catch fish. It will show you what is possible. We had a great day and caught over 90 trout, yep 90, in 4 hrs between myself and my 2 sons(13 and 10). We also learned what we had been doing wrong with our casting and more importantly on how to set the hook. It'll cost a bit but it was worth it.

Think of it as a jump start...

 

[Innaaa]

Thanks for the info, cbastnagel. Will try it when everything is ready. emoToast

 

[Noles Fan]

Blue Ridge Fly shop off manufacturers hwy at North Shores does free lessons think it is the first Saturday of every month just call them and ask also free fly tying every Tuesday

 

[catjuggin]

Hope you can get on some water soon. Tellico is great for newbs but is real high lately.
Try out your local pond for bluegill bream bass with popping bugs or wet flies like “bream killer” or even a wooly bugger.

 

[Kman]

Can anyone recommend some trout steams in TN for someone starting out?

 

[catjuggin]

Kman - 3/5/2019 4:17 PM

Can anyone recommend some trout steams in TN for someone starting out?

Tellico
Citico
Little river in Townsend
Hiawassee if the water is off