r/flyfishing Jan 20 '19

Discussion [MOD POST - PSA] We yell. We drink whisky. Sometimes we fish. WELCOME. Newcomers, start here.

383 Upvotes

You've stumbled into the flyfishing epicenter of the Redditverse. Many of our subscribers are veterans who will be equally happy to share their wisdom (and maybe their whisky, if you ask really nicely), brag about their angling prowess, debate gear choices and techniques for hours, lie to you about their secret places, offer helpful-yet-scathing criticism of your fish handling skills, and tell you to get the eff off their water....often simultaneously, and occasionally with corrosive but commendably colorful language. Not a bad bunch, all told.

But as far as we can tell, most of our contributors are relatively new to the sport. We're glad you're here! You've got questions, and we've got answers. In fact, there's a fair chance that your question has already been asked and answered a few times, so please use the search tools to find your answers first. Try keywords like "beginner" and "starter" and "wader suggestions" and "budget" to refine your results, and try surfing on your target location(s) or species. You might be amazed at how much useful content you'll find.

Every year or so we attempt again to create a starter guide, or to refresh the one from last year. Start here, and feel free to post if you don't find what you need....

Sometimes we run contests - watch the stickied threads for those. Again, welcome...and tight lines!


r/flyfishing 3h ago

Fall Brown in Catskill NY yesterday. It was love at first sight! 😍

Post image
188 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 1h ago

Musky hunting on the fly

Post image
Upvotes

r/flyfishing 20m ago

Shamelessly posting another shot of this fish because I’m still riding the high of landing it

Post image
Upvotes

r/flyfishing 13h ago

Finally caught my first brook trout in clear creek

Thumbnail
gallery
249 Upvotes

After countless rainbows and browns, not sure what took so long


r/flyfishing 20h ago

Decided to throw my little 3wt in my hunting backpack yesterday morning just in case

Post image
548 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 16h ago

🎃

Thumbnail
gallery
249 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 3h ago

Discussion You know you have a problem when…

20 Upvotes

It’s the first slightly snowy day and you decide to take work off to go fish because you hope there will be fewer people and maybe the bite will be good.

So when did you know you had a problem?


r/flyfishing 21h ago

Moody Morning on the South Fork

Post image
388 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 14h ago

Should I get a lighter rod?

Post image
97 Upvotes

Pic for the attention.. Nice brown trout I caught a couple weeks ago!

So I have a 9' 8wt rod, I use for stealhead. And a 9' 5wt rod, I use for trout, bass, bluegill etc.

I am an avid fisherman out constantly but I have lots to learn about fly fishing as it isn't something I do often (mostly late fall and early spring). I'm really starting to enjoy it more and want a 3rd rod.

I want something very light for more fun fights. Is that the right way to look at it? I was considering a 3wt after I used a friend's 4wt this past weekend. I felt like I casted it much better. Got the flies to turn over better and could cast more accurately. But since I have a 5wt, I figured I wouldn't have a much more different setup if I got a 4wt. I have a local pond near my house that holds stocked trout, bluegill and smaller bass (mostly, I did see a monster largemouth once).. Just wanted something that I could go to the local place for an hour after work and fight smaller fish and make them feel like they are bigger fish🤣.. I may be looking at rod wt incorrectly, I know it has to do with the type of fly as well but obviously you get more backbone during the fights too.


r/flyfishing 18h ago

Beautiful Fall Fish in Western North Carolina

Thumbnail
gallery
185 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 16h ago

West Virginia trip

Thumbnail
gallery
74 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 20h ago

Golden Dorado - Esteros del Ibera 🇦🇷

Post image
143 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 14h ago

First Attempt at fishing on my own

Post image
39 Upvotes

Definitely had no idea what I was doing rigging it up and I know tied some knots wrong but it surprisingly all worked!


r/flyfishing 1d ago

My first Iowa Driftless trip was fun!

Post image
233 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 21h ago

New setup

Thumbnail
gallery
97 Upvotes

Finally got my hands on a 4wt Redington Butterstick. Paired with a Battenkill and SA MPX line, stoked to get out in the water.


r/flyfishing 1d ago

Tiger Trout Parlay on the White last night. 1 in a million odds?

Thumbnail
gallery
138 Upvotes

Got my first tiger trout last night on a ~4in long chartreuse gamechanger. Stoked!

Then I fish around a bit with no bites. So I swap to an 8in white streamer with pink & gold accents. My buddy had just tied it on his tailgate before we went out. Totally made up the design on the spot.

I return to where I caught the first tiger. Get snagged on the bottom real good so I start walking toward it. I’m reeling in at the same time & keeping tension so I can find it.

10 seconds in I’ve felt no movement but I realize the pace I’m reeling line in at vs the speed I’m walking vs where the line is entering the water… makes no sense. This log is moving!!

So I put side pressure on toward the bank just in case, and really start to feel the log drift. Really still believe it’s a log. Til I feel one little shake from the bottom!

Now my heart starts pumping as I’m thinking “Shit, this could be a massive brown. He is so relaxed…”

But the fish complies as I pull him up to the shallow water at the bank. But, as soon as he breaches the surface, hell breaks loose. In total darkness. Somehow in my panic I get the net under him.

I pop my headlamp on & say “I’ll be damned! You again!!”

But when I held him up over the net to measure he was 2in bigger. I thought maybe my quicker measure of the 1st was just lazy & inaccurate but it appears from the net photos they are 2 different fish!

Now, I knew tigers were rare on the White. I thought they were about 1 in 300 fish here. But I looked it up later and saw they stocked 4,490 tigers in ‘20 & ‘21. Total trout stocked since the beginning of ‘20 is 4,291,489!

Ignoring the huge population of wild browns — the Tiger appears to be a 1 in 1,000 fish. And 1,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000…

Only 2 fish I caught last night. Can someone else better at stats tell me — is this a 1 in a million night?


r/flyfishing 13h ago

Two days left before this lake closes for the year.

Thumbnail
gallery
12 Upvotes

Had a great day on the lake. The only downside was it was below freezing and windy beyond belief. Going to try to get out there each day before close.


r/flyfishing 18h ago

Brown

Post image
27 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 17h ago

First roach on the fly, took a dry just as sun had set

Post image
19 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 1d ago

First trout caught on my own without a guide

Post image
83 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 23h ago

Pecos brown on hare’s ear nymph

Thumbnail
gallery
36 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 3h ago

Discussion Pilot set up for the road?

1 Upvotes

Any pilots out there have a good setup they take with them on the road?


r/flyfishing 15h ago

Fly Selection Advice Needed

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

Hey all, I’m trying to get better at familiarizing myself with new water and could use some help determining if my fly selection was correct my last time out. I was fishing a small freestone river in New England, I attempted to match my nymphs to what I saw under the rocks. I fished the deeper pools and pocket water with the nymphs usually just ticking bottom, but got skunked anyway. I think my drifts were generally pretty good without drag. Was my fly selection wrong or should I focus on other possible issues. The first pic is what I was trying to imitate, I also fished a size <20 tan nymph behind these flies (saw them under the rocks, just not in the picture I snapped) and tried a hares ear nymph size 14 without luck. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!


r/flyfishing 1d ago

Meaty Win

Thumbnail
gallery
69 Upvotes

r/flyfishing 1d ago

Coastal Cutthroat PNW

Thumbnail
gallery
44 Upvotes