Fly Fishing Lessons for Beginners

I was searching the Internet this morning for things that might be helpful to a beginning fly fisher. I enjoy helping others get started in our sport. I came across a video series of "Fly Fishing Lessons." It is very well done.

Click on the link and you'll be taken to the first one. Other links should pop up on the page to allow you to work your way through the series.

z~

Mid-week Carping

Look who's the star of the show - again. I had no days off last week so when an opportunity presented itself to get away from the office for the second part of the day Tuesday, I jumped. When I arrived at the carp ponds my friend Josh was there fishing for bluegills. He had a bag full. After exchanging greetings we talked fishing for a bit. While talking the calm water in front of us starting sprouting bubbles in several spots. I cast for about a half hour and finally got a take. I handed the rod off to Josh and he executed the landing honors flawlessly.


The fish was a five pounder.

I think Josh loves carp! It sounds to me like there may be a fly rod in his future.

He had reached the end of his stay and needed to head home. I abandoned the spot when another fisherman joined me - after we chatted for a bit about warmwater fishing opportunities. He indicated that he had a fly rod and was quite inquisitive at my use of this method for carp. Anyway, I headed over to the larger lake. After a while I got into some action.

Another five pounder...

A six and a half...

And a seven and a half.

One more fish was hooked but the hook popped out, making me think that I may have foul hooked him.

It was a relaxing few hours - a nice "brain broom" for a busy number of days. I left well before sundown and was home in time to return a couple of phone calls.

z~

Friday Carping

Spent 2/3rds of today carping. No spectacular results. Six fish from 4.5 to 6.5 lbs. Sunny and warm conditions. Not much time to post. Photos below.

z~

Flyfishing Podcasts

A good way to fish when you can't go fishing is to listen to fishing podcasts on an iPod or other MP3 player. These can be downloaded and heard free using iTunes or other software that manages MP3 files - or they can be listened to on a computer. I carry the little machine (mine is the 30 gig black) when I walk in the mornings. Two of my favorite fishing podcasts are The Global Flyfisher Podcast and Flyfish Radio. If you have an iPod or an MP3 player, give these a listen. If you like flyfishing, you won't be disappointed.

I recently downloaded very informative interview with Steve Densley of Cortland Line Company from the Flyfish Radio site. I've been flyfishing for over 40 years and I still learned from this session - especially about some of the newest lines. If you're beyond the beginner level this one is worth a listen.

z~

The CAG

The Carp Angler's Group. This is the source of at least some of my inspiration for chasing carp. Though the majority of these guys use spinning and baitcast gear, and a lot of them are deep into "Euro" techniques (a bit too much gear and funny sounding English for me) they do have a lot to offer in learning about the personal lives and habits of big carp. I joined about a year ago. I enjoy their forum (especially the flyrod carping one). Just another way to increase the enjoyment of chasing these fish. The patch resides on my favorite fishing shirt.

http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/

Though still rather sparsely populated, the flyrodding forum has some great guys who offer a lot of help. It's worth a look if you're considering chasing these fish.

CAG Flyrod Carping

z~

A New Carper Gets His Start

I had a fair day carping today. The weather was cloudy for the first half of the day. While fishing I met Josh, a young fisherman who was after bluegills. After we exchanged greetings I went on around the lake. Awhile later I hooked and landed a nice ten pounder. Josh was directly across the lake from me. I hollered and asked if he would like to see the fish and learn how to catch one like that himself. He joined me a few minutes later. I handed Josh my digital camera and he snapped a shot of me holding the fish. After releasing it I explained how I was fishing and cast out again. As luck would have it, a fish took almost immediately. I handed the rod to Josh and he fought the fish, a nice five and a half pounder, which he landed handily. The picture is below. (I think the fish wasn't the only one that got hooked.) After releasing the fish I helped Josh rig his spinning rod. He then went back to his spot across the lake and started fishing. Soon I heard him yell. He had hooked a nice carp and was fighting it. I took a long shot with the camera but the range didn't allow me to get much detail. Then the fish broke his line. He continued to fish and hooked several more, including a small one that he landed. Here's Josh with the first fish he landed - a five and a half pounder.

And me with the ten pounder.


And the shot of Josh just before the fish broke his line.

Some of the other fish I caught are below. The total was 12 including a 10, a 7.5, a 5.5, two 4.0s and various juveniles less than two pounds.

A great day on the water.

z~