# Some Beginner Fly Fishing Questions



## Layne Kubota (Aug 1, 2014)

Hi, I am new to the forum, been lurking for a while now.

I have a couple of fly fishing questions, regarding streams and rivers. I have been fly fishing on float tubes and lakes for abut two years now and this year I've been trying to get into river and stream fly fishing.

In regular bait and spinner fishing, you fish upstream and I've heard that you fish downstream in fly fishing? How does this work? Do you cast or just swing the line and keep mending it out until you've reached the end of your drift?


Thanks


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## koltraynor (Jun 16, 2014)

It's the same, you fish upstream. With streamers you cast downstream and retrieve upstream if that makes sense.


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## Layne Kubota (Aug 1, 2014)

Okay, thanks. And if I am fishing dries, I don't really need to worry about mending it, since its on the top so it would go same speed as top current?


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## koltraynor (Jun 16, 2014)

You still need to mend it a little. Sometimes your line will pull the fly faster than the current.


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## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

In the immortal words of Hank Patterson, you gotta mend it! And mend it! And mend it! And once you've mended it, you gotta mend it again!






In all seriousness, something I've learned of late (and I'm by no means an expert fly fisherman) is that you have to pay so much attention to drift. Any unnatural movement at all is gonna turn a fish away.

Sometimes the line and fly will move at the same speed, others not so much. Just do your best to minimize any excess drift on the fly by throwing upstream mends in you have too, and you should be good.


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## Layne Kubota (Aug 1, 2014)

Hank Patterson is a riot!

I shouldn't need to cast real far, should I? I've just been getting 10 to 30 feet out and letting it drifting back down, mending as needed. 

Do trout like the rocky areas of a stream? I fished a stream that the bottom was mostly dirt and slow water and I didn't get a strike, didn't even see any I spooked. Maybe I should move up stream to the rockier areas?? -Ov-


Thanks for all the help


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## madonafly (Dec 27, 2007)

I always cast first off right in front of me maybe 5 feet. Unless I am targeting a school, that I can see. I start off close then work out farther each time trying to cover the whole river without spooking fish along the way.
So many times I have made a beautiful cast to a far side to see a bunch of fish scatter right next to me.
I prefer the Provo River Bounce for my nymphing/streamers, and a Dry dropper when top water action. Longer rods can be nice when you fish a stretch that has multi currents. Just mend the best you can without disturbing the dry. Gets tough when that dry is a #24 and smaller..


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

Just some random thoughts. Sometimes I wish I had the coin to go with a pro and learn their tricks- or send my sons so they don't learn my bad habits.

I rarely throw dries downstream. I like to cover the lines of a river working up stream or cross stream. There are lines in a river that are easily read- where the water meets as it is moving at different speeds. Throw the lines and you'll catch fish. Also right in the middle of the non-white current will produce as well. As was said before, cover the area close then cover the area farther, then move upstream.

Mending is great to get a long float, which may be more necessary on heavily fished rivers/streams. But most of the time if you throw the fly where it needs to be then you will have a hit before you can mend it. 

More important than mending is pulling in the slack of the tippet- the curls close to the fly. Pull the line straight, just don't pull the fly much.

I like to fish a renegade on a dry drift and then sink it on a wet retrieve in the current at the end of the dry drift. It really is interesting to see how much action you can get on a wet retrieve of the right pattern fly. 

No one should ever be so cool they refuse to roll-cast. So easy to learn, so easy to use, so easy to place the fly- plus it helps keep you out of the willows.

In between helping a 13yo first-day-fly-fisherman and his 15 yo 2nd year fly fisherman brother, I caught 35 in 3.5 hours yesterday. Missed lots of hits. They each caught a bunch, too. I don't know it all yet (or even 25% of the knowledge), but it is a fun journey to learn. I recommend you see if Sawsman will adopt you- that guy knows his stuff.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Packout said:


> I recommend you see if Sawsman will adopt you- that guy knows his stuff.


Not hardly, I'm still learning!

All the advice mentioned above is good. Each river is different, so for me there are no hard set rules. _Sometimes_ casting a streamer upstream and pulling it downstream is the better choice.

My best advice is to keep that fly in the water and practice. Keep the slack out of the line and dont overlook the skinny water.

.


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## madonafly (Dec 27, 2007)

Also maybe Check out videos of Kelly Galloup. He makes streamer fishing look easy.


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## opus (Jul 30, 2014)

spencerD said:


> In the immortal words of Hank Patterson, you gotta mend it! And mend it! And mend it! And once you've mended it, you gotta mend it again!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


spencerD........ you are my new favorite human.
thanks for the hank patterson link, love it

looking online right now for a "and mend it" hat


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## Layne Kubota (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks for all the tips, I seen improved fishing on Huntington creek this morning, using the things you guys told me about. Caught a few decent browns, even three with in 5 or 6 casts.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

On the issue of fishing upstream or down, maybe I'm just not a purist, but I fish downstream all the time. Especially in crowded rivers like the LoPro, where you often need to get away from other anglers. I seem to catch the same numbers going upstream or down. Strategically, I step back away from a hole and plan in advance how I'll attack it. Works for me.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Welcome to the forum!


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