Newbie Fly Fishing LML?

[WesHarm]

Hey guys!

Just got my first ever fly fishing setup for Xmas, and am now just itching to try it out!! My Dilema? I don't know where to start?
The set up i got came with a floating line, and a few different flies (15 or so) and i'm practicing casting at the park near my house at the moment!!

Anyone know some okay places to attempt my first adventure as a fly fisher around the LML? I figured I'd head to Rice Lake but i heard you basically have to have sinking line there to do anything mildly productive?

Suggestions, links, etc. all very much appreciated to get me started!

Thanks,
Wes

[MB_Boy]

Hey Wes,

I was in your boat a couple of years ago.....and I knew zippo aside from wanting to get into flyfishing. :wink:

I can tell you a good idea.....as there is SOOOOO much stuff to know would be check at Michael and Young or Pacific Anglers for some of their "intro to fly fishing courses". I still look at my stuff in confusion as to what do I use when fishing in a river or lake.......bucktailing out on the chuck I am fine but this freshwater stuff is weird....hahaha.

[hotload]

Direct your attention how to fish underwater at various depths. Even with floating line many people use it to fish underneath,remember flyfishing with floating line for a hatch can be a very limited time offer. Learn to fish beneath, on top is the easy part. 90% of everything a fish eats is underwater. Try to become an accomplished nympher and chironimider and the world of flyfishing will become much easier. Master casting in all sorts of situations from obstacles, overhangs, and wind. Learn to haul and double haul, the internet is your friend.........................

[Funeral Of Hearts]

Few more months and you will want to get yourself some fry patterns and hit up a salmon bearing stream. As soon as the salom fry start emerging there's Lots of opportunities for whitefish, rainbows and cutthroat.

[mrdoog]

Don't fret about only having a floating line, the most important thing is that you get out there and start flailing the waters.
Also don't worry about not be able to cast long distances at first, I've had trout hit my fly while it's floating right beside my pontoon boat.
Get that first fish on your fly rod and you'll wonder why you didn't try fly fishing sooner.

[ajr5406]

A floating line will cover 80% of your fishing needs anyway, so no probs there. What weight of rod did you get? 4-6 weight rods are great for trout, and 6-8 weight rods are great for salmon and steelhead. A 6 weight is a good all round rod that will cover trout and smaller salmon (under 10 lbs), but if your like me it will become an obsession and you will end up with many rods and reels for every occasion...

Most streams in the LML have trout. We are coming into some really fun cutthroat trout opportunities in late winter, especially as the salmon fry start to come out. It will be best in early spring. Resident rainbows are available too. Most of these streams are small and quite sensitive to fishing pressure. Dont expect to find much info online as locals are pretty cagey about sharing info. Do some exploring on your own and you will find fish.

If your just starting out, go for a local lake (like Rice) that is stocked with rainbows. Check the gofisbc.com site, as it has all the stocking reports. This will be an easy fishery for learning and its great fun too. The fish are small, but on light tackle, are still great fun. As far as flies, a few days after they stock the lake (usually in Spring and then in Fall) dry flies work well (these fish are raised in the hatchery on feed pellets that float - so dry flies are a good option), then leech patterns, wooly buggers and basic nymphs work great.

If your interested in salmon, this year (every odd year) is a pink salmon year. Pinks will come in late summer/early fall in huge numbers. I love fishing off the beach for them near river mouths, but you can also head up to Squamish and wait for the runs. A 6 weight is perfect for pinks. If you only have a floating line, that will work, but a sink tip is best. If you cheap (like me), go to a fly shop and get a length (10 foot) of T material (sinking line), such as T 11 or T14 and make your own sink tip. Get the shop to make a loop on each end of the T material and do a loop to loop connection for your fly line/ sink tip, and then just tie on a couple of feet of tippet (8 - 10lb) to your sink tip, and your good to go.

Also, check out the Orvis flyfishing podcast - its an amazing resource for learning, and the "how to fly fish" site that Orvis has - both will equip you with a stack of great info on techniques etc.

Fly fishing really is awesome, and in BC we are blessed to have such an amazing variety of fishing opportunities. Also check out fishingwithrod.com, its a local (Vancouver) site with lots of great info on locations and techniques etc. Fly fishing certainly takes some patience... Dont expect to be successful for some time, and just enjoy being out in nature and learning all you can. With time and experience, you will be successful.... Ive been fly fishing for years, but am just getting into hunting, so need to take my own advice here with respect to hunting!

All the best!

[ajr5406]

Also, despite what people say, donnt even bother chasing steelhead (yet). Its an advanced fishery and quite challenging. For a new angler its probably a waste of time. Ive been fly fishing for many years and have been spey fishing for steelhead for two years and still completely suck at it, even though im doing the "right things". Stocked trout are stupid (at least for a couple of weeks after stocking) and salmon can be pretty easy too (with some obvious exceptions). You will have a blast on pinks this year though!

[ajr5406]

Forgot to add - casting practice! Do it as much as you can and learn to shoot line well, including into the wind. A lesson or two would certainly help.

I think the biggest challenge to new fly fishers is casting. Seeing people at a lake or river who can only get their fly 15 feet away from where they are standing, is going to be endlessly frustrating. Most tout are caught within 30 feet in a river, but with salmon (and def steelhead), casting at least 50 feet is very important.

Practice with a 9 foot tapered leader (same as you would for actually fishing) and a piece of yarn as a fly. Learn to feel the rod "load" and let the rod do the work. Very little "power" goes a long way. Keep the rod tip travelling in a straight line and go from there...

Good luck!

[henderson]

All great advice here so far. Practice, practice, practice. I learnt on Mill lake here in Abby
Not the best quality lake but it got me excited. Not much for shore fishing so access to any type of boat is an asset. There are an abundance of info online but be warned bad habits are hard to break! The best bet is go to any local fly shop and just ask about courses or casting clinics. I sent my girlfriend to one last year through Fred's and it cost $40 for an afternoon.

It is an addiction and is probably worse than hunting. There's always something you're going to "need". Frequent the shops and create a relationship with the guys that work there. The better the relationship the better the info they will feed you. I often just will go to the shop and bullsh*t for an hour. It's an excuse to talk fishing. Good luck and if ever you just want to get out or want to ask any specific questions PM me and I'll gladly try to help. I may not have all the answers and I may not be the best out there but I can try my best.

[WesHarm]

This is awesome thank you all for the great info! pretty excited to get out on actual water, the lawn is fun but a little difficult to catch anything ;)

my rod is a 6 lbs rod, Dragonfly is the name of the reel i think they're located in Kamloops.