Any Fly Fishing Enthusiasts Onboard?

[Prunepicker]

I've enjoyed fly fishing for about 45 years. Warm water is fine but I
preferthe streams of western North Carolina and northern New Mexico.

I also tie many of my flies.

[Mel]

I tried when I was stationed at Ellsworth A.F.B. decades ago. Those mountain streams and lakes make you want to try. Too much of an art form for me. I'm more of a drink beer and drown worms guy.

[positano]

Give the Deschutes River in Oregon a try during the Salmon Fly hatch. Drift boats, but you can't fish from the boat - have to hop out and wade. Really great region, and not hard to get to. The hatch is legendary.

[RadicalModerate]

When the topic of "Fly Fishing" (a.k.a. "angling"?) arises (especially as an unintended witness to "The Mayfly Hatch in Garrison, MN") I think back to how trout are actually caught up in The Lakes o' The Rockies...

I've seen many of the "how to" shows regarding casting techniques, etc ... Even watched some dude "harvesting" trout/other in the pool below Turner Falls one time.

Yet I remain unconvinced. Depending upon the goal. =)

Dad used: "Salmon Eggs" . . . "Fresh Caught Grasshoppers/Grubs" . . . and Worms ("nightcrawlers") to bring in a harvest of trout that spilled from his "creel" to the point that he gave away three times more fresh caught trout to the by-fishers on account of the five fish limit at the time (c. '59).

Me . . . I just fish for the fun of it. Our tiny top-loading freezer at home was so full of wadxy cardboard milk cartons containing fresh frozen fish (trout) that there wasn't any room for ice. =)

Fly Fishing . . . obviously better than Golf and that apparently is the difference between Scots and Swedes. =)

"Keep Paddling . . . We're All In This Together"---Red Green, Canuck/AltPBS Star

(ps: still playin' with the band at Ingrid's? The Keller in The Kastle used to serve a great appetizer/tapa: smoked trout with some sort of dill/horseradish dip. since the Keller is history I hope that Ingrids has picked up the slack--

[Prunepicker]

I tried when I was stationed at Ellsworth A.F.B. decades ago. Those mountain
streams and lakes make you want to try. Too much of an art form for me. I'm
more of a drink beer and drown worms guy.

If you really want to learn to flyfish, and it's not that hard, hire a guide. For
about $200 you'll be on the edge of the greatest experience you've ever had.
The best part is that the guides want customers who have never stepped
foot in a river. Seriously, you'll learn more about fishing in 1/2 a day than
most fishermen have learned in a lifetime.

Case in point. Years ago I had a guide on the Ausable in New York. We didn't
catch a single fish because the water was WAY too high. Since I'm all about
learning and education I asked him to teach me his favorite techniques.
Dang, what an experience. I've used what he taught on every stream since.

Fergit about drownin' worms. Drink beer and flyfish!

[Prunepicker]

Give the Deschutes River in Oregon a try during the Salmon Fly hatch. Drift
boats, but you can't fish from the boat - have to hop out and wade. Really great
region, and not hard to get to. The hatch is legendary.

That's one of my bucket list rivers. I've watched many a video of fishermen
floating the river.

[Prunepicker]

dad used: "salmon eggs" . . . "fresh caught grasshoppers/grubs" . . . And
worms ("nightcrawlers") to bring in a harvest of trout that spilled from his
"creel" to the point that he gave away three times more fresh caught trout to
the by-fishers on account of the five fish limit at the time (c. '59).

Horrors!

[OKCisOK4me]

Two years ago this October, I went fly fishing via boat, floating down your Northern New Mexico river below the Lake Navajo dam. It was my grandma's 90th birthday. She floated the whole 8 hours and didn't catch one fish. I'm not big into fishing at all, but I was interested by this because it was unlike any other fishing I had ever done. As you know, the guided tours are catch and release, but nonetheless, it was a great time. I enjoyed the time outdoors, the peace and quiet along the river, and the skills you learn that are necessary to become an elite fly fisherman.

Would I do it again? Yeah, I think I would. It ain't cheap though!

[RadicalModerate]

Horrors!

I thought it was very generous of him. The other people were catching nothing on account of using the wrong bait. =)

I went on a float trip down the Platte River in Wyoming one time. We were fishing with minnows. The guide said to just flip the bait on the downstream side of the rocks that we passed. Got a bite every time. Caught a bunch of trout. Before that I didn't realize trout ate minnows. But they do.

[Roger S]

I bet you have to have some really tiny lures to catch flies.

Sorry, couldn't resist... Feel free to toss back any bass fishing jokes you have.

[Prunepicker]

Two years ago this October, I went fly fishing via boat, floating down your
Northern New Mexico river below the Lake Navajo dam...

What was the river? I'm not familiar with Lake Navajo. Too cool for your
Grandma.

I fished the San Juan a few years ago and was skunked. There were
cutthroats at my feet that were at least 25 inches long but they weren't
taking anything I was throwing. There's a woman guide, Penny (?) who's quite
famous and works out of Abe's Fly Shop. She made it in a Man's World, as
James Brown would say. I want to hire her the next time I fish the San Juan.

Never been on a float trip. They sound fun. I'm good with catch and release
but not a kook about it. Sometimes hook 'n' cook is a good thing.

Learning is a big part of anything. It takes the mystery out of the mysterious.

[Prunepicker]

... The other people were catching nothing on account of using the wrong bait...

Flyfishermen don't use bait. ICK!

I went on a float trip down the Platte River in Wyoming one time. We were
fishing with minnows.

Horrors! Horrors! Horrors!

[Prunepicker]

I bet you have to have some really tiny lures to catch flies.

Sorry, couldn't resist... Feel free to toss back any bass fishing jokes you have.

I've fly fished for bass many a time and have tied deer hair frogs and similar
images. There's nothing like taking a large mouth on a top water. I used to
be a wormin' freak, i.e. plastics with lead and #2 hooks. Caught many a lunker
with a Texas rig. I'd use the Carolina for Walleye.

Haven't warm water fished since the 80's.

[OKCisOK4me]

What was the river? I'm not familiar with Lake Navajo. Too cool for your
Grandma.

I fished the San Juan a few years ago and was skunked.

It was the San Juan. I was just drawing a blank last night. Goes out towards Aztec, Farmington and Shiprock.

[Prunepicker]

It was the San Juan. I was just drawing a blank last night. Goes out
towards Aztec, Farmington and Shiprock.

Odd that a guide didn't workout but sometimes that happens. I've heard
from many that a guide is a must on the San Juan until you learn the
tricks of the trade.

[OKCisOK4me]

That's what we did. It was a good time.

[RadicalModerate]

Flyfishermen don't use bait. ICK!

Horrors! Horrors! Horrors!

Just for the fun of it, the guide for the float trip (down the Platte River in Wyoming) tied colorful little wings on the minnows before we pitched them on the downstream side of those boulders . . . Fresh trout is real good for lunch on the riverbank. Taking home the limit caught during the afternoon part of the trip, to eat later, is even better.

[Prunepicker]

Minnows? Ghastly.

I've cooked trout on the bank. Where I go it doesn't work to keep any except
to eat immediately.

[RadicalModerate]

Minnows=Ghastly? . . .
Why . . . For just a moment there (with the tied-on wings) they might have thought they had become flying fish or butterflies.
Even though they were actually just a form of lower-tier sushi. =)

I will say this: My Dad (who was one of the top trout harvesters of all time) never fished with minnows.
(or people who were bait purists . . . or dynamite. =)

I don't recall ever having a freshly-caught trout-on-the-bank dinner with him maybe on account of he liked to hike up to some of those high Rocky Mountain "lakes" with an inflatable raft (and a pump of some sort) for when he got tired of fishing off the bank. "Fishing Lunch" generally consisted of some Bacon/Onion/ButterBeans cooked over a small fire with maybe some white bread on the side. I think that was some sort of Swedish tradition or something. =) The harvested trout went into recycled waxy milk cartons to be stored in the freezer compartment of our little refrigerator at home. For special occasions. So that my little brother and I could whine and turn up our noses at them on account of they had too many bones.

Thankfully, Dad wasn't all into that Lutefisk cultural aberration crap.
I can't think of a worse way to defile a trout than dry it out with salt and reconstitute it with some form of lye.
Then it becomes sort of like a Gummi Fish.

[Prunepicker]

The last time I had trout on the bank Prunerella, daughter, caught the fish.
Prunette and I were skunked. Yes, we were fly fishing. She caught them on
yellow woolie worms I had tied.

[RadicalModerate]

One time I caught a nice sized "bream"/"sunfish"/whatever using a line, a hook and a shiny gum wrapper. It was from the pond at what used to be Miskelly State Park, in Choctaw. My daughter--about six or seven at the time?--was with me. I checked it to try to be sure it didn't have any of those gross little parasitic worms embedded in its mouth then I showed her how to scale and clean it, put it on a stick, and roast it over a small, twig and litter based fire. No kidding: It wasn't bad at all. If I knew more "Woodscraft" I probably could have added some roots and berries to the mix. =)

[Plutonic Panda]

I thought it was very generous of him. The other people were catching nothing on account of using the wrong bait. =)

I went on a float trip down the Platte River in Wyoming one time. We were fishing with minnows. The guide said to just flip the bait on the downstream side of the rocks that we passed. Got a bite every time. Caught a bunch of trout. Before that I didn't realize trout ate minnows. But they do.

Don't know what the truth to this is, but I've been told quite a few times, that if a fish can fit another fish in its mouth, it will eat it.

[OKCisOK4me]

PluPan, I've read three posts in a row by you where you're just skipping words... I know what you're saying, but your phone is auto correcting or something, lol.

[Plutonic Panda]

PluPan, I've read three posts in a row by you where you're just skipping words... I know what you're saying, but your phone is auto correcting or something, lol.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure if I', actually conscious right now lol and I'm using mah laptop, although it does have an auto correct as well. I think I fixed this one and I'll re-read my last posts.

[OKCisOK4me]

Are you on Ambien? I have a friend that takes that and then does stuff at night that he doesn't recollect...lol