It’s a beautiful sport. The loose arch of the line caused by the weight of the fly fishing knot is the subject of some of the best outdoor sporting photos. The quiet of the wilderness is only interrupted by the calls of birds, the thrashing of animals along the shore, and the sound of the stream itself. Maybe it’s time that you packed your best fly fishing rods, prepared to create your best fly fishing knots, and looked for the best trout fishing spots for your next vacation.
If you want to start from the beginning, you might enjoy a reminder of the most basic trout fishing techniques. Obviously, you need to understand how to hold the rod. Rods, of course, come in different lengths, including six foot long rods for use in freshwater fishing, as well as rods as long as 15 foot for the double handed fishing style for salmon or steelhead. Properly holding a rod depends on having a rod that is a perfect balance of rod length and the kind of taper line you select. Basically, there are two types of taper lines, the double taper line and weight forward taper line. Many experts recommend the best for beginners is a weight forward line that matches the length of the rod.
One of the first things to do is get your rod home and pull the new line out onto your yard and mark your line. Marking the ten yards and two feet mark allows you to increase the chance of getting a good, predictable cast every time. The cast, of course, is a learned skill that will take much practice to achieve, but having a properly marked line will speed up this learning process.
In addition to the rod and the line, fly fishing also requires many other useful pieces of equipment, including:
- fly fishing vest with pockets
- sunglasses in a waterproof case
- fly fishing tippet gauge
- dry flies tucked neatly in one pocket of your fly fishing vest
- wet flies stored neatly in another pocket of your fishing vest
- nippers for cutting the nylon when you tie on new fly fishing knots
- zingers that stretch to attach all of these items to the fishing vest
- a relaxed, patient attitude
Trouts feed below the water’s surface nearly 90% of the time, but fly fishing knots are used to create flies that are made to both float and sink, and although the majority are from one to five cm, they can be made as as small as a few millimeters to as long as 30 cm.
