Fly Fishing Success!

Now it will only be a short time before i buy a fly rod, learn from experience and research and teach everybody I know or anybody willing to learn about fly fishing, because that’s what I love doing. - Juan Lopez Jr.

Yes, you read correctly, I quoted myself! That is from an older blog post i wrote back in May when I started learning to fly fish.

Well folks, it happened. I bought a fly rod, and on my first trip out with it, i got my buddy into it and now he wants to go out and buy a fly rod! in his own words,

"Dude, i was hooked the moment you put the fly rod in my hand!"

Mission accomplished... at least with one person I know.

Folks, I have pictures galore SO I hope you’re in the mood to see them! Originally I was going to go out to Putah creek and try to catch me a nice large trout but my buddy decided he wanted to go fishing. Russell and I hit the FAMOUS Ellis Lake around 5pm. We were out there for catfish but honestly, I just wanted to try out my fly rod. Since I haven’t cast a fly rod since May when I went out with Mark, I really just wanted to get my flow back. Sure enough, I got it pretty quickly. I remembered why I loved it so much the first time I did it!

Well, I really wanted to catch something on my own fly rod so after heeding some of Russells tips about blue gills in Ellis Lake I went out and caught myself my first bluegill on my own fly rod. (Warning, following picture may cause extreme laughter)

I bought a small package of flies and all the box said is that they were called “prime mouches” but I looked at other patterns and the closest thing I can find is a “muddler minnow.” Anyway, I saw something come up and catch my fly and it was on! Didn’t feel too big but I was hoping I would catch it. Sure enough up comes a fish, takes my fly and swims off. The water is sort of murky so I couldn’t see it how big it actually was but when I pulled it up I realized the whole thing was about the size of a silver dollar, and that is being generous! Nonetheless the tiny fish was a milestone: my first fish on my own fly rod.

A few minutes later I caught a bigger one, which was still small but a little larger than the previous one.

Meanwhile, The bells on my catfish pole started going off and I was too far away so I asked Russell to check it out since he was right next to it. He set the rod and had a fish on. He asked if I wanted to reel it in but I only reel in fish I catch myself, haha! He brought in this nice cat on my rod. 

After a while I decided that I had already caught two fish on my fly rod and it was time to teach Russell the basics of fly fishing. I taught him basic fly casting and although he was lacking a bit on the mechanics of it all, I think he did pretty well. I figured I would teach him what I knew and then leave him to it. That worked for me and I knew it would work for him. Russell has been fishing his entire life so I knew it was only a matter of letting him play with it and correcting anything I saw that was wrong.   

After casting for a while  he also landed a tiny bluegill, similar to mine, but I still think mine was smaller! I asked him if he liked fly fishing and he told me he loved it and wanted to buy a fishing rod as soon as possible. Sounds like we have a new fly fisherman on our hands!

After a while we sat and had a couple of beers and watched our catfish rods and sure enough Russell got a bite on one of his rods. He reeled in another nice cat which turned out to be the last fish of the night. Both catfish were caught using crawdads as bait. 

Well, I didn’t end up catching any catfish but that was because most of the time I was playing with my fly rod. I guess what some of you told me was true; my bait fishing is already suffering because of my fly fishing. Either way I had a great time, caught my first couple of fish on my own fly rod, taught Russell the basics, got him to say he wanted to buy a fly rod and got him into his first fish on the fly.  I am really eager to hit the Yuba River or Putah creek in the near future and catch me some nice size trout.

Well, that is it for me, folks! Until next time, break that bank!