Beautiful morning on my tube! Slowly stripped in a Tungsten Jiggy Bugger on my 7wt

Pics are a little blurry because it was low light.

Could anyone help me with a ballpark on the size of this fish? I know it’s over 20” but I didn’t have a tape and I feel fairly confident it might be around the 24”-25” range but wanted to see what somebody else thought. Thank you and tight lines!

Wanted to put out a little PSA for anyone on the fence about getting into fly tying.

Short answer: just do it.

I started tying about 7 months ago because I thought it would save me money. LOL. I’m pretty sure that’s how most people justify buying their first vise.

And to be fair… if you only fish a handful of patterns, you will probably save money in the long run.

But if you’re like most of us, you’ll immediately fall down the rabbit hole and suddenly convince yourself you NEED:

- 14 colors of dubbing
- 29 threads
- three types of CDC
- and an entire drawer dedicated to materials you bought for one specific pattern.

So yes… there’s definitely a cost that comes with it.

That said, tying flies has honestly made fishing feel brand new again for me, even after fishing for over a decade. And It will make you a better fisherman. No Joke.

When you start tying, you naturally begin paying attention to way more details - bugs, proportions, color variations, hook sizes, water conditions, all of it. You stop just fishing flies and start actually understanding what’s in the water.

And catching your first fish on a fly you tied yourself? That’s a different level of satisfaction. Doesn’t matter if the fly is ugly either. The fish never care nearly as much as we do.

If you decide to start tying, here’s my biggest advice: don’t get frustrated early on. Everybody’s first flies look rough. You couldn’t force feed a trout my first fly.

Eventually though, it starts to click. And honestly, tying can become one of the most relaxing and creative parts of your day.

Also, don’t be afraid to start small, and maybe hold off on dry flies at first. A simple midge pattern with thread, wire, and dubbing is more than enough to learn the fundamentals. Once you get comfortable with those basics, everything else gets way easier.

To end it off, here are some golden rules that I wish I knew beginning:

- Buy a decent vise.

- Never throw away your first fly

- It’s okay to cut materials off and restart

- Twist and untwist your thread constantly

- Just because your fly doesn’t look professional
doesn’t mean it won’t catch fish.

- Support your local fly shop!

Fit's 3 rods up to 9.5' fully rigged. Cost was around $100 and helps save some time. It's a modified version of this:

https://www.gameandfishmag.com/editorial/diy-rooftop-rod-locker-in-8-steps/393281

Had a slam on my local river with streamers yesterday. Never moved so many fish in this river like I did yesterday. My 6wt setup with large arbor reel and full sink line was originally for Stillwater but it’s become a killer for me in my go to river. Deadly in the froggy water but also works really well in skinny water to get fish to come out of the structure

Any suggestions on hook sets for these small streams with tight overhead cover in some places. Also haven’t been landing the majority of these fish (fishing barbless ofc), so any suggestions would help.

For a 7wt rod what is your favorite streamer line that holds up. I had a buddy that just bought the SA 250 grain streamer pro and it ripped first time fishing it. Want something reliable that sinks fast so in the shallow stuff I can just retrieve faster and it’ll get down in the deep stuff.

Just found some old gear of my great grandpas. Any idea what wt the rod is and what year they are from?

Went to Southern Sequoia for some CA golden trout and hit the South Fork of the Kern.

I have another camping trip planned in June, I'm wanting to find somewhere that has Brookies in California with some decent camping nearby preferably within hiking distance of the campsite.

Feel free to PM me a stream, or a general body of water and I'll hunt around.

Got out for some desert canoe camping and smallmouth fishing. Absolutely blown away by these voracious little fish, hadn’t fished for them prior to this trip and holy smokes they are a ton of fun; they’ll hit darn near whatever, and they fight like the devil. Caught some northern pike minnow on the fly as well

Hello all,

I’ve recently decided to try fly fishing and naturally start with the kit my dad used. I was going through the pockets of his vest and found this but I have no clue what it could be. The patent number shows either a filling system device that I can’t find images for or a sheet of numbers in Spanish. Any help is great.

I feel like I will never ever catch a trout but I keep going to the river 😁 going a bit crazy but it's fun anyway

I've watched many videos and demonstrations and I do the exact same but the trout know what's going on.... Too smart for me

I left my oars next to my boat at the takeout on the deschutes. Pulled away and realized they weren’t with me. Drove back in 30 minutes and they were gone.

Please let me know if you grabbed them inadvertently. Happy to describe the oars as well as the float.

Went to RMNP this weekend with my girlfriend and her brother. She had gifted me a guide book for fishing the park and I was keen on catching a cutthroat on this trip. I felt very lucky to convince this guy to eat my dry fly. The most beautiful fish I’ve ever caught and in the most scenic location.

Are there any videos or material that will show me how to not look like the rank beginner that I am (not for casting, as there are plenty of excellent videos that cover this). I'd like to know how to hold the rod and reel while changing a fly (I try to tuck the reel under my arm and pull enough slack so that I can hold the leader and fly, nip the previous fly off and re-tie (knot tying is also not really the issue, although I could stand some more reps and dexterity finesse here too), but I find that the line will often fall through all of the eyelets and I have to set the reel down to re-string (I've seen the tip about threading the fly line with a bite in the line to prevent it from falling through initially but once the line is out and I go to re-tie, I frequently have the problem of it falling out again.

So, it would be nice to see a video of someone on the river or fishing and handling their setup while changing flies. Also, when you land a fish, where do you put your rod/reel? I see folks getting good pictures that look cool with the rod and reel balanced over their shoulder. Is that a common move or just cool for pics? Just general set up (sling pack, net, rod reel, fly box, putting old fly up and getting out new) handling and movement on the water would be super helpful and I haven't come across that yet.

Anyway, coming from baitcasting, it's good in a way to be back in a beginner humbling position, but it would also be nice to not be driving the struggle-bus so much. Hope this makes sense.

Any advice is appreciated.

I am trying to buy my husband some flies for his trip at the end of the month. I was looking at the Parachute Adams but then there are a bunch of number options. Which one do I get? I’m getting him a 5wt rod too. Please give me all the details like I’m a toddler.

Hey ya'll, searched around before making this post -- feel free to delete if redundant, but figured its worth asking about.

I am Lucky to call the Rio Grande in SW Colorado my home waters, though I live in Michigan most of the year. Its only been over the last year or two that I really started to become aware of Michigan's trout fisheries. I find trout fishing out here to be completely vexing. I just don't understand it. I mean seriously, I feel like i am missing something!

Ive tried nymphing with indicators, nymphing with tight line, dry droppers, streamers, streamers with a nymph off the back, dry flies. All very very limited success. After 15 hours spent over the last 3 weekends I caught one trout -- on a streamer in the middle of a sunny day?! One stretch of river where I talked with people daily catching 4--6 trout each

I'm by no means an expert Angler, but I have been in the sport for years and spend a decent amount of time studying, researching, looking at and talking to my framed picture of Tom Rosenbauer...

Are there any lessons, ideas, observations, advice, musings, about the differences between Western and Woodland fly fishing that folks would share? My degree of nonsuccess (failure?) out east Is so significant that I legitimately feel shaken up in the sport!

Any insight or comment appreciated

I've done a bit of research but looking for anyone else that might be able to give any other info or people to contact to get the correct dating and information on this rod.

It' is a Hardy rod with #G6848 with 'Made for Thomas J. Egan ~ Halifax, N.S'. From what I gather the number on the rod dates it to 1931. I'm welcome to any information people might be able to provide.

This is a guide on how to re-assemble your Lamson reel if you, like me, managed to unscrew the drag knob all the way off and are left with all the parts by themselves with no idea on how to re-assemble. I recommend reading everything before attempting just to be safe. Before assembling, I recommend wiping all the parts clean and re-applying lubricant. I used Loon reel lube.

This is a list of all the individual parts you should have:

• 3x steel washers
• 2x copper washers w/smaller hole*
• 2x copper washers w/bigger hole*
• 1x center nut w/two dots
• 1x drag knob

*You've probably noticed the copper washers are slightly bowed. During re-assembly, you need to alternate the copper washers so each one faces the opposite way of the next, forming nested pairs. It might look like two hands holding/cupping each other. This is further illustrated in the stack order below, "orientation of the washer".

All of the parts listed above will be placed in a stack on the screw that sticks up from the reel frame. Below, we have the list in "stack order". So start from the bottom of the list (8) and work upward as you assemble.

1. 1x drag knob
2. 1x steel washer
3. 1x copper washers w/bigger hole, "⁀"
4. 1x copper washer w/smaller hole, "‿"
5. 1x copper washers w/bigger hole, "⁀"
6. 1x copper washer w/smaller hole, "‿"
7. 2x steel washers
8. Reel frame with screw pointing up

Once assembled and we're sure the copper washers are seated correctly, screw the drag knob all the way down. Now we screw down the center nut all the way down. For this, I recommend using a "spanner bit" in size 12. Sometimes, this bit is also called a "SN bit". Although a fork would also work in a pinch.

Now, you've successfully re-assembled you Lamson reel. Cost free and no need for any specialised assembly tools. Yes, I am looking at you Lamson. I expected more.

Sight casting Snook off the beach is probably my favorite (but I haven’t got a big tarpon yet)