Fly Fishing: A beginner's experience

In the realm of fly fishing, you’ll constantly find people discussing what types of flies to throw, depending on location, time of year, and conditions such as weather. In my opinion, nymphing is great, and many swear by it for good reason – it consistently produces fish. However, streamer fishing is a different type of great. It’s great because even though you might not catch a large quantity of fish on it in a day, it gives you a better chance of catching THE fish.

Trout will always spend the least amount of energy possible to consume the most amount of calories. The metabolism of a trout drastically changes when water temperatures drop in the winter. In the summer, trout are often found in fast and oxygenated water sections, such as riffles and runs, feeding on massive amounts of insects that are actively hatching and floating through those areas, providing a constant source of small to moderate-sized meals for a large amount of energy spent managing the fast current. In the winter, it gets cold, and insects mostly stop hatching, causing trout to instinctively conserve more energy and target larger, calorie-packed meals because of the lower amount of available food. Streamers are meant to imitate these large meals, which may be leaches, minnows, baitfish, crawdads, and even mice.

Fisheries in the eastern sierras are visited by anglers from all around the globe for two key reasons: their immense beauty and various species of beautiful yet plentiful trout. I’ve learned that this region’s rivers each have different personalities and sizes, yet they are all enchanting in the same exact way. In the Sierras, you’ll find the Owens, the East and West Walker, the Truckee, the South Yuba, and the Carson River.

My favorite spot to fish in the Eastern Sierras is the East Walker River, hands down. This river is renowned for its large browns and rainbows, available year-round, as well as its stunning scenery. During the summer, usually throw multiple different types of nymphs and dries, but in the wintertime, I mostly throw streamers there. I have not fished the Owens River yet, which I am looking forward to.

Northern California has some of the best fly fishing spots in the western United States. In my personal experience, the Feather River, Sacramento River, and their tributaries consistently produce great fish. In this post, i’ll go over why these spots are notorious for fishing so well year-round.

First off, the Feather River is by far my number one favorite spot in all of Northern California if I had to pick. One major reason is simply the beauty, especially on the North Fork near Belden, where you can catch chunky rainbows and brown trout. Another big reason is because of the consistent steelhead runs. The steelhead in the feather usually start to ramp up quite a bit when the salmon die off from spawning, which in this year’s case, will be by Thanksgiving. For fall and winter steelhead, I go to two spots on the Feather in Oroville.

The Sacramento River and its tributaries are my second favorite overall spots to fish in NorCal. The Sacramento River offers a very wide variety of species of fish, which include bass and trout. For trout, I would recommend the upper Sacramento River near Redding, as trout are active consistently throughout the year. As for Bass, I’ve caught them on the Sacramento River in Chico using poppers. In my opinion, one of the best tributaries of the Sacramento River is Deer Creek. This spot doesn’t necessarily quality fish year round, but it can be absolutely dynamite in the fall for browns, rainbows, brookies, and even Chinook Salmon.

By Gavin Paladino

Nymphing is my favorite way to fly fish because it produces the most fish in trout streams, especially during the winter when fish are holding deep. At first glance, I used to think this method of fly fishing was tedious because of how nymph rigs are set up (split shot, indicator, double nymph rigs, etc.), but I soon learned that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Nymphing is a method of fly fishing that involves using flies that are meant to imitate actual underwater bugs (nymphs). They are usually weighted with a bead head so that they can sink to the bottom where fish hold, but most anglers also use split shot to assist with this. In many situations, a strike indicator is also useful for detecting strikes when nymphing longer distances. On the other hand, there’s high-stick nymphing. This is a more tactile style of nymphing without an indicator, and it is suitable for small to medium-sized streams.

So, why is nymphing so effective compared to throwing streamers or dry flies in the fall and winter seasons? Because that’s when most trout feed below the surface, where most of their available food lives (nymphs). Cold water slows trout metabolism. They still need calories, but they don’t want to burn much energy chasing fast-moving prey. Nymphs are meant to mimic larval or pupal stages of aquatic insects, and they are meant to drift slowly near the bottom. In fall and winter, fewer adult insects hatch and take flight, so dry-fly action slows down. But, the immature forms can be mimicked by using nymphs.

In this blog post, I’ll discuss fly fishing for salmon and steelhead, which are large, migratory fish that seasonally travel to freshwater to spawn. Fly Fishing for these two species is a completely different ball game from moderate-sized fish such as ordinary trout or bass. I learned this the hard way in the beginning of my fly fishing journey.

Salmon and steelhead are strong fish known for their incredible fights. I still vividly remember the first time I hooked into a Chinook, which was on a 5wt fly rod. I instantly regretted it, and tried to fight him for nearly 15 minutes. My rod simply did not have the backbone to land him and he ended up breaking off my tippet. The next day, I consulted the owner of my local fly shop and decided not to fish for salmon or steelhead again until getting a stronger setup.

For salmon and steelhead, I’ve found that beads are most effective, but some anglers also use bright-colored streamers called intruders. When salmon enter freshwater to travel upstream and spawn, they stop feeding completely and only strike out of territorial aggression. So, when they see a big, bright pink streamer or an egg drifting too close to their territory, they will instinctively attack it. If you’re using beads, its best to rig them just like you would a heavy nymph-rig (strike indicator and splitshot). Many anglers will also use multiple beads.

When it comes to fly fishing, bass isn’t exactly the number one species of fish that anglers target. It is not unheard of, and there are many people who fly fish for bass, but it remains relatively unpopular. In my personal experience, it almost seems like half the time I tell another angler that I like fly fishing for bass, they are surprised or even confused. This is completely understandable! but, I hope this post changes the perspective of someone who believes that fly fishing for bass is “weird” or ineffective.

While I enjoy fishing for trout, catching bass can be just as fun sometimes. In fact, the first fish I ever caught on a fly rod was a largemouth bass! He wasn’t huge, but he put up a decent fight. I was using a black bass popper, which is probably the most effective fly to use for bass. It displaces water when twitched, which creates vibrations that often trigger aggressive strikes from bass.

When trout fishing gets tough, sometimes I’ll simply just resort to my favorite bass spot. Because in my personal experience, bass have been an easier fish to catch overall. Most of the time they are not as easily spooked compared to trout, especially wild trout. Also, bass are often located in relatively easy to reach locations, and are more commonly found in warmer water. This allows for a closer alternative for fisherman who live in regularly warm climates. Trout are more commonly found in much colder water than bass.

The moral of the story is that fly fishing doesn’t always have to be strictly about those fish that live in beautiful, cold-water streams. Bass are an aggressive, easy to reach, and fun to catch fish that can create an exciting experience for beginner fly fishers, contrary to popular belief.

In this Blog, I will share my personal experiences with Fly Fishing and its benefits to the mind, as well as my own tips and tricks that I have researched. What makes fly fishing different is the technique and tools involved, and some subtle cultural aspects. This old and yet effective style of angling presents unique challenges and pleasures, making it a sport that people either love or hate. There is no in between.

I was first introduced to fly fishing by my father. He took me fly fishing with him many times throughout my childhood, but I never took it seriously as a hobby until about a month ago. I grew up near the Sierra Nevada mountains, a region that is praised by fly fishers far and wide – particularly for its excellent trout fishing. I recall in my childhood years thinking that fly fishing was too complicated and nowhere near as simple as fishing with a spinning rod. However, curiosity led me down a path that I do not regret following.

Throughout my teenage years, I could not help but notice the love that my father had for this sport. He would often tell me how much he loved being out on the water, connected to nature, and free of worry. He taught me the saying “Ten and two when you’re feeling blue”. Later down the road, I reflected on this, and found it intriguing. I was curious about fly fishing, and why not only my father, but so many other people on the internet praised it as the most fun form of fishing, and a great stress outlet. I eventually decided to finally grab my fly rod, put on my waders, and get out on the water.

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Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.

Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.