Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Pond Fly Fishing Survey

Robert-NJ yanked my chain about a fly-fishing thread on the PondBoss forum - he cast a fly and I took the bait, so how many PB folks are interested? I will participate within the confines of my experience if enough folks are interested.

For many years I looked forward to a New Year with enthusiasm for goals to achieve and this year I drew a blank!
Some of my PB friends on the forum know me as an avid fly fisherman - not an elitist in a tweed coat but more of the “redneck” variety ….so maybe with enough interest I will give it a shot?

Would it be too much to ask for a respose?
Very Interested.
Casual Interest
No Interest.

George Glazener

Casual interest.

I've never used flies for fishing. Usually just swat them. But I'm open to new things as long as they are not illegal or immoral (those are on a case by case basis).

I have a bunch of BG to catch next summer. They better than worms or sweet corn kernels?

Am I showing my ignorance of fishing techniques yet?

Yes, I am interested George.

LOL

P.S. Redneck fits me perfectly.

Very interested, George. I got my first fly rod as a teenager in the '50s. It was a split bamboo that came in a wooden box witha cheap reel and line and a packet of about 20 flies. Made in Japan. We lived on the gulf coast but I managed to find some freshwater Ponds in the area. My biggest problem was finding flies. As a poor young married couple with a baby and in college, that fly rod fed us many a cheap meal from the farm ponds around Nacogdoches ( SFASU ). I have had several others since then but I wore that one out literally before discarding it. Wish I still had it !

I just bought a used fly fishing outfit at a garage sale this fall and have yet to try it out. I watched a few fly fishing videos on Youtube but haven't been on the water yet. I am hoping to get out this spring and see what I can catch. I would love to tie my own flies if I get the hang of fly fishing techniques in general. I would say "Casual" for now, but could go either way depending on how it goes.

I am interested in learning more about fly fishing I have a cheap setup that needs the dust blown off it.

Its one of those "Bucket List" Kinda things for me. Please Enlighten us. Thanks

You already know my interest level, George - it's high. Apart from stream trout fishing I don't fly fish much, but that's slowly changing around my ponds. So consider me an interested party!

Welcome back, by the way.

I have a TFO setup that you recommended several years ago. It still sits on the bench. Everyday I see it and think, "I gotta get going on that". Interested.

Very interrested.

Years ago I messed around tying flies, but just simple stuff like wooly buggers. Never had lessons of any kind. My 15 yr old son was just telling me he'd like to get out my kit this summer and give it a try.

So what are you suggesting, George? You planning on doing some build-alongs? That would be cool. You could pick a pattern and demonstrate the steps and techniques with pictures of course. Then when we could try to follow along and bounce questions off ya or post pictures of what we tie so you could give pointers?

I'm bettin my son would be interrested too.

Casual Interest to Very Interested...

With being a new pond owner and BG being my target fish I need more than just a bobber and a jig in my arsenal...

My brother used to have a few and I played with them as a kid but the only one I have touched in the last 20 years was a telescopic fiberglass one that my brother asked me to return to my moms cousin about a year ago..

Casual Interest to Very interested.

My dad use to fly fish, and has passed it down to me. He has a lot of flies, but don't really know much about them. Have tried a few here and there, with limited success. Probably that would make me fall into a category of how to best use the ones I got instead of how to make more.

Thanks George, I sure have missed ya!

You know me George. Very interested.

Very interested. New to the pond..or is the pond new to me? Would love some new techniques as I have a primarily saltwater fishing background.

Very very interested. It is the only fishing my Dad did with me from the age I could hold a flyrod. We fish lakes and ponds in the summer with floating poppers. LOVE IT! And very glad you are back, sir.

Very interested. I used to tie my own flies for BG fishing during the spawn and used to catch alot May/June every year when I had a boat. Now, I have a very difficult time catching BG, LMB or anything else on my flyrod in my pond. I definitely could use some knowledge/help!

Pond Fly Fishing

Thanks for all survey responses regarding level of interest.

OK, first of all – IMO fly-fishing is not “in place of” conventional tackle, but “in addition to”!

I am a lifetime fisherman – I remember catching my first bass sometime about 80 years ago, fishing a creek with a cane pole and can of worms.
Ran out of worms and put a berry blossom on a hook and caught a bass.

I bought my first fly rod in 1951 while doing O&G exploration work in Utah.
Bamboo SouthBend fly rod IIRC.
Now that we have a pretty good level of interest in this fly fishing thing, let’s think about how to go about it.

How about starting at the very basic level and proceed from there?
That way the more experienced fly anglers can contribute their knowledge and experience to the beginners and we can all learn something new as we go along.

I suggest we break this thing down to Tackle and Technique sections because they are entirely two separate subjects, but don’t know how to keep the threads separate.
I’ve been thinking about how to go about it – need a T&T topic with separate threads to avoid confusion. For example the Tackle subject will deal with rod, reels, lines, leaders, etc, whereas technique will deal with fishing with a fly rod - casting, presentation and flies for different pond species.
Any ideas?

For starters a fly rod is a tool that is selected for a specific purpose – a pan fish or a 30lb catfish. Analogy to a hammer – tack hammer or a sledgehammer?
Engineers, let’s keep it simple and avoid the “modulus of elasticity” thing.
They are manufactured for the task at hand – pan fish vs.tarpon thing - modern rods made from modern materials , “S” fiberglass, boron, carbon fiber or hybrids ….
Different “actions” – some of us already know about conventional gear – slow, full flex, moderate action, mid flex and fast, tip flex.
Costs vary from inexpensive to very expensive and we will talk early about this – I am a
frugal” fisherman but it hard to find a bad fly rod in this day of age.

OK, you cast a fly line – not the fly – it just goes along for the ride.
A fly line has a “belly”, usually the first 30 ft of the line that is a larger diameter than the “running” portion of the line. The weight of the line is measured in grains and is rated to fly rod being considered. Selection again depends upon task at hand – floater of sinker – density comes into play - ounce of cork vs ounce of lead…

I know that we have some advanced fly fishermen on the forum, but let’s all start with the basics and fundamentals, sharing our learning experience when appropriate.
Let’s not think about flies but start with pellet types for our feed trained species.
No need to spend a bunch of money when quality affordable flies are available.
Many tyin’ materials are available from craft and fabric stores.

We need ideas and feedback before kicking off this project.
ONLY discussion of POND fly fishing for POND fish ALLOWED.

What do you folks think?
Q&A?
Google search for T&T?
You tube?
Instructional vids?
Ideas?
Couple of other thoughts – the main purpose for me for this exercise is to bring more pondsters into this fly fishing thing – all you experienced guys make this fun for the new guys and gals! I believe a good way to start the juices to flow is for all the veteran fly fishers to submit pictures of pond fish and flies used and/oar tied.
I like pictures!

Thanks again for your interest and responses.
Pond fly fishing is fun!
George

Great idea for a thread, George. Count me in for very interested.
My first fly caught fish were in the '60's in Pa. First fly caught trout were in Utah's Ashley Creek in the 70's.
Put together an Orvis fiberglass kit as a teenager and created some curious patterns from duck and chicken feathers from our farm flock back then. Ha ha.
I've gone thru lots of rods and reels, some broken, some given to youngsters to fire them up about the sport.
I'm no elitist; I use my casters and spinning gear as much as the long rods.
POND only: the English consider the ocean a pond...once again, ha ha. Dorado on a 10 wt in Baja?
One of my most consistently successful experiences, although not in a pond, was years (more than 10) of catching SMB on flies in a small river in se Oregon. Crayfish patterns worked well; we need some still water crayfish patterns that fool wary bass as they hover inches from the fly.
I digress.
I'll be happy to chime in on fly fishing. I have lots to learn about pond fly fishing, and have my pond to test out stuff.
Let's get more people connected to fish thru the long rods.
Roger

I am very interested. I fly fish some in my pond but not as much as I should. I wonder if the forum could set up a category for Pond Fly Fishing to make it easier to get to the threads involving fly fishing.

George1, Love this idea! over 90% of my pond fishing is on a fly rod; my pond is bass and bluegills. I am relatively new to fly fishing, only took it up in the last 5 or 6 years, but it is addictive. I can't wait to learn more from you and the others on the forum. Hopefully I will be able to add something as well.

As far as keeping all the threads separate, a fly fishing category with sub divisions for different threads sounds like a good idea to me.

CMM

CMM, this was the major point I was trying to make in my discussion:
Topic: Pond Fly Fishing
Threads:
Tackle
Technique
Other

Dwight - TJ, any way to make this happen?
George

George -- I'd certainly be glad to see more info from, as you call yourself, a "non-elite."

As I mentioned to you at the first Pond Boss Conference, I cast like I learned who to use a bull whip. No finesse. I mostly don't use flies -- I like to use redworms from my compost pile. As a consequence, I just use a flyrod setup to try and trick fish by using worms on a very light tippet/leader, without any weights, and without any kind of bobber. I'd be embarassed to do this in public waters where somebody might see me.

Ken

Very interested here too, and great to have you back, George!

(From a post back in June of last year)


I'm anxious to learn more, about line types and weights, rods/reels, flies, presentation, etc..

Thanks for offering!

Went to Whistler, Canada in 2005 with dtr and son n law. Got us a couple of guides and we drove to a remote lake, aired up the inner tubes and the 4 of us were given a 10 minute fly fishing lesson (first for all of us!) and we had a blast. I've been hooked since.

Bass and BG on our 3 1/2 acre lake. So, yea...this is a great idea.

Ken, my thoughts, in order to encourage maximum participation in the fun of pond fly fishing, was for this topic to be all inclusive.

My definition of a fly is anything that can be cast on a fly rod with a fly line.
This would include everything from an earthworm to a realistic work of art “fly”
Seems like I remember the old Field and Stream magazines showing worms on hooks, spinners and all kind of stuff.
I would not hesitate to toss anything with a fly rod - short of a DuPont spinner that is…
Cheers,
George

This sounds like fun!! I'll get the cameras ready!!