Need some fly fishing help

[gsellers1245]

Wife went to a garage sale today and came home to surprise me with a small 8' fly rod and reel. It looks cheap but i think it will be a great practicing tool for me until i develop the skills as well as save up the $$ for a decent combo.
My question is, is there any good sites that teach the basics of fly fishing? I dont know the first thing about the weights, tippets, leaders, how to tie the fly on, and i can half ass cast and thats about it. Can someone direct me in the right direction? All help is appreciated

[TerryW]

Andy Thornal's in Winter Haven and Bill Jackson's in Pinellas Park both put on fly casting lessons. "Live and in person" is so much better than the videos. I can tell you that from experience!

[Mark R]

Andy Thornal's in Winter Haven and Bill Jackson's in Pinellas Park both put on fly casting lessons. "Live and in person" is so much better than the videos. I can tell you that from experience!

YOU ARE EXPERIENCED?? (In a Jimi Hendricks kinda way)

[Todd]

Take the Bill Jacksons course before you try anything, well worth it.

[Rik]

http://www.sexyloops.com/contentspage.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some good instructional reading will get some of the ideas, concepts and terms (those damn fly guys have their own language to confuse the non elite ) into your head but, as mentioned, actual casting with an instructor can not be replaced by words or videos on the interweb.

There are shops and fly clubs all over that have free group casting lessons. Attend a few.

The fly-leets really won't accept you into their club until you've spent $1,000+ dollars on a rod and reel but don't let them get to you. When they get too snooty around you, just drop some spinning lures at their feet and they'll take off like skeeters from Deet.

Don't forget to get a box of bandages for the holes you'll put in various parts of your body as your practice.

[Pirogue]

I would also recommend Mel Kreiger's, The Essence of Flycasting. Also, any shop wil be glad to help out. I was up at Swann's a couple weeks ago taking about problems I was having. He told me to bring my rod up next time and he will have me corrected in no time.

Have fun. (daughter told my to put the smiley here.)

[DoubleM]

Hook up with other members who are fly experienced, especially Evan, hes the tall ginger. A few minutes with these guys is invaluable, specially if they can see your cast and rig, the line, leaders and knots are very important and critical to your casting success. I'm very new to the fly game and yesterday was my first day devoted to kayak fly fishing, it's a lot harder from the seated position compared to beach snooking, which is good practice this time of year. I managed two seat trouts and I can tell you, hand fighting the fish on a fly rod is way more fun satisfying than using other gear.

[shamus]

Rule #1
Do Not use a fly with a hook for practice. Either tie a small piece of cloth on as your fly or cut the shank of a cheap fly and remove the hook.
Rule # 2
Never let your wife know how much money you are spending on fly gear.

[Rik]

.....and after you've worn out your arm flailing away and frothing the water, just grab a spinning rod, stick a hook in a piece of bait and toss it over the side. Seems to work for Heywood.

[Chief1600]

A lot of good ideas. Getting some live instruction is the best way. It's much easier for an experienced caster to see what you are doing and help correct any problems.
A good website wth a lot of information is flyanglersonline.com, they have a good section for beginners and a forum to ask questions.

[TerryW]

Rule #3 - Don't let your spouse teach you how to fly cast.

[Heywood]

Stick a shrimp on it. All you need right there.

[shallow pockets]

You can look into joining the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers Club. The link is below. They put on free casting lessons quite often. Also have a monthly meeting in Sarasota that is always very informative. You can contact Evan as well, he is the President of the club.

http://www.mangrovecoastflyfishers.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gsellers1245]

Thanks for the help everyone. I cant wait to bugg someone. Its going to be like teaching someone who doesnt speak english, to not reel with the reel upside down and reeling backwards. Nah its not goiing to be that bad. I hope.

[Chief1600]

You may want to consider changing the fly line too, and save yourself some frustration. If it's one of those cheaper big-box store outfits the line, usually is not very good. The Cortland Fairplay series of lines are pretty good for about $20 and will cast much better that what most likely is on the reel.

[clwpaddler]

Check out the Suncoast Fly Fishers in St Petersburg. The web site is http://www.suncoastflyfishers.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Fly casting at 6 pm before each meeting the third Thursday of each month. Come check us out, I think you will find it very interesting and educational.