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3. im new to fly fishing and looking for any helpful tips and/or suggestions any help?

Im new to fly fishing and looking for any help or beginning suggestions...line, leaders, tipits, flies etc...any help greatly appreciated...thanks

Do You have a rod or reel yet? What type of fish are you targeting? Do you know much about the difference between wets/dries/nymphs (types of flies). Do you have a preference as to which type of fly that you would like to use?

These are a couple basic questions that I would need to know to base some of the advice off.

Welcome to the forum!

Sam

Sam-yes I do have a rod and reel I bought a 4wt 8'6" combo to start...im targeting PA and NJ trout streams. I do not know much at all just beginning and new to thewhole thing. Thanks


Dennis

Find a good guide or instructor and take a lesson. Let him or her know what you want to learn, and be sure to get some casting instruction. Over time you may find different ways of approaching things by talking with other fishermen or by reading fly fishing magazines and books, but you can save years of trial and error by working with someone knowledgeable when you first start fly-fishing. The Evening Hatch in Lake Harmony has one day schools. I don't know anything about the instructors, but that might be one possibility. You might also ask at Dunkelbergers in Stroudsburg. And you can search Troutnut for topics such as "favorite flies," etc. But beware, you'll find many and perhaps confusing opinions on some topics. Best of luck.

Go to the Search feature on this web site and type in "new to fly fishing" or any similar phrase and I'm sure you will get to see about a zillion archival comments. Then after you read many of the posts I'm sure you will have learned quite a bit. Besides that you can Google "books for new fly fishers" and maybe just buy a couple and sit down after work for a couple of weeks and read them. Knowledge that you gain on your own will be treasured a lot more than if we spoon feed it to you.

Dennis,

Wbranch and Martinlf gave you some really good advice. I would strongly suggest getting some books from your local library on the subject. That is how I learned and nothing beats building a basic foundation for yourself through reading. There is only so much that I can help you with as I am thousands of miles away and have only fished PA rivers a couple of times this spring. People like the two very experienced men who posted above would be your best bet on more localized things such as the type of flies, fishing techniques for those rivers, etc.
Since there is no point in "re-inventing the wheel" by writing things that were all ready written about, I will leave it at this for now. As Martinlf said there are many posts on this subject in the website archives; Most could probably be dug up with some minor searching. If you have specific questions that it is hard to find an answer for though, I (and probably many of the other guys on here) would be more than happy to help you through it.

Dear New2Fly,

First & foremost I want to say by no means was I trying to blow you off and not want to help you get started in fly fishing. But to tell you the truth after answering your type of question dozens of times via Forums like this I just would prefer you to do an archival search and then if you have any specic questions you may by all means send me a PM or post the inquiry in the general forum section.

I live in York, PA and have been pursing trout, and other species, with a fly rod for 53 years. I sometimes fish Yellow Breeches Creek in the spring so maybe we could get together right on the water so I could help you with your casting, stream lore, etc. Right now I'm recuperating from a full left hip replacement and am hoping by the end of March I will have regained my 100% full strength and mobility in my left leg.

If I'm still landlocked we could still get together and I could help with your casting and other subjects.

One of the best ways to learn is to join a local fly fishing club. Most clubs have fishouts & seminars. Y also meet fly fishers more than willing to help a new guy. Clubs are a fast track to learning the sport. Welcome to the greatest sport on earth. Joe

Thanks guys for all of your help. I have just purchased a few books that I will be reading beforw I adventure out

Joe wrote;

" Welcome to the greatest sport on earth."

Amen, brother! I love it (altho I bait fished first) as much now at 70 years old as I did when I caught my first trout in a stream, on a worm, when I was about 13 years old. Psst - I'm glad not everyone finds out how great it is!!