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3. Long-time reader, never-time poster? Start here!, Page 11

Hi Matt-

Nice intro. Welcome to Jason's wonderful forum and website. Hope to hear more from you in the future.

A most warm welcome to all of our newbies! You will find much useful information here, shared by our generous posters. And even some fly fishing companions - a certain Oldredbarn (aka Spence) & I hooked up for a couple of nights chasing smallmouth last year, the second of which resulted in the largest fish I have ever caught on a dry fly (18" smallie - on a 3-weight to boot!). So, we got us a good thing goin' on here - to all of you new folks, enjoy!! This place is a goldmine of fly fishing wisdom, thanks to Jason.

Jonathon

I've been to this thread a couple of times, and I guess now is my time to post.

My name is Brent and I'm from the northern tip of the lower peninsula in Michigan. I have only been fly fishing for about two years and have really enjoyed it so far. I am fully addicted now, allocating almost all of my spare time to the research of fly tying and fly fishing. I am also an undergraduate student at Lake Superior State University, so during the winter here I tie flies until my materials run out. This site is packed full of information and the more I read, the more respect I have for the forum.

I normally struggle when I am on the trout stream. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, but I think as long as I participate here I can figure something out. Hopefully, I can plan on getting out with some troutnuts this spring and summer. If you are are in my area, and want to put me on some fish in my home water, I would appreciate it.

I do my best to fish the Pigeon, Sturgeon, Maple, and Black Rivers here, and jump around on little creeks and some of the warm water inland lakes.

I like what I have seen so far on troutnut.com, and I appreciate Jason's work.

Brent, we will most definitely hook up (no pun intended - well, maybe a little) this summer up in your area and I will impart some of my wisdom to you (and probably vice-versa). I'll be wanting to hit the Maple after my last visit there in June (more details later - I'm about to head to lunch)...

Jonathon

Hey everyone,

My name's Ryan and I've only been fly fishing for a few years. I started going to school in Northern Wisconsin and I had heard all the glory stories of the big Northern Rivers and the trout and steelhead runs from the big lake. Up until that point I had only a few outings in eastern Tennessee and am still a novice at fly fishing, but ever since I caught a little fingerling bow on a #16 san juan up a little mountain creek in Tennessee I've been hooked. (ask my girlfriend,all I can think about is fly fishing or the streams around here). I missed all of last season because I was down south in "wonderful" Ft. Benning, GA. I'm looking forward to getting out some this spring and hammering some trout and finally getting a taste of these wisconsin trout.

i'm 54yrs old, and i've been fishing since i was 9. took up fly fishing 2yrs ago, and wish i would've done it a long time ago. having a riot, struggling at times, got a lot to learn. anyone familiar with the wiscoy creek in nys?

Just popped in to say hello. My name is Lucas and I live on Boulder Creek in Colorado. I learned to fly fish when I was six and spent 2 weeks on the river every summer until I was sixteen. Now I'm 37 and have recently re-kindled my passion for it. Glad I found this site, and I'll post more in the near future. I've got tons of questions. Happy Fishing, Lucas

So, every year from the time I was 6 until now I've done nothing but fish dry flies during the summer months. Now it is winter in Colorado and i've never fished during this time of year before...Advice? Suggestions? Anything from how to set my rig up....to advice on flies... would be apppreciated. It was 65 degrees at button rock yesterday 1-28-11. Flies were hatching.

@Bellsporter, for winter in Colorado I normally clip the dries and go to ultra light leaders and really small midge patterns sub-surface. I think though for dries maybe any small midge pattern would probably work. I am sure there is someone way more experienced with winter dry fly fishing than me on here though.

Winter fishing is hit or miss. Tailwaters, with warmed reservoir flow, offer the most consistent, often daily, dry fishing potential. On freestones dry fishing is almost non-existent, but the potential picks up in late winter with midges and winter stones on nice days.

Dunno whether Button Rock offers a deep welling discharge below the dam. Never fished there -at least made it up to the dam. The dam on the Big T does have some winter midge fishing. Winter midge fishing is flatwater fishing with tiny flies on 7X. Some days are better than others. Otherwise, nymphs are much more consistent.

Thanks for your replys, guys. It's been difficult learning about winter fishing. I've been dropping nymphs and midges as close to the bottom as i could guess. I'll keep trying. Should I move to 7x? Is it that important? Been using 5 or 6x. Super small flies.Once again thanks for the advice, I'll take all i can get.

When nymphing, fine tippets are more important in cold viscous water to get flies down and detect takes.

If there's a trick to frigid water nymphing its recognizing winter trout holds. That will be the slowest water in a given pocket. Bigger flat pools are obvious and can pile up fish. That's where the dry actionis apt to happen. But nymphing is good anywhere winter trout are stacked up. Try the slow eddies along the banks keeping quiet. Water can be surprisingly shallow -it's the current speed that is critical. Reduced and dense winter flow require a sensitive indicator. I may use a small yarn on calmer waters. I keep hooks sharp as takes can be light, and I'm apt to be have chilly hands. For deeper spots with more turbulence (calm holds are among bottom substrate) I use a foam or cork indicator and a 6wt rod on waters I'd use a 4wt in summer, to handle the heavier shot to get down.

Take home: Location and drift speed are key. Once you see it, you'll understand and be back in the game. Winter is not an obstacle, except during real cold snaps when trout activity nearly shuts down.

Hey guys, just popping in to say hellow with my first post. My name is Jeff and I'm a wild trout snob. I don't/won't fish stocked water. Honesty is the best policy (wink). I simply target native brookies and wild browns on small mountain streams, pretty much exclusively here in Pa.

I've been chasing wild trout for 30 years, but mostly with ultra-lite spinning gear until only a few years ago. So, there's PLENTY that I can learn from you guys. I just bought a new "small stream" set up! I got the StCroix 7' 3wt rod (4pc) and a Loomis Venture 3 reel. Sound good?

Hi Guys:
My name is Jim and I just recently found this great site. It has been very enjoyable and informative so far. I live in R.I. where we have some great saltwater fishing but I'm mostly addicted to trout. Started out fishing with my Dad in CT. as a live bait guy fishing live shiners many moons ago. Then I found the fly rod and the addiction started! My two favorite rod makers are Winston and St Croix with a total of nine rods currently owned (don't tell my wife). I live on the Wood River in RI and my other favorite spots are the Upper CT. in N.H. and the Farmington, Willimantic and Shetucket all in CT. I think fly fishing is more than a sport it's a state of mind that we can all escape to. I only wish I had more time to do it. I hope you all have a great season. Jim

Welcome!

Fontinalis, I'm a small stream, wild trout snob too lol. Your rod choice sounds excellent. But for nymphing you may end up needing an addition -a 5wt. That'll come; you'll know when you need it.

Hi, my name is Jason. I was on here back on 2007. I fish mostly SE MN and W Wisconsin. I've been busy raising a family. My kids are a little older now and my oldest son will be 6 next month. I've been building guitars now instead of fish taxidermy. www.moonlightguitars.com I made a guitar with bluegill shaped sound ports and a trout carving on the end of the fretboard. I hope to get back into the groove with trout fishing, now that my kids are getting into it. Thanks Jason for keeping my username active. I was surprised it still worked. If anyone has any questions on SE MN streams, I might be able to help. hint, adams #14, my favorite.

Actually found this forum in error, but now I'm here...My name is Byron Thiel and I live in Altrincham which is on the outskirts of Manchester, england and have done since 2002, north London 31 years before that. How I ended up living in england is a long story beginning with an eight year tour overseas with the air force and meeting my wife who was then working at a West End hotel leased by the DoD in London. Had all my tackle stolen from my garden shed in 1979 and didn't do any fishing again till 2007 when a former workmate talked me into going with him-then promptly emigrated to Canada which left me high and dry as I don't drive any more and I'm getting a bit long in the tooth to go back to it. My wife does, but she's disabled so can't drive far enough to reach local waters.Fortunately I've contacted some local anglers who have been kind enough to take me out with them, but it's been difficult and frustrating when people promise to help and then vanish completely. One fellow took me out throughout April once a week then nothing and no contact since! I love tying my own flies and don't fancy buying any so that's what I do when I'm not fishing or painting or drawing pictures about fishing and hunting. I so look forward to reading interesting posts from forumites and do introduce yourself by pm if you wish.

Welcome FT07. Fishing is something you can do by yourself -It can be tough to find a partner that really works out well. It's wonderful when you can though. Keep reading, tying, and fishing. It'll come together.

Hello Byron-


Welcome to the forum. I'm guessing that you may have been stationed at the former Air Force Base at Moses Lake. Is that the case?

Hi Taxon-Nope never stationed at Fairchild-stationed at McChord-Tacoma/Ft Lewis June 70-71 just before I served my last year with the air force. My Mom came from out your way-only had her ashes sprinkled in the waters of San Juan Island recently as she was born in Roche Harbour. She died Feb 28th aged 87 and fortunately I was able to spend two weeks with her last June in Grand Coulee where my brother still lives. My service record-6 months active duty with Army Nat. Guard Jan-July 1963-Ft Ord, Ca and Ft Sill, OK. USAF-Lackland, San Antonio, TEX AP trng Sep-Dec 1963, Tachikawa, Japan Jan-June 1964, Naha, Okinawa Jun 1964-July 1965, Bitburg, W. Germany Aug 1965-July 1968, Grand Forks, ND Sep 1968-Jun 1970 and the last year at Mc Chord, emigrated to england in July, 1971