I Have A Confession To Make About Fly Fishing...

[kyratchethead]

Bless Me Father, for I have sinned....at least in the eyes of some fly fishers!

First off, let me start by saying that I love tying my own fishing flies and fly fishing. My

problem is that I just can't get the hang of casting a fly rod! Everytime I go fly fishing

with a fly rod, I can almost bet that I'm going to bury a fly in my ear.

For years, I have used an ultralight or light spinning rod to flyfish with. I usually use

a clear plastic bubble 18 inches or so up the line from the fly and this method does

catch fish! But I have been cursed and even threatened with bodily harm by other

fly fishers when they see me doing this! One fly fisher even called a Game Warden

on me in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for fishing this way. The Game

Warden finally agreed with me that I was doing nothing illegal - regs stated that

fly fishing with only a single hook fly was acceptable, which was what I was doing.

I started using a wire spinner for fly fishing several years ago and have had great

luck with this method, especially in lakes and ponds. Here is a homemade DIY wire

spinner form for fly fishing with a spinning outfit.

You can buy these commercially made but those have a shaft that's a bit too long

for my tastes. Plus if you make you own you can add a bead, as shown in the photo,

for some additional flash to get the fish's attention. These are simple to make :

1. Start by forming an eye on a 3-1/2" or 4" peice of .026 wire.

2. Add your hardware - beads, clevis and blade, and your choice of colored bead.

3. 1/2" from the end of your colored bead, form a regular spinning closure with

a hook snap.

I usually make about six of these at a time with Nickle, Brass, and Copper blades.

These are cheap enough to make that you can cast back in the stickups and not have

to worry about loosing the rig. The hook snap allows you to change out flies easily too.

I f you need extra weight to cast, put 1 or 2 removable split shot about 18" in front of the rig.

If you are interested in giving fly fishing with a spinning outfit a try, I highly recommend

Fly and Bubble Fishing Techniques by Allen Druke as a reading source. Even though I

have fly fished with a spinning outfit for years, I did learns several new tricks when I

read this book!

[kyratchethead]

If you know where there's a lake or pond with a bunch of bid 'ole bluegills in it,

throw something like this out in the water on an ultralight spinning rod and reel and

see what happens!

Edited February 5, 2010 by kyratchethead

[Uncle Grump]

If you know where there's a lake or pond with a bunch of bid 'ole bluegills in it,

throw something like this out in the water on an ultralight spinning rod and reel and

see what happens!

Rachet

I saved the url of your post away, and will be using it the future....got just the spot in mind, but right now it's covered w/ 20"+ of ice, so it will be 2-3 months before I can give your suggestion a try.

Thks

UG

[bassrecord]

Bless Me Father, for I have sinned....at least in the eyes of some fly fishers!

First off, let me start by saying that I love tying my own fishing flies and fly fishing. My

problem is that I just can't get the hang of casting a fly rod!

Have you tried Sage's 7' 11" Largemouth rod? It is getting good reviews for easy pin point casting much like an ultralite. Sage's is different than big fly rods. The kayak guys are using it to get way under overhangs like spinning rods but still have the fun of fly fishing. Perhaps a fly shop nearby has one you can sample. I understand Scott and Winston also sell a 7x11. The manufacturers designed stiffer fly rods and overlined the fly line to get the action. It works. But it takes some getting used to - if you are old school fly fisher <g>.

Good luck!