Welcome to Fly Fishing for Beginners – The Ultimate Guide. If you have ever wanted to step up your fly fishing game, you have come to the right place!
If you’re looking for some gear recommendations then check out our Fly Fishing Gear Checklist to make sure you have all the equipment you need.
Learning The Ropes
Fly fishing is awesome. It’s one of the most popular forms of fishing for a reason! You get to master a difficult and rewarding skill whilst marveling at the great outdoors, what’s not to love?
At first, the unusual casting technique of whipping the line back and forth through the air can come across as pretty tricky and sometimes feels too hard to pursue.
It’s worth persevering, though. Once you nail the cast, fly fishing becomes one of the most rewarding forms of fishing out there.
I’ve learned a lot over the years I’ve been fly fishing, but the learning curve was definitely the steepest when I first started.
I wouldn’t have improved at all if it wasn’t for the tips and guidance I was given by more experienced fly fishers.
To pay it forward and help out a beginner, I’ve compiled a handy guide of all the best fly fishing trips I’ve ever been given.
I’ll even give you my number 1 top tip for fly fishing for beginners. Hopefully, you find them interesting and helpful. But more importantly, I hope they get you on your way to catching your next big fish!
What is fly fishing?
Fly fishing is a style of fishing with a pretty specific and unusual cast. By whipping a length of the heavy line back and forth, energy is loaded into the rod.
The weight of the line then carries a lightweight artificial fly to your targeted spot on the water.
Flies are made out of natural and synthetic materials like feathers, colorful thread, and wire. They are designed to mimic the food fish eat like flying insects, insect larvae, and baitfish.
The flies either float or are dragged through the water by ‘stripping’ the line back to attract a fish. Once a fish bites, you ‘reel’ the line back in using your free hand.
Fly fishing is a great fishing technique for saltwater and freshwater fishing. If you’re fly fishing in the ocean, you can wade in the surf or fish from a boat.
Similarly, if you’re freshwater fishing, you can fish from the shore or wading in a river or lake or a boat.
When it comes to fly fishing for beginners it’s probably best to stick to lakes and rivers for now.
How to start fly fishing?
One of the best tips for fly fishing for beginners is to go fly fishing with a buddy who’s been before. They can show you how to avoid a ton of mistakes, and it’s easy to make a lot of them if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Check out our article here on the top fly fishing mistakes and how to avoid them.
You can also watch videos online before heading out. There are thousands of fly fishing videos out there that can give you a great head start before you go on your first trip.
Before you hit the water, it’s worth practicing the cast to get used to its movement. I first learned to cast by flicking a line back and forth in my backyard.
At first, I snagged myself and my clothes with the fly. A handy tip is to put some cork or foam on the hook when you’re practicing. You’ll thank me later.
When you first go out, I’d say hit a lake. Lakes are often calmer and deeper and have fewer obstacles to get your line and hook snagged on.
Choosing the best spot in a fast-flowing river or the surf of the ocean is tricky, and you probably want to start somewhere easy so that you can focus on the cast itself. Once you’ve nailed that, then get more adventurous.
Another great way to start fly fishing for beginners is by hiring a guide. Not only will they show you some of the best spots to hit, but they can also help you perfect your cast and teach you how to read the water and improve your chances of actually catching a fish.
What kind of gear do I need to start fly fishing?
One of the best things about fly fishing is the gear. Most of it is well made and a pleasure to look at as well as use. I have made a Fly Fishing Gear Checklist here so you can make sure you have all of the equipment you need.
I especially love looking at all the different types of flies people have come up with.
There are literally thousands. If you’re feeling really creative, you can even tie your own!
To get out fly fishing, you will need, at a bare minimum, a fly rod, fly reel, and fly line (which includes line, leader, and tippet) as well as some flies.
These are all designed specifically for fly fishing, as the casting technique doesn’t work with a spinning set up. When choosing your flies, I would say get a selection of dry and wet flies.
Dry flies mimic bugs landing on the water and are designed to float and stay dry. Wet flies sink are stripped back through the water, mimicking something swimming.
A handy tip for fly fishing for beginners is to get two reels. One with a dry set up and one wet. When you want to try the different techniques, all you have to do is swap out reels instead of cutting lines and retying a bunch of tricky knots.
You’ll really benefit from having a good, sturdy backpack with you as well, preferably one that’s waterproof. Check out this article to check out our favorites.
Knots
Speaking of knots, you should try to learn a few of the basic ones before you first go fly fishing. Check out this website for some great guides on how to tie fishing knots.
Lines and leaders are definitely going to snap, you will lose some flies, so brush up on tying a few knots beforehand to save yourself a lot of trouble when you’re out on the water.
There are hundreds of knots out there, but don’t worry. There are lots of great videos online showing you exactly how to perfect each knot. I would recommend trying to learn the following 5 knots:
- Clinch Knot – for attaching your fly to the tippet
- Improved Clinch Knot – the same as above but better
- Surgeon’s Loop – to attach the backing to the reel
- Blood Knot – to connect leader to leader
- Perfection Loop – a neat way to attach a fly to the tippet so it can float freely
Casting
I’m not going to lie. The fly fishing cast is one of the trickiest casting styles out there.
It took me a good few months to get it to where I could cast a fly where I wanted, and I’m still a long way away from a great cast. Perfecting your technique can take years, if not a lifetime.
Don’t worry, though, there are only a few steps to it, and understanding the process isn’t very difficult. It’s just repeating it enough times to fine-tune your muscles to snap the line forward at precisely the right moment.
Practice, practice, practice, and you’ll get there, I promise.
There are two popular casting techniques for fly fishing, the overhead cast and the roll cast.
I would recommend beginning with the overhead, which I will outline here. Once you’re a little more comfortable with it, try moving onto the roll cast.
Follow these steps to execute an overhead cast:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Hold your rod in your dominant hand and with your thumb on top of the handle.
- You want ten feet or so of line dangling from the end of your rod.
- First, bring the rod tip sharply up and back – the line should move in a broad arc up, over, and behind you.
- When the rod tip is past vertical, somewhere around the 2 o’clock position on a clock, stop the backward movement abruptly. The heavy line will keep traveling backward, loading the rod with energy as the line straightens out behind you.
- Once all the line is straight out behind you, bring the rod tip forward in a smooth, accelerating stroke. The line will travel forward, moving in a loop.
- Lower the rod tip towards the water, stopping it when it’s about parallel with the water. The line should unroll right in front of you, delivering your fly to that exact, precise spot you were targeting!
Once you’ve tried the overhead cast and got a bit more used to it, try the roll cast. It’s a bit trickier to dial down, but it will come in handy when fishing spots where there isn’t any room behind you.
Finding the perfect fly fishing spot
Once you’ve got your gear, practiced your cast a few hundred times in your backyard, learned how to tie a few basic knots, and otherwise prepared yourself to start fly fishing, you are going to have to find a body of water you think is suitable.
Once you’re there, go and cast a fly into the water in hopes of catching a big, hungry fish. Dream big!
To improve your chances, you don’t want to just cast randomly. To do this, try to think like a fish. Somebody gave me this advice years ago, and it sounds weird, so it stuck.
Fish are always trying to conserve energy while eating as much as they can. They’re doing this whilst also trying not to be eaten.
Just like us, fish need oxygen, food, and shelter. If you think about these things, it will help you narrow down your target. Also, always remember to check out what’s behind you.
The line has to go back as far as it’s going to go forward (or thereabouts). So it’s a good idea to take a look over your shoulder for any bushes, trees or passersby!
Check out our article on how to find a good fly fishing spot here.
Safety
Any fly fishing for beginners wouldn’t be complete without mentioning safety. It’s worth bearing in mind a few tips concerning safety when you go out fly fishing.
It’s not exactly an extreme sport, but if things go wrong in nature, a situation can quickly get out of control if you’re not prepared for emergencies.
First off, check the local authority’s website for details on what licenses or permits you need for fly fishing in your area. A lot of species of fish have specific seasons, times of the year when you can and can’t catch them, as well as legal and illegal sizes.
A terrible way to start fly fishing is by getting slapped with a hefty fine because you didn’t check the rules and regulations first.
If you’re headed out somewhere wild like the backcountry or the open ocean, let someone know where you’re going and what time you plan on being back.
If you don’t return, they can let the authorities know, and it won’t take long to find you. Otherwise, they might not even know where to begin.
Take sun cream, a hat, and polarized sunglasses.
Fly fishing means standing, often in water with no shade, for extended periods. The water will often be cold, so you might not feel hot, but the sun’s UV rays are seriously not to be trifled with.
Protecting yourself against the sun’s harmful rays is one of the most essential safety tips when it comes to fly fishing, and you should take it seriously.
Other than that, try not to fall on any rocks, so wear functional boots and sturdy clothes. Pack some bug spray if the mosquitoes are out. And if you’re fishing with a buddy, remember to give each other enough room, so you don’t hook one another!
#1 top tip for beginners
That’s a lot of information to take in, especially if you’re brand new to fly fishing. So, I’ll leave you with what is, in my opinion, the best tip I’ve been given: practice casting. A lot. When you’re done practicing, practice some more.
The cast is super tricky, there’s no denying it, and it can get extremely frustrating if your casts are getting snagged in rocks, trees, and bushes and you’re having to deal with a headwind while trying not to fall in the water.
That’s too much to take in for a beginner and getting annoyed and stressed out will only lessen your chances of sticking at it through the hard times.
But if you do stick at it, and practice a ton, then fly fishing can be one of the most rewarding skills you will ever learn.
It’s a fantastic feeling to deliver a fly and watch it disappear under the water as a hungry fish gladly bites it. That’s when fly fishing truly begins.
Don’t forget to check out our Fly Fishing Gear Checklist to find all of the gear you will need to be successful as a fly fishing angler.
As always, good luck out there and happy fishing!