[Northshorejohn]

Hello All,


My Name is John and I was searching for fly fishing tips and happened across this forum. Been doing some reading and looking around and it is very impressive. Been Fishing my entire life, fresh water, deep sea, off shore, but never fly fishing except for once or twice 20-something years ago with the scouts.

But recently, while following my wife to a yard sale, I found a fly rod and reel for sale.

For a mere $5 I was the new owner of a Shakespeare rod and orvis reel. I have been practicing casting at a local lake just to work on my technique, so hopefully soon I will be flying and tying!

Thanks for the info so far, I am sure I will have plenty more questions!

[Frank Whiton]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum. You may find the FAQ section helpful and the search feature is very handy sometimes. We have some really nice folks on this forum and all willing to help.

Is your Shakespeare one of the white fiberglass ones? I had one of those yeas ago and couldn't cast it worth a darn. That thing was like a noodle. The Orvis reel may be a good find.

Frank

[Northshorejohn]

It is a brownish color, for $5 for the combo, I couldn't pass it up. Looks to have minimal use.

[Jose]

Welcome NSJ. You're right- this is a great forum with terrific folks. I'm happy to hear that you are getting into the sport. I would suggest that when you get a chance, go to a local fly shop with your rod and show them what you got. Let them see what you are doing with it and talk to them about maybe getting another rod, even if you're not planning to do that. You may get some great pointers from them and a chance to compare what you got to other rods. You may have what's just right for you...for now. I find that the more I talk to folks, the more tips I get, and the more I love the sport and the folks involved in this sport. Also, you learn what's hatching and where to hit them. In the end, it's all about fishing and having fun, so have a great time out there.

[smith950]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum. I am also pretty new. I did a lot of lurking before asking my first question. There are a lot of nice people here with good advise and helpful tips.

[Northshorejohn]

Thanks for the advice. when I bought it, there was no line on the reel, so I took the entire set up to the bass pro shop and the gentleman there helped me select a couple of items that he said I would need as well as a 7-8 line and tippet.

I live just North of Boston, so if someone would like to school me some time I would greatly appreciate it.

I am heading up to the mountains in NH this weekend for a little R&R and was planning on testing out some of my techniques and see if I can catch something. we'll see..

[Jose]

Hope you did well this weekend. Let us know how things turned out.

[Northshorejohn]

Weekend went well, ended up doing a good amount of bass fishing with my regular rod. I did spend a couple hours practicing from the shore with the fly rod. My neighbor up there is a well established fly fisherman so he was kind enough to give me pointers.

When casting I am over extending my arm and it is
1. causing the fly to slap the water when I draw the rod back
2. when trying to lay the line in the water, it is causing it to bunch up and just fall in a messy pile.

He suggested that I only work my arm from the 11:00 position to the 1:00 position.

Sound about right?


other than that, I had to spend some time playing in the sand and swimming with my daughter.

Thanks Guys!

[Jose]

Playing with daughter in sand and water is most important. I did the same this weekend. In terms of casting, I think this sample of the LL Bean Fly fishing book talks about your casing stroke issues (See pg 55): The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly ... - Google Book Search

[Northshorejohn]

Originally Posted by Jose

Playing with daughter in sand and water is most important. I did the same this weekend. In terms of casting, I think this sample of the LL Bean Fly fishing book talks about your casing stroke issues (See pg 55): The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly ... - Google Book Search

Thanks! I actually gave that book to my father for christmas last year, should have kept a copy for myself.