[jimw]

Ok guys time to teach an old salt a few new tricks I have never fished for freshwater trout before. I have alot of saltwater fly fishing experience. I have a new 5wt outfit with a floating line. I have no trout flies at all and was thinking about buying an assortment of pretied flies to start ( need sugestions) I have freshwater bass fished some not alot. I have no idea of where to fish, the closet places would be in Md. or Pa. I am trying to make it so i can fish year round. I do have a book called fly fishing made easy by david card and michael rutter lots of good info. In the salt I mostly cast for distance and have very little finese, presentation is not that big of a deal in salt water in the stained northeast waters. just from the book i know i have alot to learn. Delaware where I live has a few stocked stream but i dont mind a little travel to PA or Md.
HELP
Jim

[BigCliff]

Aside from finding a good place to fish, I'm guessing you're biggest challenges will be getting used to dead drifting a fly instead of throwing streamers and manipulating them by stripping in line. Stripped streamers definitely still produce, and might be a good way for you to get started, but its not the most productive method by any means.

If you're on netflix, you might get some of the trout fishing videos just so you can familiarize yourself with the techniques and what not.

Regarding flies, you'll want to get some wooly buggers in size 8 or 10 and in black and olive to fish as streamers. Nymphs would be the next thing you'll want to aquire. I'd get some Hare's ears, some pheasant tails, and some Copper Johns in size 16, and in both beadhead and beadless when applicable. Bigger and smaller sizes will be applicable at times, but 16 is a safe bet for general trouting.

You'll also want to get some 9' 4x leaders and a spool of 4x and 5x tippet. With that, some indicators, and your boots and waders, you're well on your way to being prepared to catch trout.

[shorthaul]

some of the best trout fishing around isnt that far from you in the limestone area of pa---i fished the Yellow Breeches and did well around Mt.Holly Springs---the Letort is another classic but i never fished it--i fished mostly the freestoners of western pa and a lot more on The Au Sable in michigan

The book that i started out with was "Trout" by Joe Brooks (out of print classic)
and the 2 books by Swisher and Richards---"Selective Trout" and "Fly Fishing Strategies"

The books will give you a decent understanding of what you are trying to accomplish---the time that you go will dictate what flies you will need if you are matching the hatch

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Jim,

This is going to be a big change for you. Being new to Trout fly fishing the fly packages you buy usually are not a good deal. The never seem to have the right size or type of fly. Your best bet is to pick the area you want to fish most and then visit a fly shop in the area. This will give you flies normally used where your are fishing and it will establish a link to a bunch of information from the local shop.

Another option is to call a shop like Feather Craft and talk to someone who has fished the water you are interested in. They can send you flies that will be useful.

The flies that Cliff mentioned are a very good starting point. I would add some Prince Nymphs to that list.

Before you buy flies you need to decide if you are going to be Dry Fly fishing (on the surface) or nymph/wet fly fishing (sub-surface). Your leader and setup will be different for the two different types of fly fishing for trout. The local fly shop can help you with leaders, tippets, float indicators and knots.

Frank

[shorthaul]

Originally Posted by Frank Whiton

Hi Jim,

This is going to be a big change for you. Being new to Trout fly fishing the fly packages you buy usually are not a good deal. The never seem to have the right size or type of fly. Your best bet is to pick the area you want to fish most and then visit a fly shop in the area. This will give you flies normally used where your are fishing and it will establish a link to a bunch of information from the local shop.

Frank

I was going to go back and mention that----the fly assortments may not be a good idea, especially in dries. Sometimes the trout can be really selective and the size difference of even one hook size would be enough to get refusals or even put down the fish
The first thing to do is decide on where you are going and read as much as you can on the area and see if there is a general emergence chart for the area---when i fished the yellow breeches, the first thing i did is go to the flyshop in boiling springs and see what fly is expected to be on the water---get those and have the generic nymphs and attractor patterns mentioned by Frank and Cliff. At least you will be armed with the proper pattern and size fly you will expect to see.
I hired a guide in Durango to fish the Delores River even though id been fishing trout for 25 years ---its another option to step up the learning curve.

[MBWCC]

The nearest (and perhaps only) in-state trout stream for you is the White Clay Creek north of Newark, DE. Since you most likely have a DE fishing license it might be worth starting on the White Clay Creek. The trout are all stocked, and if you pull up the DE state fisheries stocking information you'll find a map showing the stocking points between Newark and the PA state line. There are plenty of trout still holding in those general areas although you might need to work up or down stream a few 100 yards to find the deep holes where the fish have moved since the stocking in October.

Right now the trout in the White Clay Creek are hitting stonefly, mayfly, and midge nymph naturals, the stonefly and mayfly naturals are 6-10 mm, the midges are ~#22-26 hook size. There is very little action on top except for occassional swirls chasing midge emergers mid-afternoon. Any stonefly, mayfly, or midge nymph fly should do well right now. I have recently had good success with soft hackle pheasant tails (size 16-18), partridge & green (size 16-18), and black/gray midge larvae (size 22-24), all flies fished bumping along the bottom with weight above the fly and a strike indicator on top.

[Joni]

Trout fishing is pretty much all I do, but I will tell you, what flies work here in Utah, don't always work in Idaho. I don't get it, we are not that far apart, same bugs, same fish, same weather.
That is why I always start of with the old standbys like Prince, Copper Johns, PT, and for dries, Sofa Pillows, Humpies, Griffith, and Royal Wulffs.

[jimw]

I have decided to tie my own i already have pretty much everything I need from tying saltwater flies except maybe some smaller hooks (and stronger glasses) and a good DVD or book. I also have a guy in our fly club that goes to Shenandoah alot and he said he will take me and get me started. We had a club tie today and they had a guest tier who tied some very interesting articulaed squid flys, they look very life like then he put them in a big tub of water and they looked alive amazing at what some guys come with at the vice. 60 days til spring. Does anyone have and good books or dvd they would recommend?
Jim

[jimw]

Hey MBWCC isnt there a fly shop near there too? that may be a good start it close and probally not very crowded this time of year. Thanks for the info i hope i can find the hole in the eye on the small hooks.
Jim

[Joni]

I am going to recommend Netflix. They have got a bunch of DVD's. The Fly Fishing Magazine DVD's have some great flies.