Brand new from Annapolis Maryland

[spinsheet]

Hello all, I'm a brand new fly fisherman from Annapolis Maryland. I used a borrowed fly rod about 30 years ago for about a year and haven't touched one since. I have no idea if I was even using the thing properly as I had no instruction whatsoever.

I did sign up for a fly tying class at Bass Pro shop and had my first one last week and it was lots of fun. I now have about 50 flies in my house...

I've fished a lot in lakes and farm ponds using baitcasters and spinning reels but not much at all with fly rods. I plan on fishing mainly farm ponds for Largemouth, crappie, and bluegill although since I live five minutes from the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries I wouldn't be too averse to fishing there for pearch, sea trout, and the occasional rockfish.

As I am a complete and total fly fishing newbie I have a lot of questions. What weight rod do I need? A 5 weight rod? Is the the Dogwood Canyon fly rod set from Bass Pro any good? I'm looking to get something affordable for my first rod and reel while I muck around trying to figure out exactly what I want.

---------- Post added at 10:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

Oh, and one more thing. What flies seem to work best for Largemouth in this area?

 

[williamhj]

Welcome! I'll let folks more familiar with your area answer your questions but I'm sure you'll find a lot of helpful folks here.

 

[bigjim5589]

Welcome! I saw your post on another site & replied there too. I'm in Arnold.

I don't know anything about that Dogwood Canyon rod so can't give you any opinion. Depending on your budget, Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) rods are very good.

For pond fishing a 5 wt should be fine, unless you're more interested in bass, then a 6 wt would be better IMO. Of course if you're primary interest is bass, then a 7 or 8 wt would be better still, because the lighter rods will limit the size flies you can cast. However, the heavier rods will be more than you need for the majority of panfish in this area.

Flies are easy, most anything will work in a pond, but it's a good idea to have some variety of sizes & both those that float & those that sink. You'll get various opinions about fly sizes, for panfish & bass. IMO you really don't need to go smaller than flies tied on size 8 hooks. Most of the time, any time I'm chasing panfish, I rarely go smaller than a size 6, and use size 4 most often. When you get smaller, particularly in our area, you'll get a lot of small fish swallowing the flies deep, making them hard to release & harming the fish. I miss many smaller fish with the size 4 hooks, but that's fine with me.

Poppers & sliders are good pond flies for topwater, and most any "buggy" looking flies for subsurface will be eaten. A few baitfish patterns are not a bad idea either. Crappies, Bass & perch all like baitfish flies, and even Bluegills will eat them. Woolly Buggers are a good pattern style that imitates many things so if you have them, that's a good start.

Largemouth flies for this area again don't need to be specific patterns. There are many that will work well just as a variety of lures will work. I use different pattern types, and they'll all work.

I'm a big fan of flies tied with rabbit strips, and the older styles such as Deceivers, Clouser Minnows, Half & Half's & Seaducers. These will also all work well for other area species such as Pickerel, and some of the panfish such as White & Yellow Perch. Some variety of sizes is a good idea.

As far as fly colors, you can get as complicated as you wish or as simple. Anything with a base color of white is always good for baitfish patterns. I like those that have black, olive or gray backs combined with white, which will imitate most anything that swims around here. I also use a lot of chartreuse, & black. Other colors will have there place too. For insect type patterns, I use olives & black most, but tans & browns can be productive at times. For Buggers, all colors will work, but again I use white, olive & black the most.

I mentioned the up coming Tiefest in my other post too. That's a great event that you should consider attending. There will be many fly tiers there that you can get some great advise from, and watch them tying. Check the CCA MD website for information. There's also been casting instruction at that event too. Lefty Kreh has given casting demonstrations the last few years, and you would be hard pressed to find a better person to learn some casting from.

 

[tennessee dave]

Welcome. A little research will reveal that most will recommend a 5wt rod but a little digging will convince you that the 6wt is probably the best bet if you are going to limit yourself to just one rod.

 

[jpbfly]

:welcomean spinsheet to the forum

 

[sandfly]

head to the susky flats in spring for the rockfish. the rivers in that area hold some nice bass, try hair poppers, and decievers in the local bait colors. A worm fly works around the thick grassy areas too.

 

[mcnerney]

Spinsheet: Welcome to the forum! I can't help much with your question, but it looks like the others are offering some great advice.
Sounds like you live in a great area for fly fishing, looking forward to reading about your fishing adventures!

 

[bigjim5589]

Sounds like you live in a great area for fly fishing, looking forward to reading about your fishing adventures!

There are a lot of opportunities here for a fly fisher, both in freshwater & tidal.

Take away the pollution & other environmental issues, the access problems inherent to such a densely populated area, the issues involving recreational versus commercial interests and the politics, and it would almost be like paradise!

 

[caseywise]

welcome to the forum spinsheet
lots of good folks here with lots of good answers.
as far as bass pro stuff, i have no idea. my choice, if doable, would be the new allen combos on sale.

ATS Series Combo Package - Allen Fly Fishing Store


casey

 

[lthrnk03]

:welcomean to the forum and the addiction. Poppers, clousers, deceivers, and dahlberg divers are a great place to start when bass fishing. Unless they are on the smaller side you are going to need something a little heavier than a 5wt rod, I speak from experience. My first two years fly fishing I tried casting heavier flies without much success at all, you just find that you get really frustrated. Hope this helps some.

 

[spinsheet]

Big Jim,

Thanks for all of the information! I just joined the CCA and I most certainly will be at Tiefest. I went there about five years ago and had a great time. Not sure why I didn't follow up with it but oh well, I'm hooked now so it really doesn't matter.

I'll probably go with a 5 wt rod, seems to be a good balance for what I'm looking for. If things go well I might get something heavier down the road as I wouldn't mind fishing for rockfish in the Bay but you have to start somewhere.

My Uncle has a small pond on his farm and I know that 20 years ago when I used to fish it it was simply crawling with Bluegill so I'm looking forward to going after them with a fly rod. Nothing better than fresh panfish on the grill.

I'm really enjoying the fly tying class at Bass Pro. The first class we were taught how to tie Woolly Buggers and now I must have 50 of the things in my house. Wife thinks I'm nuts. Tomorrow we learn to tie something else, looking forward to that. I just need to remember not to leave my receipts laying around the house, wife wasn't too happy about that. So much for a 'free' class...

I remember using a hula popper with my baitcaster for Largemouth so I'm looking forward to tying something similar for the fly rod.

Thanks everyone for all of the great advice, I can't wait for this weather to break so I can see how well my flies actually work

 

[brian miville]

Big Jim,


I remember using a hula popper with my baitcaster for Largemouth so I'm looking forward to tying something similar for the fly rod.

Ask and ye shall receive!

[ame=http://compare.ebay.com/like/160946822383?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar]Fred Arbogast FLY ROD sized HULA POPPER Solid Black Vintage Old Fishing Lure on eBay![/ame]

 

[bigjim5589]

Brian, Arbogast also made a fly rod version that had a single hook in the body, like most of the bass poppers we make have. They were shaped cork instead of molded plastic. That one you've pictured may or may not be the right size for a 5 wt, but it's cool to see them.

Stewart's Dancing Frog Popper, is a deer hair copy of the Hula Popper, and works as well.

 

[shotgunfly]

Welcome to the forum you'll find lots of good stuff here, least of which is what follows:

I'm in Virginia. I regularly fish farm ponds for LM bass and the shenandoah for smallies. For both I use 9' 5wt and 7wt. The former is a medium action which does great most of the time, but I reach for the latter (a tip flex/fast action) when the wind pickups or I want to throw big, hairy, feathery bass flies.

I sometimes take along a 8'6 full flex/slow action 3wt. It doesn't throw big flies but it can throw average size poppers. And being a full flex rod and a 3wt it makes those pan fish feel bigger and more fun! I've landed pan fish on the 5 and 7wts and it was no fun at all. You can literally whip em right out of the water if you're not careful.

That's my 2 cents! By all means ENJOY!

 

[brian miville]

Brian, Arbogast also made a fly rod version that had a single hook in the body, like most of the bass poppers we make have. They were shaped cork instead of molded plastic. That one you've pictured may or may not be the right size for a 5 wt, but it's cool to see them.

Stewart's Dancing Frog Popper, is a deer hair copy of the Hula Popper, and works as well.

Yeah I do remember seeing that one too many years ago, but could not seem to find any after a quick search though. I am guessing both the one I linked and the much smaller one are no longer made???? A pity. I love hula poppers on my light weight spinning rod.

 

[spinsheet]

I'll have to dig around in my basement for my old 1970s era Hula Popper...

 

[spinsheet]

OK, got my rod. I went to Great Feathers (north of Baltimore) and bought a Grey rod and reel. It's a 9' 5wt, seems really nice, a lot nicer than the Bass Pro brand I think (and a bit pricier).

I also went to Tie Fest with my 11 year old daughter. She has tied about 100 pink flies since then! Good times

I'm also heading up to the Manistee River in MI in late June and going to try out my rod on some trout. I've never been river fishing so this ought to be interesting!

Thanks for all of the info!