# Beginner Needs some pointers



## jfarrand (Dec 21, 2010)

Hi Guys, I am a college age student but grew up trout fishing with my dad and have always used spinning tackle and now this year I am interested in trying the fly rod out. I was just wondering what are some good fly patterns or flies in general to begin using? I mainly fish small brook trout streams that have the occasional brown. Any help would be awesome and greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and good luck.


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## rvrwader (Jan 29, 2012)

You're in luck. Brookies are the easy ones!!! Browns and Rainbows on the other hand can be a lot tougher. The selection will depend on what rivers you are fishing. In general though these should do you. Nymphs: Gold Ribbed Hares Ears in various sizes and colors, Brassies, Pheasant Tails and Prince Nymphs. Dry Flies: Adams, Blue Wing Olives, Elk Hair Caddis and other brightly colored attractor pattern. Also don't forget the terresterials. Ants both flying and regular, crickets, beetles, and grasshoppers. 

Hope this helps. Im sure I missed a few though.


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## woolybug25 (Aug 9, 2011)

If you are fishing small brook trout streams with occasional browns I suggest getting an 8ft 4wt. This is a pretty versatile rod that you can use on other trout waters as you expand your fly fishing to other rivers. 

As far as flies, there is a phrase that I always tell beginners to remember, "keep it simple, stupid". This isn't meant to be offensive, but rather something to remember that will help you develop the basic skills needed to catch fish. Oftentimes, people try to learn too much about the sport and then don't have fun because they aren't catching fish and they don't feel confident. So learn three basic setups for your small stream fishing. 

First, learn how to fish a nymph rig. When things are slow, you can float this through any deep hole and you will hit fish. This will also help you learn how to get flies into the zone and increase your confidence. Here is what it looks like:









Get these nymphs and use them extensively until you know more about entomology (the science of bugs) and bug identification. Look under the rocks and pick the flies that most resemble the one's you see.
- prince nymph








- hairs ear








- copper john








- caddis larvae








- midge larvae








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See next post, it only lets me post so many pics per post.


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## woolybug25 (Aug 9, 2011)

Next, get some dry flies. These can be fished on the same 7 1/2 foot leader that is shown above. Once you get to larger streams, you will eventually need to fish longer leaders, but 7 1/2 is more than long enough for the brook trout streams you will be fishing, the leader strength you should use is 5x (this too, will change later as you fish other waters). This is even easier than the nymph rig. There is no indicator or lead, just a fly tied to the leader. Easy peezy. If you see trout eating bugs off of the surface, throw a dry fly on that looks like it. Some people will suggest all types of different bugs, and once you get more advanced you will want to know them too, but until then get these four patterns.
- elk hair caddis
- Adams
- griffiths gnat
- Stimulator

The first three, use shape and size to know what to fish. Get the Griffiths gnat in small sizes (16-22) and fish them whenever you see them eating really small bugs. If you see them eating bugs that look like a sailboat on the water, fish the Adams (sz 14-16). If the bugs don't look like a sailboat, but rather have wings that lay flat on their backs, then throw the Elk Hair Caddis (sz 12-16). Finally, if it is mid July or August and you see grasshoppers or you just want to fish dry flies, throw the Stimulators (sz 8-12). Here are what they look like

Elk Hair Caddis









Adams









Griffith's Gnat









Stimulator








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Finally, get some small small streamers to strip when the water is high or if you are fishing a particularly brushy section of your brook trout stream. Now, I and many others fish big streamers on heavy sinktips, but you wont need all of that on the small brook trout streams you are fishing. It is an entirely different subject, and I would be happy to talk to you about that when you venture off of the small brook trout streams that you inquired about. 

Streamers on the small streams you are fishing can be fished on a short leader of 4 feet. This can even be a straight up piece of four feet of 8pound maxima. Pick up these three flies:

Conehead Woolybug (get black, white and brown)









Muddler Minnow









Nutcracker









Throw these up against the bank, let them sink a lil bit and then strip. Simple as that. 

The best advice I can give a new fly fisherman is to pick one piece of water and few few patterns/techniques. Learn those well first before venturing off into the other parts of the sport. Because if you aren't aren't catching fish and you aren't having fun, then you wont ever learn how to do it well. 

Remember, "Keep It Simple, Stupid".


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## Fishalot (Aug 25, 2008)

Nice post woolybug25! This is what makes this a great site with the help members are willing to give.


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## fishinlk (Apr 14, 2000)

Great advice!


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

yes some great advice 

I do not like fishing deer hair on small tight streams but each their own. I like more traditional flies such as mickey finns, black ghosts, spruce flies light and dark , matucka sculpins 
Type of pattern I do not like to fish tend to float more than sink see pic are good if you can make a long strip with the fly line. 
Zoo cougar white : 

 


Pattern I like for small creeks 
Mickey finns: 
http://www.riverbum.com/Mickey-Finn/

Black ghost:
http://www.riverbum.com/Black-Ghost/
Spruce fly light dark similar:
 
Matucka scuplins
http://www.riverbum.com/Matuka-Sculpin-Olive/


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## woolybug25 (Aug 9, 2011)

swaprat said:


> yes some great advice
> 
> I do not like fishing deer hair on small tight streams but each their own.


Thanks for the feedback. I have always had a love/hate relationship with deer hair myself. So i'll give you some reasoning behind why I have beginners usually start with the three streamers above. 

For longer strips and deep pools (rare on a small brook trout streams) I have them use a conehead woolybug because it is the easiest streamer to fish in existence. It is easy to identify and also has it's own built in weight, which allows it to still have good movement vs fishing streamers with lead shot on, which kills the action. All of these streamer choices are meant to teach a beginner fly fisherman streamer method, first and foremost. This is hard to do if they are doing things like adding weight to the line and killing the action of their fly. Bad habits are hard to break. Each of these patterns are also distinctly different from eachother in presentation.

In regards to deer hair, small/bushy streams are the best place to learn how to fish them because you usually don't have to get very deep because you are either pounding the brush covered bank or pulling it through a hole of only a couple feet long/deep. Using deer hair flies only gets more difficult as the water you fish gets bigger. Fishing deer hair first before venturing off into non-deer hair streamers teaches the valuable lesson to beginners that streamer fishing has very little to do with _feeding_ fish, but rather it's about triggering a predatory response from an apex fish set up in an ambush position (Kelly Galloup talks about this in depth in his book "Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout). So I use the Muddler Minnow and the Nutcracker (I use to teach with a Zoo Cougar, but found that beginners have an easier time with the Nutcracker) because they have different, but equally important qualities. First, the Muddler is one of the best swimming streamers in existence. It naturally dances and dives with ease by giving fast, deliberate pulls. It's a perfect imitation of a darting minnow. The Nutracker teaches a beginner about the importance of "pushing water". Apex fish get triggered through their lateral line, so diving/deer head streamers like the Nutracker teach a beginner how to trigger that response. 

Moral of my story is that these three flies teach the three basic principles of streamer fishing (depth, movement and triggering predatory responses). That's why I usually suggest them.


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

woolybug25 said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I have always had a love/hate relationship with deer hair myself. So i'll give you some reasoning behind why I have beginners usually start with the three streamers above.
> 
> For longer strips and deep pools (rare on a small brook trout streams) I have them use a conehead woolybug because it is the easiest streamer to fish in existence. It is easy to identify and also has it's own built in weight, which allows it to still have good movement vs fishing streamers with lead shot on, which kills the action. All of these streamer choices are meant to teach a beginner fly fisherman streamer method, first and foremost. This is hard to do if they are doing things like adding weight to the line and killing the action of their fly. Bad habits are hard to break. Each of these patterns are also distinctly different from eachother in presentation.
> 
> ...


 
that's some good advise from woolybug25 i have always had a heck of a time fishing on tight streames with deer hair not saying it can't be done it just a pian in the rump feathers to do. but it is good pratice like he said that maybe why i go to the streamer i do. maybe it is a bad habit who knows.


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## jfarrand (Dec 21, 2010)

Thanks a million guys I will head to the sporting goods store and pick a few of these flies up and try them out. Now all I need is for trout opener on my stream. Any more info please keep it coming and thanks to all those who already commented (especially the long in depth one). Take care and good luck, I'll let you guys know how I do when the time comes.


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## jm77 (Dec 21, 2011)

The mickey finn is a good brookie fly in smaller sizes also. It's an old style bucktail streamer but great color combination for brook trout and you can fish it in all the same spots you would a spinner. Any other fly with some red in it should do well too, as you probably know. Good luck.


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

jfarrand said:


> Thanks a million guys I will head to the sporting goods store and pick a few of these flies up and try them out.


By the time we're done with you, you need to BUY a sporting goods store!

If you're starting out on brook trout, and haven't fly fished before, keep things simple. You've got a lot to learn with respect to line management, presentation and casting. Dangling wet flies and soft hackles across and downstream (with a floating fly line and tapered leader) through dark water will get you into a fish in no time. Leadwing Coachman and a simple "partridge and brown" soft hackle is as complicated as you need to get for that. Learn the roll cast for that technique. http://wolverineflyfishingjournal.com/content/swinging-soft-hackles

After you've caught a few that way, turn around and face upstream. Cut off the wet flies and tie on a size 12 or 14 Royal Wulff or Lime Trude dry fly. Practice short distance casting, so you can work on getting a "dead drift" for the dry fly. Brook trout will be happy to let you know when you get it right (or even wrong, they really don't care).

After that, we'll move you up to swinging and ripping streamers for bigger fish. 

Stay with us. You've got a lot to learn. The good news is . . . IT'S FUN.


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## jfarrand (Dec 21, 2010)

Thanks again you guys have been awesome and very helpful. Hopefully next year I will have a little extra cash a be able to get some better equipment to chase some steel but for now I will hone my skills on the brookies. Thanks again.


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## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

wow, that answer should be stickied for all to refer to. nice work.


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