New and what made you convert?

[CopperJess]

I still switch hit, but it's about 90% fly, with the rest being throwing jig and bobber for steelhead while floating between swing runs.

My conversion moment was playing golf in Central Oregon while visiting from out of state, looking down at the Deschutes and thinking that looked like good fly fishing water. Maybe I should learn. Which led me to want to move to Oregon, and here we are.

Jigs and bobbers are great for steelhead. I’m going to try fly fishing for them for the first time this winter. There are a couple hatchery runs I plan to hit in December.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome! Great introduction. When did I convert? Never did, I still use gear from time to time. Please see below the subject: "Gear Fishing Dirtbags".

I've been flyfishing now for about 50 years, bass are beginning to call my name.

Follow that call to bass, it’s a good time. Also glad to see there are people in this forum besides the purists.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome and great fish!

My grandpa started working on me to pick up fly fishing and tying when I was around 12. He didn’t have to push very hard. I was already obsessed with fishing. But I didn’t really get focused until my early 20’s. I was living in Seattle and would explore the “S” rivers for searun cutthroat, salmon, and steelhead. Sometimes head east and camp on the basin lakes. Then I moved east about 20 years ago and got really into stillwater trout. I’ve caught some decent bass on the fly and have tried just enough warm water fishing to know there’s a lot to learn

 

[CopperJess]

I’m still learning so much about bass fishing and it’s my third season targeting them. I’ve never been this frustrated targeting cold water species before.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome and nice bass!

I used to think fly fishing was dorky AF. I wasn’t wrong but I got into it anyway!

Started going fishing for steelhead with gear and jigs with a crew of fly guys about 12 years ago I think. Wanted to try tying my own jigs and bought a shitty vice from Sportman’s. About a week later I bought my first fly rod set up off CL. I figured I might as well go all in since I bought the vice and all. YouTube and friends helped me figure out the tying thing and I became a full blown fly fishing addict.

I still use that shitty vice to this day and despite its lack of functions, bells and whistles it still holds a hook surprisingly well.

View attachment 24698
View attachment 24699

IMO fly fishing is a challenge that surpasses gear fishing. That’s my experience anyway. For me tying flys is ways more interesting than going to the sports place and buying plastic to dunk while you sit idle.

I haven’t taken up fly tying yet. I’m not sure when I’d have time to do that while still working. But I’d like to learn at some point!

 

[CopperJess]

I've never really given up on gear, just usually grab a fly rod (usually = 9 out of 10 times)....been fly fishing for about 30 years now.

Question for you:
If you had to pick one, do you nymph (with bobber)? Or do you euro nymph?

I'm constantly trying to sort out who my friends (those that "patriot nymph" with bobber) and who my enemies are (those that euro nymph, like @jaredoconnor who is essentially a fly fishing terrorist that thinks all nymphing should be done euro style and if youre thinking about streamer fishing you might as welll grab a gear rod) curious if you're a friend or foe.

PS, that bass is freaking epic. Nicely done and welcome.

Thank you. I’ve caught 6 bass around that size this year. I need 4 more to qualify for my season long tournament.
And I don’t Euronymph. At this point in time, I have no desire to learn. I’ve been highly effective with my current repertoire of fishing skills. But I do fish with two friends who Euronymph, and we get along swimmingly despite a little sh*t talking.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome

My conversion to fly fishing can be traced to a single event. In 1956 (age 9) 2 buddies and I were sitting on a South Fork Snoqualmie log jam drowning worms in an effort to catch one of the trout that resided there. We saw an old man (most have been nearly 50!) coming downstream waving his rod in the air pausing regularly to play nice trout, bonk them with a stick and slide them into a wicker creel. In the hour or so that we watched him he caught more trout than the 3 of use had caught that summer. Turns out that exotic fishing method was "fly fishing" and I wanted to learn more. My father had stuck in a closet had a 20-year-old South Bend cane rod, with a silk line and automatic fly reel. After some badgering I was allowed to take the outfit to the river and after cashing my meager savings I bought 3 flies (peacock grey, yellow grey and royal coachman bucktail) at the local sporting goods store. A year later I had begun trying to tie my own flies within a decade nearly all my trout fishing was with flies and successfully expanded my fly fishing to include largemouth bass and summer and winter steelhead.

Now some 66 years later I still learning and hopefully improving my fishing and tying game.

Curt

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

 

[CopperJess]

I, for one, welcome our new bass overlord. I'd like to remind her that as a trusted forum member I can be useful in rounding up those who would rotenone a perfectly good bass lake.

Welcome and awesome ditch pickle! I think you'll find lots of stoke around here.

I've fly fished along with gear fished most of my life. I'd say 80-90% of my fishing through most of my 20s was a bass rod with soft plastics with the rest being cold water fish on the fly. About 5 years ago I had a thought about westside bass and the forage available to them and convinced myself that they eat a lot of bugs and smaller prey and not as many traditional bass foods. Started fishing buggers and big nymphs (and obviously shit tons of poppers) and my bass catch rate went way up.

Soon the spinning and casting rods were starting to collect dust. And they still are. Even my 5 year old daughters spinning rods only get used by her cousins, shes a fly girl now too!

Welcome aboard and keep those pics coming!

Bass overload thank you for the good welcome.
I mainly save my spinning rods for when my family visits. But my goal is to start converting them next year.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome Jes! First, a word about that photo. Did you know that when you take a picture that way it makes your bass look big? Hope that wasn't something you weren't aware of. I see you've already met kindred bass spirit Billy Mac. He's a bass freak, and invited me to try it, but it was too hot for this native westsider. I still might give it a go if good bass temps in the water and good air temps for me match up.

Like some of the other posters, I didn't so much convert to fly fishing as just wanting to expand my fishing experience and opportunity. There had to be more to life than just drowning worms. Not to mention that fly fishing seemed cool, and as my friend Swimmy insists, chicks dig it. The key for me was learning to fly cast. I took to fly casting readily, and I was transformed, like I had been put on earth to fish with a fly rod. I guess I had no choice but to go fly fishing as often as I could. And been doing so ever since. The upshot is that I don't dislike fishing with spinning and casting gear. I just enjoy fly fishing more, so that's what I do. I still occasionally devolve and drag herring and or sparkly bling around the water hoping to catch a salmon for the simple reason that them's good eats. Welcome aboard; hope you find this community to your liking.

Thanks for the welcome. Is there another way to pose with a bass when one is fishing by themselves? Because the only other photos I have of these fish are on my ketch board, which is a little more boring.

 

[CopperJess]

Thanks for the welcome. Is there another way to pose with a bass when one is fishing by themselves? Because the only other photos I have of these fish are on my ketch board, which is a little more boring. View attachment 24792

Or there are release photos:

 

[The T.O. Show]

There was no conversion. I learned how to catch fish on flies as a young kid (thanks to my dad), and it's still the only way I really know how to do it.

 

[RCF]

Welcome Jess. Great introduction! I hope you get the chance to fish with some mighty fine/skilled fisher ladies here on PNWFF. I have and truly enjoy their company.

I started fishing with a cane of bamboo, piece of string and 'hook' of sorts down South for pan fish. When I moved back to Washington in mid-60's started using gear. Fast forward to the 70's and was fishing on Fish Lake. The small shoreside store sold me some Carey Specials and I trolled them, Caught more fish that way. Bought my first fly rod, fiberglass, and tried learning. (still learning) That rod went with me on numerous trips on Cascade Crest Trail for years. I loved the simplicity, the feel of the fish and not having a treble hook get me time after time. Broke it on the Dose trying to land my first steelhead. Graphite was just coming out and bought one. Still have it and use it frequently. Became a trout dry fly junkie on thin blue lines. As I get older I fish fewer and fewer blue lines due to stability and strength (or lack thereof). So now learning more about lake fishing. Still prefer trout - that has never waned.

What has kept me into fishing is being one with nature. The beauty and relaxation can never be replaced. Oh neither can the 'tug'... LOL

 

[Brute]

Howzit Jess…having lived in Hawaii over 40 years and an avid spear fisherman, big game trolling, bottom fishing and spinning gear, never thought about fly fishing…until about 6 years ago. I had a diving accident that ended my diving and spear fishing days about 8 years ago, leaving me to stay top side only. About this time, my wife and I decided to buy a place in WA, and I thought about trout fishing, something in hadn’t done since I was a teenager. Got a ultralight (to me) spinning rod and a handful of spinners and spoons, and began trying out some nearby streams and rivers. I happened upon a guy working the river with fly rod…the rhythmic casting and graceful dry fly presentation was mesmerizing, and decided to give it a try…how hard could it be? Ha…it was hard to learn (mostly from YouTube), which also made it more appealing. Now, I’m all in, this being my sixth year…I love it. There may be nothing better than to wade a stream by your lonesome…and catching a couple fish to boot.

 

[Northern]

Welcome, Jess!
As one of those "few females" on the forum, I'm thrilled to have another chick join, and a bass lover, too...with a kayak! Bwahahahaha!

Like most of these guys, I grew up spin fishing, but in MN, where the fish density FAR exceeds that in Western WA. When I moved to Seattle in '94 I found that spin fishing over comparatively empty water was kinda boring, so I taught myself to fly fish. So many things to plan, think about, learn to execute; tying, rod building - it quickly went from hobby to obsession. My learning curve was slowed considerably by having and raising a couple kids, but I retired about the same time they went off to college 4 years ago, so now this is pretty much what I do Will fish for anything with gills & fins!

I try to get out to central WA for bass as often as possible - perhaps we can meet up sometime this fall.
My ride is a Hobie Compass - what kinda kayak are you fishing from?

Lol - PNWFF is definitely not just for purists! Check out the Dirtbag (gear fishing) subforum and Billy's Bass Hole

 

[Salmo_g]

Is there another way to pose with a bass when one is fishing by themselves?

It was a bit of a reach, but I was striving for a paraphrase of the joke about, "Does this dress make me look . . . ?" But I'm pretty bad with jokes, in case it isn't obvious. That's interesting that you're participating in a bass tournament, something else I know zero about. It's good that you're here to educate us about what's going on in the fly fishing bass world.

 

[CopperJess]

It was a bit of a reach, but I was striving for a paraphrase of the joke about, "Does this dress make me look . . . ?" But I'm pretty bad with jokes, in case it isn't obvious. That's interesting that you're participating in a bass tournament, something else I know zero about. It's good that you're here to educate us about what's going on in the fly fishing bass world.

If you ever take up kayak bass fishing, I’ll fill you in on all the tournament info. It’s a pretty fun thing to do and a great group of people.

 

[CopperJess]

Howzit Jess…having lived in Hawaii over 40 years and an avid spear fisherman, big game trolling, bottom fishing and spinning gear, never thought about fly fishing…until about 6 years ago. I had a diving accident that ended my diving and spear fishing days about 8 years ago, leaving me to stay top side only. About this time, my wife and I decided to buy a place in WA, and I thought about trout fishing, something in hadn’t done since I was a teenager. Got a ultralight (to me) spinning rod and a handful of spinners and spoons, and began trying out some nearby streams and rivers. I happened upon a guy working the river with fly rod…the rhythmic casting and graceful dry fly presentation was mesmerizing, and decided to give it a try…how hard could it be? Ha…it was hard to learn (mostly from YouTube), which also made it more appealing. Now, I’m all in, this being my sixth year…I love it. There may be nothing better than to wade a stream by your lonesome…and catching a couple fish to boot.

Thanks for sharing your story. There’s something special about being alone in nature and fooling those fish.

 

[CopperJess]

Welcome, Jess!
As one of those "few females" on the forum, I'm thrilled to have another chick join, and a bass lover, too...with a kayak! Bwahahahaha!

Like most of these guys, I grew up spin fishing, but in MN, where the fish density FAR exceeds that in Western WA. When I moved to Seattle in '94 I found that spin fishing over comparatively empty water was kinda boring, so I taught myself to fly fish. So many things to plan, think about, learn to execute; tying, rod building - it quickly went from hobby to obsession. My learning curve was slowed considerably by having and raising a couple kids, but I retired about the same time they went off to college 4 years ago, so now this is pretty much what I do Will fish for anything with gills & fins!

I try to get out to central WA for bass as often as possible - perhaps we can meet up sometime this fall.
My ride is a Hobie Compass - what kinda kayak are you fishing from?

Lol - PNWFF is definitely not just for purists! Check out the Dirtbag (gear fishing) subforum and Billy's Bass Hole

Thank you so much for reaching out. So cool there’s another angler like me out there. We should 100% fish together sometime. I’m in a 10ft Native Slayer pedal kayak. It’s my true love.

 

[TicTokCroc]

I am one of the fly fishing purists and I prefer classic patterns using all natural materials (no foam, beads, squirmys, mops, or eggs you heathens) for trout and steelhead. I actually don't even fish, I just like talking about fly fishing and tying classic patterns every once and a while. Welcome!

 

[mooseknuckles]

Fellow non convert. Grew up fishing docks at camp with a worm and hook as a child. It was a warm March morning in Manchester, VT about 25 years ago and I was 2000 miles from home, I figured how hard could fly fishing be. I strolled in to the Orvis mothership absolutely clueless about what I was looking for or needed. After a few very direct questions that I had no answer to, the gentleman behind the counter but had me set up with a two piece Trident PM10, a battenkill reel, line and something called tippet. Not sure I have advanced much since that day but I sure do enjoy getting out and trying to trick those elusive dinks. The bass addiction is real here too. I recently picked up a fishing kayak, the rigging process has begun. Welcome!