Tried to post last night, but it didn't take. I'm still juiced about landing my first steelhead, 9 or 10 lb nate, on my own tied fly on the fly rod. I've been tying bugs and yarn for a couple of years and catching fish with drift and float gear, but I finally got one on the fly rod and it felt gooood. Didn't pick up the drift rod all day yesterday after that, which is good because I need the casting practice. Can't wait to go get more now. Any advice on line and sink heads most appreciated.

HT

COngrats first fly caught steelhead.. thats great!! hope you get another one today. It won't be long and you'll not even be taking your drift rod with you except in high water.. Just wait till this summer when you catch one on a surface fly!!!!!

I can only offer my congratulations as well!

I got my first on Dec 24th. Haven't been out with anything but my fly rod since. Sorry to say I haven't found another steelie, but 4 Dollies have added to the fun and excitement.

I know you'll keep at it, just the fun of learning and improving is worth it, besides, look at the picture of that fly caught monster, fishgal is holding in the upper left corner, now there's something to shoot for!

Congrats! The first is the hardest I think! I put the drift gear away for good this year, and caught more than ever. I wish I would have done that last year during the low water. This years water levels do not favor the flyfisher! I was a diehard drift man, and had the fish pretty well dialed in. Having that experience help with the transition to fly fishing.

Way to go Buzzo !!! Like other things you will never forget the first time I got lucky (I thought ) and hooked up the first I went steelhead flyfishing and thought that I was the big kahuna........until it took me another three months to do it again ! Hang in there . You are way ahead of most .

Nice fish for the first one, mine was about 4#! Co'ngratulations!! After the first one, the floodgates start to open, just keep going out there! Lines: I would suggest building a multi-tip line to start. Or having your local flyshop build you one. I have 4-6 tips for each of my fly rod/reel set-ups, 1 float tip, 1 6' sink tip, 1 12' sink tip, 1 16' sink tip is the foundation. This way you can easily change rigs for the river condition and presentation choice. I use a WF line and cut the line at the fat part of the belly, then use the last 15-20' for my float tip. Loop to loop conectors work great and can be repaired easily. Good luck with your next one!

Thanks you guys. It does seem like quite an accomplishment, given the hours of work on the vise and on the river. The confidence problem is probably the number one thing preventing people from trying out new forms of fishing, whether it be tossing a fly or drifting a bait. That's why I never spent a whole day fly fishing for steelhead before, unless I didn't really think there were many fish around and just wanted the practice. That sort of practice doesn't really count for much, however, when you don't have the fact to back it up that it works. I learned more about line control in a few hours after catching that fish than I had learned in the previous month because I knew that the system worked, and with a little problem solving would work again.

I pay so much attention to detail when it comes to fishing that fly fishing will take a lot of training in line systems and fly patterns before I really consider myself accomplished. Its not like adding a little more pencil lead or changing your corky color. Do I want to use a faster sinking tip for this water level, or do I want to add a couple of split shot for this deep current. Maybe go from a more artificial weighted presentation to a more natural subsurface one. I'm definitely up to the challenge, though. It was nice to get that fish on an unweighted fly and no split shot, which I hate casting. I was using a three foot section of weighted line tied into the middle of my leader with loops on each end that was recommended to me by a local fly shop. Is this considered a multi-tip, shooting head, or what? It worked favorably for the fairly high water, but I can see how many different weights and lengths should be used depending on the situation. I can hear my account balance tremble as I speak.