# tips for a beginner



## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Hey everyone im new to the group and want to take up fly fishing. I fish primarily hardbaits for bass trout and crappie and also catfish in the summer. I picked up a beginners 5wt(by suggestion) and a tying vice that i use for my custom creations as well as flies. I owned a fly pole when i was younger, learned to cast and caught some bass and bluegill but kind of lost interest(as a kid would). Nowadays im more focused and aim to target smallmouth, carp and eventually steelhead. But for now i wana start small again so bluegill and bass will probably be my main targets and il likely be wade-fishing a mix of stillwater and rivers. Any tips or suggestions as to flies to tie, techniques, setups or just any advice would be appreciated, like i said im startin from scratch. Thanks in advance!


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

Poppers and ponds.


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## CoolWater (Apr 11, 2004)

I am a very average fly fisherman but a woolly bugger seems to be a good option for a lot of situations...


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## Longhorn (Oct 26, 2014)

Woolly Buggers are great for bass. Skrats & Squirrellies are great for smaller bass & bream.
https://texasflyfishers.org/2016/09/18/tying-the-squirrelly/





Quite a few great flies on my buddy, Puck's page:

https://vimeo.com/user23856889/videos


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Ok so sounds like im startn in the right direction. Ive already tied a couple whooly buggers and made some cork poppers. Clouser minnows were also suggested for bass so i tied a couple there too. I also made some homemade foam creations like a makeshift frog and some dragonflies because i seen some largemouth crush em on topwater


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Heres some of my first flies(please dont laugh) im anxious to land something nice


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Those flies should get you bit by bass, looking good for early on! For a super easy, fast, and durable bluegill fly, tie a half dozen green weenies. All you need for them is hook, thread, and chartreuse chenille. It can't get much simpler.


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Il def try that out, back when i first tried as a teen, stretch tubing scud caught alot of bluegills for me including my pb gill. Idk if i properly "matched the hatch" but it definitely caught fish on my homewater


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

Those flies you tied up don't look bad at all to me. I just started tying over the winter and just started fly fishing this spring, so I may not be the best judge. The poppers I like a little longer tail on but like I said I am also new to this game. There are other flies that most people I have talked to say are a must for bass. Flies like gurglers, slumpbusters, meatwhistles, and I also like tying up Simi Seal Leeches for both the bass and blue gills.


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

Last Thursday with clear skies and under a full moon, my good friend and I went to a local golf course and fished one of the lakes on the property. We did not want to distract any of the members who were golfing so we waited until 8:30 and we fished until about 10:30 that night. We used some top water mouse patterns that we tied, the action on the surface was unbelievable. We also went subsurface with some blue gill patterns we tied and caught fish after fish. My biggest to hand was about a 4-5 lb Bass, I had one huge fish break me off, it had my rod almost doubled over and it broke off 1x tippet......was a big fish. Here are pics of the patterns we used, these catch Bass so I would advocate tying some of these with some Deer hair. For smallmouth in the rivers, woolly buggers or craw patterns are a must.


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

I read alot about tying with deer hair andbhow effective it can be but am a bit unsure still how to do it really, like i said i fish primarily hardbaits so alot of tying techniques are very foreign to me. Alot of what i tied was done without a tying vice, but ive been able to practice basic patterns with the starter set i picked up. Also ive been tying feathered trebles for poppers for a while now, the tying vice makes that sooooo much easier lol


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

McLain said:


> I read alot about tying with deer hair andbhow effective it can be but am a bit unsure still how to do it really, like i said i fish primarily hardbaits so alot of tying techniques are very foreign to me. Alot of what i tied was done without a tying vice, but ive been able to practice basic patterns with the starter set i picked up. Also ive been tying feathered trebles for poppers for a while now, the tying vice makes that sooooo much easier lol


You can find very helpful videos on how to tie pretty much anything on YouTube! That would at least get you started with an idea of how! Then it would just be practice from there! That is how I have done it along with pointers from my nephew along the way!


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

I have seen a few youtube vids and my starter set came with a dvd(which ive never put in) but i kinda know nobody else who does it. Me and my brother in law trade ideas and tips for our custom hardbaits but thats a whole different ball game(a much easier one) but i think the more i use and figure out how my flies work itl open up ideas. And yes of course, practice. Ive got a decent number of flies tied and pretty good bass and bluegill spot just a couple miles up the road where they hit on just about anything, hopefully soon i can post my first fish on the fly rod(in recent times)


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

Awesome man sounds like you are on your way! I tied so many flies up over the cold months I doubt I will get through them any time soon! Haha. My problem is still learning the cast and definitely the hook set!


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

As a teen i learned to cast and the basis of tying but i failed to understand everything else such as different hooksets, stripping line and "match the hatch". I lost so many fish with the fly rod not fully understanding how to fight and get em in that i got frustrated and resorted to a "float and fly" tech on my spinning gear just to catch something lol. But thats what i like about fishing, the dificulty sometimes is the best part, its frustration that kills


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Back then i basically mowed enough yards to get a 5wt, tying vice, and a handful of "good" flies from cabelas catalog. I had no idea or mentor for what i was getting into, just limited articles, a bicycle, and my gear bag lol so now im back to basics except instead of a bicycle i got a truck hahaha


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

I love the challenge! Just don't get to practice casting enough to get it down! Every time I take it out on the lake the wind is blowing so darn hard I just let it set there cause I can't cast that well when it is calm so I know it is a death wish in the wind! Haha.


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## goatfly (Jun 21, 2013)

for bluegill, it's hard to beat a foam spider with rubber legs. Anything with rubber legs really. When I tie bluegill flies I like to tie a small fly on a long shank hook because the tend to swallow the fly too deep to make it easy to remove, the long shank gives more leverage and something to grab onto.


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

I can cast on a calm day but id need to work with that wind. Im sure different styles of casting could help with that.


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

goatfly said:


> for bluegill, it's hard to beat a foam spider with rubber legs. Anything with rubber legs really. When I tie bluegill flies I like to tie a small fly on a long shank hook because the tend to swallow the fly too deep to make it easy to remove, the long shank gives more leverage and something to grab onto.


The long shank hook makes sense, i probably wouldnt have thought of that, thats a common problem i have with takin the kids for bluegill on bobbers, we usually end up keepin most of them for catfish bait because of swallowed hooks


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## Longhorn (Oct 26, 2014)

McLain, I think you're on the right track! Looking forward to seeing your reports on how well your flies do. Tight lines!


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## McLain (Jun 12, 2017)

Thanks Longhorn, im very anxious to get started! Will definitely post pics of my first outing(hopefully fish haha)


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