[khabibulin]

Well today I go out at the USAFA and I decide to take my fly pole WELL.....
I got about 30 bites on my fly within a hour and a half....BUT THE DAMN THINGS WOULDNT TAKE IT!!!! They where trout but mostly crappie I could see them right in front of me. They would take my fly then take it under then spit it out after 3-4 seconds. What am I doing wrong? Should I set the hook or let them take it? And by the way how do you tell what kinda fly you are using? like nympths or whatever there called and other flies I just tie the ones that look I would wanna eat it on and hope the fish like it. Does the type of fly matter that much?

 

[silicone boy]

Welcome to the world of flyfishing. There definitely is a learning process. As far as learning flies, go to a flyshop and get familiar with them. Ones you should know for Colorado are:

Dries-Adams, Blue Wing Olives, Pale Morning Duns, Elk hair caddis, Griffith's Gnat


Nymphs-Copper Johns, Pheasant Tails, Prince nymphs, RSII's, WD40's, Miracle nymph, Black beauty (and its close cousin, the mercury midge), caddis pupa

Streamers-Woolly bugger (maybe in a Pistol Pete variant)

Misc-San Juan Worm, ants, various hoppers

This is a very basic list, but I keep on going back to them. You could go on and on but these will serve you well for a long time to come. Do a web search for them and you'll get an idea of what they look like.

As for timing the hookset, are you using an indicator? I'm trying to get away from them, but it is fun watching that little bobber. Most say to set the hook with any twitch of the indicator, but sometimes I like to see them turn away before setting. You'll learn to like the flyrod. You can kill panfish with it with just about any terrestrial (or any) pattern, and trout fishing is well, you said it.....often FRUSTRATING. When it works for you though, it's OH so good.

 

[dave110man]

sunfish and crappie are great for learning to fly fish. they really help you to learn your hooksets before tackling fish like trout that have harder mouths. flies look good but dont taste good so they are going to get spit out quick. as soon as you see your line moving set that hook with a good snap. then reel it in. you only have 1 maybe 2 seconds to set the hook. dont give up fly fishing can be a lot of fun.

 

[D-Moe]

What you're seeing with fish spitting subsurface flies out, is very common, whether it's for panfish or trout -- it's just that very often fisherman aren't able to see the fish as well as you are. It sounds like you have that advantage. As soon as the hook is in the fish's mouth, you want to bury the hook! Fish are constantly taking things into their mouths to check them out (I'm sure you've noticed, they don't have hands!) and then spitting out what doesn't appear to be food -- you can't give 'em that much time! Sometimes when I'm sight fishing for trout, especially with a small nymph, I won't be able to see the nymph underwater, but if I see a flash of white as the trout opens its mouth as my nymph goes by, I'll set the hook, and often I'll have a trout hooked up.

I can't picture any situation when you want to give a fish extra time once it already has your hook in its mouth, especially with an artificial!

If you start fishing topwaters, you'll have the opposite issue to deal with -- trying to hold off until the fish actually has the hook in it's mouth!

Bottom line -- avoid having much slack and be ready to set the hook. As soon as you think the hook is in a fish's mouth, hit 'em!

Good luck!
D

 

[khabibulin]

Thanks alot guys I am going out today later to go see if I can get a couple.