New to fly fishing

[Scott Samuels]

I have only been fly fishing for about a month. I have learned most of what I know from this site. Scary,huh. I can catch fish while standing below chute 2 and using scuds, but I would like to know the flys, techniques, and tips for catching fish in other spots below the darn to fall creek. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[troutchaser]

The first thing I would suggest is to spend time on the water and be real friendly. When I first started, I would occasionally tell people I was new at the sport and asked them what they were using. The response was almost always kind and helpful even though 90% of the time I didn't have what they recommended, but I would keep it in mind and go home to tie some up.

Second, I would highly suggest that you make friends with another fisherman who might just be looking for the company. I'm always open to going with someone on a given Saturday. (Email me from the members button above) We're a friendly bunch, willing to impart our knowledge of this sport. Warning: you'll probably have to sift the nuggets of wisdom out of the stories and bragging, but there's good information in there.

Third, and most important to me, please don't shuffle. It's simply bad form and poor sportsmanship. Shuffling is standing in the lake and shuffling your feet to stir up the sediment, then dropping you fly in the water at your feet to catch those silly fish that follow you around. You'll see a few people doing that, but if you look, you'll see several other fisherman staring hard at them. Unfortunately, shufflers are usually too unaware of what's going on around them to notice the disapproval.

Flies I would be SURE to have: Olive Soft Hackle #16, #18; Cracklebacks in bright green, red, yellow, #14, #16; Griffith's gnat #18; Red Brassies when they run water; Brown/Olive Thread Midge #20, #22 (yes, #22!).

Hope this helps.

[Phil Lilley]

If you haven't already, read this-

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=177

[Stuartwp]

Invest in some florocarbon tippet material. I am long time novice and my catches incresed significantly when I switched. I have used 5X early in the morning and then switch to 6X as the sun gets brighter.

[timsfly]

I fished taney the past couple of days, and flourocarbon sure made the difference for me, I use it all the time, but at taney I do find it works just right, 5 or 6 X early and when the sun comes up high I use 7X my favorite brands are Frog Hair and G-max but there are others out there that I'm sure are good also. I caught a bunch of fish the past couple of days on #18 zebra midges and chamois worms, and a few on small apricot fur bugs (#20's) The numbers of little browns are fantastic, I only caught a few fish over 16" but I must have caught 40 or more about 12-13" I'm glad I took the 2 weight, the fish were a blast on the scott 6' 2wt. Couldn't belive the numbers of guys that were shuffling, is this becoming more popular ? any way good luck and taney is a great place to fish, enjoy it and ask questions, most people will tell you what they are using and how they are fishing.

[Scott Samuels]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate all the good advice. I will try out these suggestions this weekend. Well, All of them except the shuffling!