Casting your First Fly: Learning a Hobby that Will Last you a Lifetime

Learning a hobby like fly fishing will introduce you to a sport that will be the source of much joy over the years that follow
Photo by CC user StockSnap on Pixabay

Many fishermen will tell you that it is a sport that can be a case of love at first bite, ensuring that you become totally hooked on a sport and a hobby that will last you a lifetime.

Fly fishing is challenging and fun in equal measure and it is a leisure pursuit that can take you to many amazing places around the world in pursuit of that prize catch. Having a car like the Dodge Journey will help to make sure you have enough space to carry all the gear you need in style, so all that is left to do, is learn the basics and then head to some of the best places to try out your fly fishing skills.

Different way to fish

Fly fishing is a different experience from standard fishing, as the skill involves ensuring that the bait you are using is light enough to float on the surface of the water and trick the fish into thinking that it has found a tasty meal for itself.

What you are doing when you are fly fishing, is using specialist equipment and deploying unique casting methods in order to attract the sort of fish that normally swim just underneath the surface of the water, such as salmon or trout.

The general place to fly fish is where there is a fast-running stream that the fish are travelling down in search of food, but you can actually fly fish in any type of water.

Learning how to fish downstream

Fly fishing is normally a skill that is acquired through the guidance of an instructor or a friend who already has the experience and know-how on what to do.

Learning how to cast your line properly takes practice and will often feel like a strange action at first, until you understand why it is necessary to cast your fishing line in such a unique way.

One of the most popular methods of fly fishing is the downstream method. What you are aiming to do is to cast your line slightly upstream against the flow of the water, with an accuracy that targets the feeding lane area of the stream or river, where the fish are congregating.

You then allow the fly to drift past the fish’s position in the hope that your perfect cast will be rewarded with the capture of a fish who has been fooled into thinking that your fly is a real insect, which when they are hooked, and you are too, on this great sport.

Fly fishing has gone global

There has been a rapid rise in the popularity of fly fishing in recent times, which means that your choice of potential venues to visit via organized trips, has grown considerably.

Now you can easily find a way of booking a trip to go fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon in eastern Canada, or maybe you like the idea of searching for Pacific salmon in Alaska. Other notable venues which are popular with fly fisherman include the Bighorn river in Montana and Blue river in Colorado.

Learning a hobby like fly fishing will leave you hooked on this sport. Most likely, you will be counting the days until you next get to cast your fly again after stopping for the day.

Brandon Clark has been enjoying fly fishing for many years, his Father and Grandfather getting him interested from a young age. Brandon writes about his hobbies for a selection of men’s lifestyle blogs.