Lots of updates to come shortly but just a quick one to start.  First off, good morning!  I hope everyone's having a good start to their day.

It's a natural progression I assume when taking up fly fishing, but I've found myself gathering tools and materials over the past few weeks and have begun fly tying!  The first few attempts have been....I'll just say it, very ugly.  They say that the fish don't care what a fly looks like, but I beg to differ.  Regardless, my tying has gotten a lot better and at least I have collar hackles, dubbing, and wing tie-ins down so far.  No pictures yet and I'm not sure what quality I'll get without a macro lens but I'll try and put some up tonight.

A few fly tying resources:
- The Fly-Tying Bible by Peter Gathercole:
I liked this book because of the clear descriptions on both tools and materials, excellent step-by-step directions, and nice big pictures.
- Buddy Sanders' Post #10 on Page #1:
The link is to a description oh how to use plain old gloss lacquer from Home Depot along with lacquer thinner as a head cement.  I love it.  It's so shiny, it dries quickly, and if I need lacquer around the house, I have some. As a vessel, I just bought some very small 1 oz solvent containers from Joann's (paint section) with lids and apply with toothpicks!  Speaking of Joann's....
- Joann's Website
So far I've gotten, two Gingher embroidery scissors, peacock eyes, goose biots, partridge plummage, threaders, lacquer containers, yarn (regular cotton yarn with boot waterproofing spray applied really does ride nice and high), and beads.  And finally for more fly tying materials...
- Hook and Hackle Website
I really like when there are descriptions to different tools and materials that I've never seen before and pair variety with that and you're golden.  Good prices too.
- Fly Shack
Link is under the fly fishing outfitters section.  Just more tools and materials, 100 count hooks can be had for nice prices.  Just a general thought, high volume consumables like hooks are probably made in only a few factories around the world.  Just like LiDestri in the Rochester area, different brands of sauce call for different recipes.  So too are hooks I hypothesize with different formations, heat treatments, and coatings for each brand.

So much for a short update lol...

Intro Follow-Up / First Outing

Now that the introduction is out of the way, I wanted to state the real purposes of this blog:

1) Provide resources geared toward beginning anglers

There is a plethora of fly fishing resources out there and they're everywhere.  In future posts throughout this blog I'll mention a few of those resources that have helped me get started in the sport.  A couple of the resources that helped me the most are listed below:
- Orvis Fly Fishing Lessons is a youtube playlist with 41 videos teaching a lot of the basics of fly fishing.  I think the majority if not all of them were produced by Orvis, a major retailer of fly fishing goods.  The very first video is an introduction to fly fishing and features Tom Rosenbauer who wrote (with others) The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide which is a very insightful book on most everything you'd like to know about fly fishing.
- Tight Lines Fly Fishing Lessons is another youtube playlist again with the basics of fly fishing.  These videos are a little more up to date and are narrated by Tim Landwehr of Tight Lines Fly Shop.  These videos helped me a little more than the Orvis ones...I'll probably have "accelerate to a stop" ingrained in my head for my entire fly fishing career.

2) Photograph my exploits

Usually the big point of a blog right?

3) Discuss anything else on my mind
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After doing a lot of research, I settled on getting the majority of my initial gear from LL Bean.  The Victor, NY location is 10 minutes away from my office and with their awesome return/exchange policy, I know my gear will last and if it doesn't I can just get a new piece of whatever it is I need.

Everything I read online suggested a 8'6" or 9' 5 wt rod as a good beginner rod due to its versatility in catching various species and sizes of fish.  My concerns were that I fell in love with Spring Creek and Oatka Creek (and their tree lined edges) and I'm a shorter guy.  Obviously casting around trees gives me anxiety (especially as a beginner) and going to Bean and trying out the shorter rods made me realize I favored the maneuverability of a shorter rod rather than the power of a traditional longer one.

Thinking I had a good idea of what to look for in the way of rods, I took a trip out to Bean to try out some of their wares.  I ended up settling on a Quest II 7'6" 4 wt outfit preloaded with some weight forward line and tapered leader.

LL Bean Quest II 7'6" 4 Wt Outfit

During my casting bubble exploits I picked up a cheap set of rubber hip waders and quickly discovered that while they do their job, they don't breathe and they're a bit heavy to lug around.

Off to Bean again and this time I capitalized on a sale they had going on with a pair of Flyweight II chest waders and West Branch wading shoes.


After adding a few more components to my ensemble including flies, fly box, hemostats, clippers, quick drying clothes, and tippet, I felt like I was ready to do some real fly fishing!

I picked Oatka Creek as the first spot I'd try this new fangled (to me) fishing method as standing in the middle of the creek gave me lots of room for my back cast.

I tied on a size 18 or 20 (I'll be able to tell soon I hope) Black Gnat onto a 2' 5x nylon tippet extension and winged the whole setup out there.

I thought (to my very amateur eye) that it was a decent cast.  I had marked 30' of line with a sharpie and had at least that much out.  I targeted about the most middle of the creek upstream you could get (previously mentioned tree anxiety still in effect) and started to strip line in (that's the term right?).  About 20' feet away it happened.  I heard what almost exactly sounds like a watery gulp and instinctively raised my rod tip.  Hooked one!  Flippy, flappy, flop...I'm not sure at that moment that there could have been a more sweet sound.

When I finally got him into the net I marveled at his color even for a Brown Trout.  I had caught a couple Browns out of Spring Creek when I gave a casting bubble a try and I was amazed at the color difference between the two areas.  The Spring Creek trout were more uniform in color whereas these trout had a nice silvery band in the middle and a light yellow/green belly.  I was so excited that I completely forgot to measure him.  Just took a couple photos and sent him on his merry way.

About 45 minutes later I caught a second Brown on a size 14 or 16 Royal Wulff.  I did end up measuring that one and he came out to be 10 7/8" to 11".

I hooked up with a couple more but couldn't land them but regardless, I can't wait to get out again!  If this is what it feels like for all you fly fishers, then I'm glad I finally got into it!  Till next time!

Introduction

Hello everyone, I'm Dale and I'm from the Chili area of Rochester, NY. I relocated here from Albany to go to school at RIT in 2003. After going to school for 5 years and obtaining my degree, I realized that this is where I wanted to stay and work and perhaps start a family. Fast forward to today. I live with my wonderful, beautiful girlfriend and work at the same company that hired me right after I graduated.
I've been a spin fisher since I was about 8 and recently became interested in fly fishing after my girlfriend mentioned she drives by Spring Creek in Caledonia daily on the way to work. Wonderfully excited about catching my first trout ever, I researched a bit on how to catch these (apparently) finicky, picky fish.  The immediate solution was picking up a bunch of flies, sliding on a bubble bobber, and winging that setup out there with my light spinning outfit.  Needless to say, those first couple outings were rough...

With a bit more determination and knowledge about trout fishing with a fly, something clicked and I caught my first ever trout!

~10" Brown Trout, first one ever! 8/18/2011

How he managed to stay on the line is a mystery to me....I took forever reeling him in, I didn't set the hook, I couldn't get him in the net, my pounding heart was messing with my brain....but I caught him! I even managed to take a few pictures!

I also still don't know at what point I was hooked onto this kind of fishing.  Maybe its just all new and exciting.  Maybe it was all the reading and youtube watching about fishing with a fly.  Maybe it was catching that first fish.  But if I knew anything it was that I needed to get into the real thing, fly fishing with a fly rod, some fly line and leader, and tiny tippets....