My 2008 Summer Fly Fishing Classes

 

I remember when I truly connected with fly fishing. It was the summer of 2008, right after I retired in August. Let me explain what I mean by "connected," which takes me back to my childhood when I learned to use the fly rod my dad used to catch bass and bluegill in the pond on our property. This is where I learned how to cast, fight, and land a fish; fast forward to 2008, when I found myself reconnecting with fly fishing, which became my favorite way to fish from that point on.

My first setup was a Walmart Eagle Claw large arbor reel and rod combo, a 5/6 weight 8 feet long. I was new to understanding factors like rod weight, fly line, leader, tippet, medium-action versus fast-action rods, different sizes of arbor reels, and a host of other factors. Honestly, I just wanted a fly rod to catch some bluegill.

It wasn't until I started fishing with a gentleman older than me that summer that I began to learn about the mechanics of fly fishing. I attended classes all summer on Smith Lake and into the fall with Ivan, soaking up everything I could learn about the sport. I had spent the last 20 years on Smith Lake catching spotted bass using baitcasting and spinning reels with a couple of bass fishing buddies I had connected with after moving to Jasper from Tupelo. Unfortunately, coaches tend to move around a lot, and one of my friends relocated during the summer, leaving me with only one buddy to fish with on weekends. Fortunately, Ivan, my retired fly fishing companion, fished with me for a couple of days during the week, which was much better fishing conditions than on a weekend.

It didn't take long for me to realize that Ivan had much better equipment than my Walmart combo. He used two setups: a Redington Trout Special 4 wt. medium action and an 8 1/2 ft. Temple Fork fast action 5/6 wt. His 4 wt. was for topwater action, while he used the Temple Fork for streamers and wooly buggers. Occasionally, he would fish with a 3 wt during the bluegill spawn, but most of our trips involved him using the 4 and 5 wt. fly rods.

I remember my first outing with him at dawn on Smith Lake, fishing in nooks that had a lot of overhanging foliage close to the water's surface. I was fishing from the front of the boat while he fished from the back. He landed twice as many fish as I did that morning by placing his popper just a foot away from the bank under the foliage. He was a master at low-side casting from both his left and right shoulder. The low left shoulder cast was the one he used all the time when we fished together. He was also skilled at the roll cast, which he employed when casting from his right shoulder. Meanwhile, I frequently got snagged in the foliage, trying to get my fly underneath the tree limbs with a right shoulder low cast. Thus, my initial learning sessions focused on placing flies under the overhanging branches, mastering the roll cast, and executing low-side shoulder casts. While I was proficient with the traditional overhead cast for distance, these other casting techniques helped me land more fish that first season with Ivan.

By the end of the season, I had sold my Walmart combo and purchased a Redington 4 wt. medium action rod, a 5 wt. Redington fast action 9 ft. rod, and as a bonus, I used my retirement savings to purchase a 3 wt. 9 ft. Greys Streamflex, fly rod. Of all the things I learned that summer, the casting tips are ones I still use to this day. During that time, I also spent many hours watching fly fishing videos to absorb as much knowledge as possible. I am still learning on every trip I make now, and I'm grateful for that summer of 2008 spent fishing with my best fly-fishing buddy ever, Ivan.