By Barry Holcombe
For the past few years, I have been trout fishing with a buddy of mine who has tried to persuade me to switch from an ultralight spin caster to a fly rod. I swear, I had used the same ultralight spin caster for 20 plus years. Maybe I fought it for so long because of the way I grew up fishing for trout. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the art and beauty of watching him work a fly rod! I have always enjoyed watching him cast, and depending on the time of year, choose what type of fly to use. To be honest with you, he did get stuck in weeds and rhododendron a lot. I used to think to myself, “Is it really worth it?” Most of the time, I would actually catch more trout than him anyway so, why switch?
About three years ago, I was fishing alone along a stretch of river I have fished many times before. It was early fall and I was wading up the river and noticed a small school of trout. Of course, I was using my new ultralight with a brown colored rooster tail, which has been very successful on this river. Yes, I finally replaced my old ultralight; not because I wanted to, but because I had to. The thing literally started falling apart! No matter how many times I cast that rooster tail, they would not bite. I always kept a variety of rooster tails and other types of artificial lures in my arsenal. After scouring through what I had in my tackle box, I came across what appeared to be a Wooly Bugger. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what it was, but for whatever reason, I decided to try it.
Talk about a funny site to see…. I’m glad I was the only one on that section of the river at the time. Picture this, I’m standing about 20 feet away from where I see the trout and I have a little 5 ½ foot ultralight rod with 4 pound fishing line on it with no weight, trying to throw it out like it’s a fly rod. Finally, I wised up and decided to walk upstream a few more feet and just let the current carry it to where the fish were. As soon as it got close, a trout hit it. After about 30 minutes of making (attempting) various casts, I ended up catching 4 trout. Mind you, on this river, most of the fish you catch are stocked. So fortunately, I didn’t exactly scare them away with my failed attempts at trying to cast it out. As a matter of fact, I was using it, somewhat, like a Tenkara Rod. In my lifetime, I have seen one person use that type of rod on this river. Anyway, at that moment, I realized I had to get myself a fly rod. It was like a light just suddenly went off in my head and I thought, ”So this is what it feels like?”
After driving back home that evening I was devising a plan in my head to justify getting myself a fly rod. Christmas was just around the corner. “Yes, of course!” I could hardly contain my excitement. This would be a great Christmas gift from my wife and kids. As a matter of fact, I will just go ahead and order it and then tell them what they were getting me for Christmas. “Perfect!” I think I saved them from a lot of stress by doing this. And you know what, it worked out exactly as I planned. After consulting with by buddy, I settled on a 4 weight Orvis fly rod combo which included the rod, reel, backing, fly line, leader and tippet. A kind-of “middle of the road” set-up. Not too cheap and not too expensive. I even wrapped it and put it under the Christmas tree… It was from my family!
Of course Christmas rolls around and I start trying it out (Casting) in my backyard. After many practice casts I finally get the hang of it and I was actually amazed at how good I was getting (In my own mind). I was doing little roll casts, back casts, side casts, etc. and all I could think of the whole time is… “Thanks Family!” And then it happens. A decently sunny day in January comes around and I head to the river. I won’t go into a whole lot of detail regarding my actual “on the river” learning experiences other than, it was a very successful first outing. The feel of a trout on that fly rod and the various options of flies you can learn to use was amazing to me.
I still have so much to learn when it comes to fly fishing. There are so many variables that determine if you are going to have a good trip or a bad trip (If there is such a thing as a bad trip fly fishing). I am writing this to tell you that it is not too late to learn. I don’t even carry my ultralight anymore. I’m telling you, once you try it, you won’t be able to get enough of it. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being out on that river, laying out a perfect roll cast and watching that fly land exactly where you intended. And then, a big brown or rainbow hits it… I guarantee you will be asking yourself, “Why did it take me this long”?
Barry Holcombe is an avid outdoorsman from Anderson, South Carolina who loves to hike and spend valuable time enjoying the outdoors with his family.