Fishing:

Getting Started in BTB Fly Fishing - Part I: Gearing Up

Some thoughts on rods, reels, lines and setup...

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Your 1rst Outfit(s)

Notes4Newbies

Facts4FF'ers

Guide4GearGuys

Tips4Transplants

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Notes for Newbies...

If you are just getting started with fly fishing, here are some useful resources, and things to focus on:

Learning to Cast
At a minimum, you need to be able to do a roll cast and a basic overhead cast. Once you feel comfortable with those, add the single and double haul. Last, learn the water haul. You should be able to comfortably cast 45+ feet in most conditions (including different wind speeds and directions), but the further the better.

Here are some references we've found useful:

Knots and rigging
You should know how to add a whipped loop or a braided mono loop to the fly line; how to tie a good double line, such as a Bimini Twist, Australian Plait, or Spider Hitch; a knot to connect lines with very different diameters, such as the Albright Special, Hufnagle, or Slim Beauty; the Surgeon's loop and Surgeon's knot; and two good terminal knots - one that connects directly to the hook, such as the Trilene knot, Palomar knot, or Uni-knot, and a loop knot like the Kreh Loop, Perfection, or Uni-knot

Here’s a couple of references we've found useful:

Book:	Book, video:
	Flycasting Systems by Bill Nash Contact Bill at billsknots@aol.com

General Salt Water Fly Fishing References:

Other books, videos, DVDs of Interest:

Some other things to practice:

• Cranking the reel fast and for extended durations
  Since fly reels are typically single action (one turn of the handle = one revolution of the spool), a long-running fish requires a lot of cranking. Think you're man enough? Pull off the entire fly line + 50 yards of backing, and reel it back in as fast as you can. Let us know what you think...
  
  
• Pumping the fish without high-sticking the rod
  Long, skinny graphite rod + lots of tension + deep bend = an exploded rod waiting to happen, right? Don't let it happen to you. Learn to short-stroke fish, and don't raise the rod too much above horizontal when trying to raise a sounding fish.