The 60 Year Old Virgin

[saltfly]

sinking line is not really a good line to practice with at the beginning.Ask around,see if somone near you has an old floating line they don't use that will match the rod.Then do alittle lawn casting.Then go to the local pond and lay it out on the water and practice.If you don't have a freshwater license cut the bend of the hook off[cause your fishing otherwise].

[Crafty Angler]

Thanks, men - I really appreciate the advice and offers of help -

Roger, thanks for the offer on lessons, I may take you up on it - I'm thinking I may prevail upon either Capt. Corey or Steve Cook at the Edge for guidance locally too - I've heard the hardest thing to do is unlearn bad habits you taught yourself at the outset - so maybe I can bribe them - or thank them - with some old fish pictures... I know those guys are going to be busy trying to get their own season underway too -

I've read Kenny Abrames and attended one of his seminars, Bill - very valuable info without a doubt

Saltfly - The line recommendation is duly noted - I had heard that before - also had heard a recommendation that you use a line wt. one up from the rod rating to facilitate loading the rod on the cast - I've got several nice wide open parks a short walk away from home here where I figure I can practice right by the water, too -

Figure I've got time to re-read stuff now since I completely reamed and cleaned my tackle room and can actually find stuff again - and what I have left to finish off to get ready for this season of regular surfcasting is already well underway - my whole attitude is going to be patience and keep it fun

An old Chinese philosopher said a man who can laugh at himself will never be without a source of amusement - so I figure I ought to be able to keep myself in stitches for a while...

Thanks again, you guys -

[jredfly]

The guys at Orvis in Boston over at Fanuel Hall were very helpful and there was no sales pressure. They will even take you across the street to the little park for a quick lesson. They had some good instructional videos too. When I started getting into fly fishing last year they had some good free seminars and sales in May. License or no license it is a good idea to cut at the bend of the hook when first practicing. Good Luck and have fun!

[Raven]

how's your shoulder these days?

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Raven

how's your shoulder these days?

Shoulder's good to go, Rav - got a little physical conditioning to do, gonna walk the Cliffs once the weather starts to break, got the new mountain bike set to go, too -

Got some 10# weights I'm gonna use for arm strength anyway, just reps and curls - no joint or ligament problems but I have been raiding the pups glucosimine stash as a preventative the last several weeks -

Gotta get over this crud first before I do much of anything though - not out of the woods yet on that...

[Joe]

Practice casting in the yard for extended periods before going out and fishing for a long time. Elbow and shoulder injuries are common if you are under trained.
I think its better for people to come from traditional surfcasting backgrounds then to fly fishing. I think a lot of people who came to fly fishing first migrated over to surfcasting because of the difficulty involved in finding fish within 100 feet. Your experience makes you a perfect canidate to take the sport.

You're in the right place. Cliff fishing with the fly rod is very effective.
My favorite fly is the White Water Witch - which was developed by an Aquidneck Island fly fisherman for cliff fishing. This one is tied too long for my liking - but it's easy tie. The black presents a contrasty silhouette in the white water.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Joe

Practice casting in the yard for extended periods before going out and fishing for a long time. Elbow and shoulder injuries are common if you are under trained.
I think its better for people to come from traditional surfcasting backgrounds then to fly fishing. I think a lot of people who came to fly fishing first migrated over to surfcasting because of the difficulty involved in finding fish within 100 feet. Your experience makes you a perfect canidate to take the sport.

You're in the right place. Cliff fishing with the fly rod is very effective.
My favorite fly is the White Water Witch - which was developed by an Aquidneck Island fly fisherman for cliff fishing. This one is tied too long for my liking - but it's easy tie. The black presents a contrasty silhouette in the white water.

Thanks again, guys - all good points, I'm going to print this thread so I can refer back to it -

Thanks, Joe, the Witch is a Ray Smith fly if memory serves - I know his patterns are highly respected - I'm gonna have to go over the flies in the boxful I won and see if there's one in there - if not, it doesn't look too far above my current competency level in tying - but that remains to be seen too, I suppose...

Pinching barbs and cutting the point of my practice fly -definitely -

Wasn't sure about the strippping basket issue but figured where I fish it's going to be a necessity to avoid getting hung up -

Thanks again, starting to feel well enough to start reading and rifling thru my tackle room again -

[Raven]

Originally Posted by Crafty Angler

Shoulder's good to go, Rav -

Gotta get over this crud first before I do much of anything though - not out of the woods yet on that...

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i'm out of the woods already...and its from Eating two large Naval oranges each day for the last 6 days and i drank a gallon of apple cider followed by scheshwan (sp) chinese food {(hot)} and spicy

we just retrieved van from Carver...cost of going to plug fest with repairs including an unexpected motel visit in Plymouth .....
$500 Bucks

i came away with two kits and one plug...given to me
it is now my $500 dollar go to plug *wink

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Raven

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we just retrieved van from Carver...cost of going to plug fest with repairs including an unexpected motel visit in Plymouth .....
$500 Bucks

i came away with two kits and one plug...given to me
it is now my $500 dollar go to plug *wink

Best of luck with that plug, Rav...

The first day when I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed - last Sunday - I got a call from the Newport PD

THey called to tell me my new (well, new to me) Jeep which was a 99 in #$%&@# showroom condition that I just got last July for short money - had been side-swiped by a fire dept ladder truck - been too sick to get an estimate yet - gotta be an easy $2 K worth of damage....

I understand the concept of adding insult to injury now...