Day four was yesterday.  Business as usual.

Stopped at Gander Mtn. after work to get some gel floatant...but they didn't ahve any!  Anyone know of a place that sells it, near Latrobe?  If not, I'll do without untilthe fall, and surely the shops near Erie sell it.

Anyway, I don't know if I should count it as improvement in my technique or karma, but I increased the fish count by 2, to a total of 3 fish caught by fly, three species (bluegill, smallmouth, and, interestingly for the loyalhanna, a largemouth), for a total of about10-12" of fish.

Both fish yesterday were caught at times I wasnt trying to catch fish, which leads me to believe it was more of a dumb fish than a smart fisherman.  The LM came first, gobbling up an olive/black wooly bugger w/ krystal flash in the tail while I was busy sorting out a tangle of flyline around the base of my reel.  He was so small I wasnt sure what happened until I saw him swimming around!

The smallie, in typical smallie fashion, came flying out of nowhere and grabbed my mosquito dry fly as I was reeling it in to change it out for something else...it wasnt even floating!

Still no trout, though they're still pretending to be interested.  Even had two hits which I think were trout.  One of which I pulled too hard, the second just kind of bumped it once and forgot about it, both on that wooly bugger.

Green Weenie, I'd definitely be up for more fishing on sunday!  If I dont get any contact from you by this evening, I'll give you a call.

rapala11, I'm glad that there's others benefitting from the thread!  Thats one of my favorite things about message boards and the internet.  If you (or anyone else here!) would like to fish with me sometime, just drop me a PM.  I've gotten several offers to help me out, and while I'm still figuring out the best times to do it, most of the challenge comes from not wanting to, or not being able to drive 45 minutes to an hour away.  Still, if you're nearby, I'm always wetting line these days.

Additional self taught lessons:

-If you think you have enough room to back-cast, you dont.  If you KNOW you have enough room to back-cast, you might.

and, for any fans of the novel Dune, the Litany Against Tangles:

I must not tangle.
Tangles are the mind-killer.
Tangles are the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my tangles.
I will permit it to pass over my line and through my line.
And when I have patiently undone it, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the tangle has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.


Sorry, was just in a cheesy-humor mood!

So I fished further upstream yesterday, saw a lot of trout, some of which were even feeding actively.  Later on in the evening, the fish were feeding heavily and aggressively, often flying a foot or more out of the water.  Does that indicate feeding on a certain type of food?  They seemed to be concentrated in areas beneath overhanging branches, so I think whatever it was had to be falling from the trees and bushes.  That leads me to believe that terrestrials would be the way to go...ant and beetle patterns, but alas, I have none...that's on the list though.  As a general confidence booster, I started the day at a favorite pond to see if I was doing enough right to catch fish, but they were just picky in the Loyalhanna, or if I was so far off base that no fish would be fooled.  Did fairly well, getting 5 bluegill in a little over an hour, on a variety of flies (estez egg, mosquito, wooly bugger, and some type of gray mayfly with a white parachute).  If and when I catch my first trout, I'll feel confident enough to say yes, I'm a fly fisherman, till then, I'm just a beginner. 

Also, to Green Weenie, if you happen to read this: we're celebrating grandma's birthday today, so I cant really plan out fishing for this evening.  We'll definitely have to get on the water soon though!  (Did you get my email?)

Dragon flies, eh?  I dont have anything that big.  I tried the dries, much like yourself, to no avail.

Also, I've heard of many people fly fishing for carp.  What kind of flies do they hit on?  I've never seen a fly that imitated mud, weeds, or crap.

Only got out for a little bit last night (about 45 mins to an hour of decent fishing), managed to catch a pair of rock bass on wooly buggers.  Surprised myself by fishing the bugger without an indicator, noticing a slightly "off" movement in the end of the flyline and making a good hook set without really thinking about it.  Also saw a few carp (lower loyalhanna), and threw a line to them, but they didn't seem interested.  What sorts of flies do people catch carp on?

I've been trying nymphs alot too, but I've got less attention paid to them than anything else.  What might I be doing wrong?

Oh, indsguiz, did yuo get my email?

Cheap floatant -- I use Chapstick. Mr. Trout seems to like cherry flavor.
 
Fish jumping out of the water -- Might be after caddis which swim to the top and "pop" out of the water without lollygagging on the surface drying their wings. Elk hair caddis #14.
 
Floats -- Hard to cast, especially with weighted flies, tandems and a bit of a breeze. In the nuts, bolts, screws and washers section of your hardware store you may find another drawer labeled, cork bottle stoppers. They come in sizes from teeny to too big to fish with. I've been messing around trying to find the best way to paint one chartreuse and attach it to the leader.  Plusses: they float and they don't catch every breeze. Minuses: Still looking for a satisfactory way to attach it to the leader in a way that's adjustable.
 
Your knack for catching fish by accident is demonstrating the virtues of keeping the fly in the water and taking your time.
 
Sounds like you're doing well. Ya mean you haven't fallen in, yet? As I recall, that's one of the very first things I did:-)
 
 

Yea, they do. It's a good sign. It usualy means you are very close to what they are taking. A little change in size one up or one down might get em.
 
 

Cold, 
   got you e-mail.  One sent back!.  Am working on a box right now.

So I'm officially a fly fisherman.

Managed to get out on the water again this evening.  I'd originally planned on hitting up that pond I went to once before, because I wanted to actually catch, not just fish.  For some reason, though, I still found myself donning hip boots and stepping into the Loyalhanna.  Had a black wooly bugger tied on from last time and decided to just go with it, casting either straight across or slightly down current, then doing a steady, or twitching retrieve.  Did my usual practice warm-up casting in a hole-less stretch of shallow water, where I knew I wouldnt scare off any fish.  Right away, things seemed to be coming together for me.  The casting motions came natural, and the line was turning over as I wanted it too.  The sinking fly as opposed to the dries made my roll casting a little bit of a difficulty, but I basically just had to cast each roll as a pair of rolls, first getting my line in the right position, then doing the cast on the second try, otherwise the fly was too deep and wouldnt get pulled to the surface in the roll.

Eventually, I moved downstream (as opposed to upstream, like I normally do) to a spot where the streambed turned into a straight, deep, narrow channel only 2-3' wide beside a low, wide flat area of water about 3-6" deep.  The channel follows the outsice of the bend and in normal water levels, wouldnt be detectable.  A tree also juts out at the bend, giving some structure to the channel.  Deciding to fish here, I did a few drifts without even seeing fish.  Finally I gave the fly time to settle then did a slow retrieve, no twitching, and was rewarded but seeing two trout chasing the wooly bugger, but neither actually striking.  Wanting a quick follow-up cast, I flipped my rod only to sent the fly up into a branch of the tree.  A few tugs and jiggles later and I lost the fly, with about a foot of tippet.  In retrospect, that might have been then best thing that could have happened.

Losing all that, I now had to take the time to tie on another length of tippet, plus another wooly bugger, this time opting for an olive, beadhead version.  The time it took do accomplish this, I think, gave the fish time to both regret passing up that last bugger and (most importantly) get used to me being there and the little movement I brought with me.  Soon I was ready.  Doing a few test casts into the shallows, I got my length predetermined, pivoted, and threw the bugger to the exact same point, almost without thinking about it.  Normally, I would have been very proud of that, but I was more focused on the trout that alone had followed the wooly bugger around its bend and throuh most of its retrieve before again swerving back into the deep water.  Nest cast: again, same spot.  Began my retrieve at the same point, and sure enough, there was Mr. Trout, following the leader...well, the fly actually.

On a hunch, I just gave the fly one single twitch and that was all he needed, lunging forward, and taking the fly in an agressive strike.  He fought incredibly well, and was eventually released unharmed after getting one camera phone lie-proofing shot.  In the water, he acted a little stunned, but I just carrier him from the shallows into the channel.  The cooler water there instantly brought him back and he swam away looking good.

Fishing with that same bugger through the evening, I hooked one more rainbow that  I nearly landed before he threw the hook, as well as more rock bass than I could count, which was great practice for detecting the bite by feel alone.

Thanks goes out to Green Weenie, and each and every one of you that helped me get where I am in fly fishing.  This was your trout.

Still have a long way to go, but that was a great experience.

Congrats on the catch! Nice technique to induce a strike too. I still lose a lot of chasers. They usualy get close and as soon as we see eachother, Pow! they dart back to the depths.
 
 

I like how everything in fly presentation is so subtle.  Its much nore YOU catching the fish (in terms of stealth, presentation, and understanding the environment) as compared to other forms of fishing where your being in the right place catches the fish.  I like that!
 
I think that's why many anglers practice catch and release -- the satisfaction isn't only in bringing home the bacon, so to speak.
 
Congratulations on your first trout on the long rod!
 
Sounds like by next spring you'll be debating the virtues of 8X flourocarbon leaders with the best of 'em:-)

Cold,
    Thanks for the very in depth descriptions of your fishing techniques.   Sometimes I have found that a pull, drift, dropback action works really well for "followers".  While retrieveing, pull the fly with a little twitch and then let the fly fall back with the current.  This simulates a larvae that is getting ready to hatch and the fall back indicates to the trout that not a whole lot of energy will be needed to get a meal since the "bug" is tired and taking a break.  Works well with streamers too.