Fly Fishing Deals

   By No Bananas Fishing Reviews

 Tropic Bay is a Saltwater Fly Fishing guide service consisting of top notch fly fishing guides anchored by Captain Pat Horrigan. Capt. Pat is one of only two hundred IGFA Certified Fly Fishing Guides in the world. That distinction is by invitation only by the International Game Fish Association which should tell you plenty about the quality and the direction of the operation.

 Captain Pat, guide, fly fishing instructor, wildlife photographer, writer and editor to a fly fishing magazine, located his operation on the Florida Nature Coast several years ago. The Nature Coast is a nine county coastal preserve and bird sanctuary area on the Central West Coast of Florida. There are of course some water front communities along the way, but very few. Most of the development is about three miles east of the Gulf along US Hwy. 19 including some very nice brand new hotels.

 Capt. Pat specializes in quietly providing a very private service for notables and dignitaries from all over the world. Sorry, no cameras please! Just top quality fly fishing in the backcountry and pristine flats along the Nature Coast. Fly fishing without the public attention and notoriety that so many of his clients want to escape for a few days.

The fishing is very, very good, the guide service is top notch with the best of everything and personal instruction is also available. Pricing is surprisingly modest however the tips are reported to be quite handsome, as you can imagine.

 Clients may fly into Tampa International or St. Petersburg International airports. Private airport access is available for small private aircraft with pick-up service to take clients to their lodging. To learn more about Tropic Bay, visit their website at TropicBay.com

Fly-fishing, a fun sport

Fly-fishing is an ancient angling method especially effective in catching trout and salmon. This distinct method of angling uses artificial flies to lure or excite fish. Fly-fishing helps anglers catch the fish easier than the traditional way.

There are two basic forms of fly-fishing, dry flies and wet flies.

Dry flies need coating with floatant in order for it to sit in the surface of the water. Dry flies are mostly effective in upstream and moving water. Dry flies help anglers' spot where fish resides like pools and pocket in streams. Thus, it is easier to detect them and catch the fish.

The use of wet flies is beneath the surface of the water. Wet flies are nymphs, lures and true wet flies. It works as effective as dry flies except that in cases where weeds are many and almost touching the surface, wet flies blends with the weeds and thus may not be as effective as the dry flies.

Fly-fishing was developed in the 19th century, dry fly technique is very effective especially for slower and clearer rivers.

This is because weeds in rich rivers tend to grow closer to the surface, thus traditional wet fly fishing is almost ineffective. Dry fly fishing is thus useful by keeping the fly and the line floating on the surface. This makes fish excited and aggressive; the angler can then spot the location of the fish and in turn catches fish easier.

Later developments of fly-fishing made this concept as basis, thus in the latter part of the 19th century, anglers develop love for fly-fishing. This gave birth to fly-fishing, the sport among its aficionados.

Various parts of the United States host fly-fishing sports such as in the waters of Catskill Mountains of New York and the provinces of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta and California.

Anglers in North America also develop various literatures pertaining to fly-fishing. The sport of fly-fishing and all these literatures gave North America the reputation of being the birthplace of dry fly-fishing, specifically the City of Calgary, Alberta. It is arguably one of the world's best trout rivers, thus it remains to be the epicenter for the Western Fly Fishing in North America.

Various other states in America keeps the growing number of fly-fishers such as Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Arkansas. The growing number of anglers that are drawn to the sport of fly-fishing keeps the popularity at its peak.

Dry or wet fly-fishing, whichever is more effective in the rivers where you fish will help keep the sport exciting. It may not be long that other countries will learn to love the sport and make it a globally loved sport.

How does fly-fishing work?

Fly fishing uses longer and lighter rods; sizes vary from 2m (6 ft) for fresh water and up to 4m (14 ft) for salt water fly-fishing. Weight for fresh water rods are between two to five ounces.

Popular types of casts in fly-fishing follow its variety in situation specifics. Anglers uses common cast when the angler whisks the fly rod forward and back using his forearm and upper arm, the wrist is used to soften the motion.

The rod movement varies from 10 o'clock position to 2 o'clock position without touching the ground. Anglers do this to load the rod tip with energy and to travel the fly line creating distance and control; they call this motion false casting.

False casting needs to be done to excite the fish or make it aggressive enough so that when the fly touches the surface, it will be sure that the area where the fly touches is where most of the fish are located and thus will be easier to spot and catch them.

Whether you are a fly-fishing aficionado for outdoor excitement or having fun with your family, using the proper equipment will help you develop love for the sport. Keep it exciting and enjoy fishing at its finest in most popular fly-fishing locations in the country. There are many locations, thus you will not have a problem in spotting nice locations for you and your family for this wonderful outdoor adventure.

So you’ve decided you want to learn how to fly fish, or at least look into taking it up – this will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made. Fly Fishing is, without doubt, one of the most rewarding sports I’ve been involved in. It’s not just about catching fish, in fact far from it. Fly fishing has taken me to some of the most beautiful places in the world, just me, my rod and nature. It will take you to places that very few people in the world will ever get to experience and it will only cost you the gas for your car to get there!

So what is so great about fly fishing and why should you learn how to fly fish?  Picture this, a crisp morning, you’re sitting beside a mountain fed river that has been there for thousands of years longer than you. The sun has not yet come up; you’re waiting for it to get light enough so you can see you’re line on the water. While sitting there you are contemplating what will be the result of your first cast of they day. Last night you spent hours tying flies, setting up your rod in front of the fire while having a beer with mates, talking through the prospects of the next day. The sky begins to brighten, you decide it’s time!

Standing in gin clear water you strip out line, preparing for your first cast of the day. You lift the line off the water, elevating the two flies you selected as you’re killer flies for the first part of the morning. You’ve got plenty of line in the air; you decide it’s time to throw the first cast onto the water, the line loops out on itself, softly cutting the water. You see the flies present themselves to the water, you’re now fishing…

You follow your line as it makes its way through its drift, waiting for the first chance of a strike. The sun is slowly starting to come up, you know it’s breakfast time for the rainbow trout you’re about to fool. You see an indication of your line going under the water, STRIKE and then the greatest feeling you can get on the water – tap, tap, tap on the end of your rod; the fish is on! You’ve successfully fooled your first fish of the day into swallowing the fly you tied last night using natural materials, a bit of thread and a hook. Adrenaline sets in; did I hook it well, where will I land it, how big is it, are thoughts that rush through your mind. You softly play the fish, it takes you back into the main flow, runs down stream and then runs toward you, it’s more of a challenge landing the thing! Eventually the fish tires and gives up, you’re able to net it, get your mate to take a quick picture then return the fish to the river to allow it to fight another day!

And as I say, catching fish isn’t just what it’s all about. Fly fishing offers so much on so many levels - I’ve taken dozens of first timers out on the water and every single one of them have loved it, fish or no fish, they’ve all appreciated the skill of the sport, the environment in which we’re lucky enough to practice it and the sense of accomplishment at even just getting the flies on the water.

In two minds about whether to Learn to Fly Fish? Didn’t think so; see you on the water…

Fly lines are an extremely key piece in your fly fishing set-up. Choosing a good fly line should be just as important as choosing your rod, if want to be able to learn to fly fish quickly. After all it is your fly line that actually does most of the fishing (your rod only gets your line onto the water!). The good news is there are only a few things you need to get right when selecting a fly line. The key features of a fly line that you need to consider are highlighted in this article.

Fly Line Weight

Fly line weight technically refers to how heavy the first 30 foot of the fly line is, in grams. Luckily a few of the manufacturers got together, a number of years back, and decided on a simple weighting system (similar to rods) that ranges from 1-15. A rule of thumb is that you should match your fly line to your rod weight, so if you are using a 5 weight rod, a 5 weight line should suit that rod nicely. Of course you can always ‘over-line’ your rod by putting a 1 weight heavier line on it (put a 6 weight line no a 5 weight rod). This will assist with loading the rod and will help you to generate line speed quicker, a key factor in learning how to fly fish.

Fly Line Taper

Fly line taper is a slightly more confusing feature for beginners to understand. The easiest way to think of taper is to think of it as the profile of the fly line, how it looks when viewing it end to end. There are a number of different tapers, the four key ones are level taper, double taper, weight forward taper and shooting taper. Each of these tapers is designed to assist with casting the line and achieving the desired casting result in some way, for example: generate faster line speed, allow for a more delicate presentation. The most popular taper is the weight forward taper. These line have a little more weight and width in the first section of the fly line, for most anglers these lines will be the easiest to cast well.

Fly Line Density

Essentially, fly lines either float on top of the water, or sink in the water – this is a nice way to look at density. To look at this in more detail, fly lines are generally broken down into the following densities: floating, sink tip, intermediate, sinking, fast sinking. This is where you really need to consider the type of fishing you’ll be doing and what type of fly line is suitable for that type of fishing. The floating fly line, for example, is used for dry fly and nymph fishing, where it is paramount that the fly line floats on the water. A sinking line, on the other hand, is designed to sink in the water you are fishing – taking with it your flies which are attached to the end of the fly line.

Fly Line Colour

Fly line colour is probably the least important of the features to get right. Fly lines tend to come in all sorts of colours and often it comes down to personal preference. Some people think that buying a ‘camouflage’ fly line is important (especially in clear conditions with spooky fish) while others believe that the fish will see the line no matter what colour it is. As a rule of thumb, generally buy dark coloured sinking line and floating lines of earthy colours – provided you can still see them on the water.

The above ‘criteria’ are the things you need to be aware of when selecting a fly line. The types of fish, water and areas you are fishing will determine the combination of fly line features that you need. Check out the resource below for more details on how you might select the right fly line for different situations.