What flies do I actually need to start fly fishing?
About a dozen patterns in three or four sizes each will cover a first season: two searching dry flies, two attractor nymphs, a midge, a terrestrial and a streamer. Carry each in sizes 14…
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The Virtual Guide
Our Fly-brary explains the patterns. The Virtual Guide answers everything else an angler actually asks — what rod to buy, how to cast it, which knot to tie, when to go. One question per article, answered in the first paragraph, because nobody wants to scroll past somebody's childhood to find out which tippet to use.
Getting started
Your first rod, your first cast, your first fish — and an honest answer to "is this hard?"
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How do I set up a fly rod for the first time?
Join the rod sections with the guides aligned, seat the reel in the reel seat, thread the fly line up through every guide, then attach a tapered leader loop-to-loop, add tippet, and tie on…
Gear
Rod weights, lines, leaders, waders. What to buy, what to skip, and what it actually costs.
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Do I need waders to fly fish?
No. You can fly fish from the bank or wet wade in shorts and wading boots for most of the summer. Waders matter when water is cold enough to shorten your day — roughly below 60°F — or when…
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What size tippet should I use for what size fly?
Divide the hook size by three and round to the nearest X. A size 16 fly takes 5X, a size 20 takes 6X or 7X. Go one size finer on flat, clear water and one size heavier when you are fishing…
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What is the difference between leader and tippet?
The leader is the tapered length of clear line between your fly line and your fly; tippet is the thin, level section at its end that you tie the fly to and replace as it shortens. Start…
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What weight fly rod do I need for trout?
A 9-foot 5-weight is the standard trout rod in North America and the right first buy for almost everyone. Drop to a 3- or 4-weight for small streams and delicate dry flies; step up to a 6…
Technique
Casting, mending, drifts, hook sets. The things that turn drifts into fish.
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How do I fly fish a lake from shore?
Fish the edges of structure — drop-offs, weed beds, inlets and points — rather than casting into open water. Count your fly down to find the depth fish are holding at, then repeat that…
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How do I fish a hopper-dropper rig?
Tie a buoyant dry fly to your tippet, then attach 12 to 36 inches of tippet to the bend of its hook and add a weighted nymph. The dry both catches fish and acts as the indicator. Set the…
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How do I stop my fly line from dragging?
Drag happens when the current pulls your fly line faster than the fly, making the fly skate unnaturally. Fix it by mending — flipping the belly of the line upstream after the cast, without…
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How do I set the hook on a trout?
Lift the rod smoothly to a low side angle rather than snapping it overhead. On a dry fly, pause until the fish has turned down. On a nymph, set the moment the indicator does anything…
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How do I set up a strike-indicator nymph rig?
Set the indicator at roughly one and a half to two times the water depth. Put split shot twelve to eighteen inches above the point fly, and hang a second fly twelve to twenty inches off…
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How do I fly fish small streams?
Move upstream so fish are facing away from you, stay low, and keep casts short — most small-stream fish are caught inside twenty feet. Use a shorter rod and a shorter leader than you would…
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Why do trout keep refusing my fly?
Almost always drag, not pattern. If a trout rises and turns away, your fly is moving at a different speed to the current. Check drag first, then size, then depth, then tippet diameter…
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How do I read water and find where trout are holding?
Trout hold where food arrives and current does not tire them: the seams between fast and slow water, the heads and tails of pools, behind and in front of boulders, under cut banks, and in…
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Should I fish a dry fly or a nymph?
Fish nymphs when nothing is rising, which is most of the time — trout take the large majority of their food subsurface. Fish dry flies when you can see rises or insects on the water…
Knots
The short list of knots worth learning, tied step by step.
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How do you tie an arbor knot?
Pass the backing around the reel arbor, tie a simple overhand knot around the standing line, then tie a second overhand in the tag end itself as a stopper. Pull the standing line and the…
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How do you tie a blood knot?
Cross the two pieces of leader, wrap one tag five times around the other and pass it back through the gap where they cross. Wrap the second tag five times the other way and pass it through…
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How do you tie a Davy knot?
Pass the tippet through the hook eye, form a loose overhand knot around the standing line, then bring the tag back through that overhand loop. For a double Davy, pass it through a second…
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How do you tie a double surgeon’s knot?
Overlap the leader and the new tippet by about six inches, form a loop with both pieces together, and pass both ends through that loop twice. Wet it and pull all four ends evenly at once…
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How do you tie an improved clinch knot?
Thread the tippet through the hook eye, wrap it five times around the standing line, pass the tag back through the small loop at the eye and then through the big loop you just made. Wet it…
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How do you tie a nail knot?
Lay the leader butt alongside the end of the fly line with a small tube or nail beside both, wrap the leader six times around all three, pass the tag back through the tube, and pull the…
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How do you tie a non-slip loop knot?
Make a loose overhand knot in the tippet, pass the tag through the hook eye and back through the overhand, wrap it four or five times around the standing line, then pass it back through…
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How do you tie a perfection loop?
Make a loop by passing the tag behind the standing line, then a second smaller loop in front of it, bring the tag between the two loops, and pull the second loop through the first. Wet it…
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What is a wind knot and what do I do about it?
A wind knot is an overhand knot that appears in your leader or tippet. It is caused by a tailing loop in your cast, not by wind. It substantially weakens the line, so cut it out and re-tie…
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Which fly fishing knots do I actually need to know?
Four knots cover everything: an arbor knot for backing to reel, a nail knot or loop-to-loop for line to leader, a double surgeon’s knot for leader to tippet, and an improved clinch or…
Seasons & timing
When to go, what the water is doing, and what to expect when you get there.
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What is the best time of day to fly fish?
It depends on the season, because water temperature drives it. In summer, fish early morning and evening and avoid the middle of the day. In spring and autumn, the warmest hours — roughly…
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How do I fly fish a river during spring runoff?
Fish the edges. High water pushes trout out of the main current and into the soft, shallow margins, often within a few feet of the bank. Use big, dark or bright flies they can find in…
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How do I fly fish in winter?
Fish slow, deep water rather than riffles — cold trout will not hold in fast current. Use small nymphs and midges, get them right on the bottom, and drift them slowly. Tailwaters fish best…
Practical
Licenses, etiquette, catch-and-release handling, and the rest of the real world.
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How do I release a trout without killing it?
Land the fish quickly, keep it in the water, wet your hands before touching it, and support it facing into the current until it swims off on its own. Use barbless hooks and a rubber net…
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Do I need a fishing license to fly fish?
In the United States a fishing license is issued by each state, and in almost every state anyone over a set age needs one to fish public water — including catch-and-release fly fishing…
Ordering now
The Reel Deal Deck is ready to order.
54 hand-drawn flies on Genuine Bicycle Rider Back stock with the patented Air-Cushion finish, made by a father and daughter in Eagle, with a contribution to Trout Unlimited from every deck.