Salomone: Fly-fishing essentials for new anglers.
Michael Salomone/Courtesy photo
Fly fishing can be an intimidating approach to angling. After all, we are not really enticing fish to eat with a food source such as bait. Rather, we are mimicking a natural food source and doing what we can to present the imitation with the illusion of reality. When new fly fishers commit to the sport, there is an ever-growing list of tools and necessities to help you trick a trout into eating. Some basic fly-fishing essentials will get you started.
Everything — from specialized tools to terminal supplies and onto consumables — plays a role in our sport. Hitting the river with a basic set of items gives any angler a better experience and an honest chance at achieving success. However, the list of necessary items may vary depending on your chosen approach to fly fishing.
Fly fishers who enjoy dry-fly fishing build a specific tool set and essential item list. Necessities revolve around enhancing the presentation, maintaining control and selling the flies. Fly fishers who prefer to fish sub-surface, down deep with nymphs gather a very different list of essentials.
Preparing your gear for both approaches is the ultimate goal for newbies.
Essential tools perform a specific task and sometimes more than one. Forceps come in an array of designs. Size and shape are a preference. Some fly fishers may find a curved jaw an effective tool for removing flies, pinching down barbs and attaching weights. Others will desire a lightweight, thin-tipped jaw and textured grip as a necessity.
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Finding a pair that fits the size of your fingers and shape of your hand enhances the tool’s performance. Others come with cutting edges that scissor as well as pinch. Tools that can perform multi tasks are desired for weight saving and vest consolidation. Too many tools in a vest becomes cumbersome and distractive.
Line cutters, often referred to as ‘nippers,’ are one of those necessary tools for a variety of reasons. Modern line construction enhances the surface and structure of tippet. Using your teeth to cut tippet line is a big mistake. Micro fractures and chips in teeth do not heal. Fluorocarbon tippet is even more destructive to tooth enamel. Repeatedly exposing your teeth to damage will add up in a negative way.
Use a nipper to cut your line, always. While nippers need not be super expensive, you can find top-dollar nippers from numerous companies. Some anglers wear expensive nippers around their neck like major league baseball bling.
Nippers can run from a couple dollars for a generic pair to a couple hundred dollars for a Cadillac version. Abel, Simms and Hatch are a few of the top-of-the-line companies with impressive examples. Rising makes tools that fall into an affordable price point. For years, the Rising Big Nippa has been a favorite of mine for many reasons. The broad jaws allow me a little forgiveness when bouncing down the river and need to trim a line quickly without missing the cut. When I am rowing down the river, I need that kind of reliability.
Dry-fly specific essentials would include a floatant of some type. Keeping your flies on the surface is key to dry-fly fishing success. Loon makes a wide variety of environmentally friendly products that work magnificently. Aquel is a product I rely on heavily.
Nymphing anglers will need a variety of weights to achieve the appropriate depth. Along those lines, don’t forget a strike indicator. From yarn to foam and even screwed on balls, strike indicators are a necessity for most new fly fishers when nymph fishing.
Tippet is a consumable product that will forever be in need of replenishing. A few spools of tippet should always be in your vest or pack. For the local waters, most fly anglers will benefit from 4X and 5X. Leaders are a modern day extravagance that should be packed in a pocket as well. Buy them in three-packs for convenience.
Some essentials do not fit in your vest. Bug knowledge and knot know-how are two things anglers carry in their head. Fly fishers can’t perform properly without a good knot securing the fly and joining tippet to the leader. Learn the proper knots from videos or from the reliable shop staff at Vail Valley Anglers. New fly fishers can step into the river feeling prepared with their own essential set of tools.
Michael Salomone has lived in the Eagle River valley since 1992. He started his professional guiding career in 2002 and currently guides for Vail Valley Anglers. He lives on the bank of the Eagle River with his wife, Lori, his youngest daughter, Ella, and a yellow Labrador named Poppy. His published writing has appeared in Southwest Fly Fishing, Fly Rod & Reel, Eastern Fly Fishing, On the Fly, FlyLords, the Pointing Dog Journal, Upland Almanac, TROUT, American Fly Fishing, USA Today Hunt & Fish and Fly Fisherman magazines.
