First Fly Fishing Experience

Written By: Brandon Renbaum

October 18th, 2021

 I took my first guided fly fishing lesson in rural Colorado several weeks ago. The experience was something I will remember for a lifetime. For those of you who don’t know anything about fishing or Colorado in general then this blog post will wake you up.

I started my day at 5am to provide ample time to get to my guided tour in Woodland Park, CO. The one common thread that runs deep in all worthy outdoor activities (hunting, fishing, hiking) is an early morning start. This has to do with beating the heat, respecting temperature changes, and the likelihood of actually catching something. Watching the sunrise over the mountains as you drive down a long country road provides a sense of peace and euphoria that cannot be explained. It’s not about the hunt…it’s about the experience!

I met my guide Ian at the South Platte Fly Shop in Woodland Park. Ian was very friendly and sported a long and rugged beard that can only be acquired if you are a true outdoorsman or work in construction. He showed me some flies to use that were in a big plastic display case within the store. They were so tiny and strange looking to me. I just wondered how you would attach such a small bait to a line. Dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, streamers, the list goes on and on. He picked the flies out with tweezers while explaining the application of certain baits.

The Drive Out

I had no idea where we were going, but I just followed Ian in my pickup truck as we went west on I-25. If you have ever driven in Florissant, Colorado you know what that drive is all about. It’s some of the most stunning backcountry Colorado has to offer. My gut feeling was that we were going to Eleven Mile State Park. My instincts were correct and I followed Ian into a section called the Charlie Myers Wildlife Area. This part of the park is very desolate and open. It’s basically a wide open prairie with mountains in the background. A decent sized river runs through this area and drains into the reservoir.

Getting Situated: 

We walked through marshy grasslands for about 20 minutes until finding a good spot to fish. Ian had his polarized glasses on and started scanning for trout. I followed him around, but couldn’t see anything myself. He later handed me a pair of polarized glasses and said, “Go up that way, I will check this area out while we spread out.” I still couldn’t see anything and just walked around the river bed in my waders. Ian started to rig up my rod and put two flies on it. The first thing he asked me to do was cast. So my bass fishing instincts kicked in as I started to cast as if I was working with a standard rod and reel setup. Needless to say, that didn’t go very well. My line got tangled in the tall grass and went nowhere. Ian laughed and said, “we have a lot of work to do.”

So the whole thing about fly fishing is that it’s completely different from traditional rod and reel fishing. You have to unlearn all the habits you learned as a bass fisherman. The game is different with trout and flies, so you must train your brain to operate and move differently. A fly cast is all about the quick flick of the wrist while your hand is high in the air. You can’t pull your wrist back more than 90 degrees because of the physics. There is no reel release or need for your index finger to hold the line during a cast. It’s all one fluid motion that takes hours of practice to get right.

Eleven Mile State Park Fly Fishing

I would say the first hour and a half was just me practicing how to cast correctly. My line kept getting tangled up or just didn’t go anywhere. It was like learning how to fish from a toddlers perspective. I finally got the motions down to a point where Ian said I could start fishing for real.

Eleven Mile State Park, Colorado

The process really was a team effort and I was so grateful I had a guide. Ian would select a small area of the river where he would see a big trout and would immediately tell me to hurry up and start casting in that area. The cast had to land precisely where the fishing was going. You always cast upstream and let the current carry your fly downstream so you are less detectable. You have a strike indicator (or bobber) attached to the line to see where your line is going. That strike indicator is your beacon that must be watched closely in anticipation of any abnormal movement. If the bobber suddenly stops and is jerked, you have a bite. So you are basically casting upstream, watching the bobber float downstream, and watching very closely for anything abnormal to happen. Your striker could just get caught up in an eddy and you have to release it by performing small circle movements with your rod. It’s all very confusing for a first timer and will test your patience and persistence.

The Basics: Fly Fishing Colorado

One of the other aspects that was challenging was placement and movement. I was constantly being told to move backwards, forwards, left, right, under, over. It was kind of like a chinese fire drill. I had no idea why I was moving in either direction, I just tried to follow my guide’s directions as closely as possible. When you have a decent current, water up to your chest, and big wader boots on it’s not so easy to move swiftly in a river. Top it off with all the sand and silt at the bottom, it’s like moving through molasses. The process was a constant go, stop, scan, cast, look, repeat. When you cast into the river you let the current do the work. You let your line ride the current at a full 180 degree angle. If you get a bite that bobber will stop and you will see a bubble or something pop up out of the water. You won’t feel the strike like in bass fishing. You don’t reel the fish in like in bass fishing. Your muscle memory is very confused at this point.

My lesson was supposed to be two hours, but we ended up fishing for about to six hours. I was really lucky to have an instructor with an open schedule and some patience. He liked my persistence and attitude and said everything else could be taught with time.

It’s the same mentality you need to have when being an electrical apprentice. You can teach anybody to wire a three way switch, but you can’t teach hard work and persistence. Fly fishing is all about persistence, being present, and learning to adapt. So when Hollywood makes a movie like “A River Runs Through it,” the general population can begin to understand the parallels between nature and the struggles of the human condition. You could say the current is like life, you never know where it will take you. The rocks and boulders in the river are our struggles. Fish either live or die according to these conditions. The human experience is about survival and navigating the current of life. Now I don’t want to get too deep because this article is meant to be light hearted. But for those who have never woken up before the sunrise to go hunting or fishing will never realize how majestic and interconnected we humans are to the ebb and flow of nature.

Progress

So I finally made some progress and caught a small Rainbow trout. My first catch was a little guy (picture below) caught about two and a half hours into my trip. I couldn’t have landed it without the help of my guide and a solid net. I barely felt a bite and Ian was screaming at me, “set, set, set.” Setting is basically making sure the hook penetrates the mouth of the fish. It’s a sudden jerk of the hand upwards to get that hook firmly secured to the fish. It’s all about timing and attention. You have to have laser-like focus as you watch your strike indicator for sudden irregularities while floating downstream. You see a trout, set it, and now you work the thing. So when Ian said I had one on the line my next reaction was to reel it in. This was a big no no…Ian would shout, “no, no, no…get your hand off the reel.” I looked around in confusion and panicked. He told me to let the fish carry out the line and not fight it. So I followed his directions and had a little Rainbow trout on the line. I was being told to move in all sorts of directions and to keep my rod tip up at all times. Ian would say again, “don’t think about touching that reel or we are going home.” I eventually let the fish tire out and got him in a net. I caught my first trout ever on a fly rod, the feeling was great. I had no idea what I was doing, but I tried to let the moment soak in for a minute. The mood suddenly changed from intense focus to peaceful bliss and congratulatory handshakes. This is what fly fishing is about: putting in the work for a few seconds of bliss. Nothing comes easy in life that is worthwhile, fly fishing reminds us of that fact.

First Catch: Small Rainbow Trout

Moving Forward

Now that I had some basics down it was time to really start fly fishing. As the hours went by we were attacked by insects and a harsh/unforgiving sun due to the elevation of around 8,600 feet. When you are in the zone you forget these things. I made the mistake of only bringing one water bottle with me. My bug spray was in my truck as well. I mention these small details because they are important at certain elevations. Always bring more water, sunscreen, and bug spray than needed when you’re out having fun adventures in the mountains.

I began hooking some pretty big trout as the day went on. Unfortunately, I didn’t officially catch any, but I learned how to fight the big guys. Eleven Mile has trout ranging from 11” up to 30 inches. So there are some monsters in that area, but I would say I didn’t hook anything larger than 16 inches. It was a frustrating game because Ian and I got very excited when one of these bigger trout took my bait. It became an issue of me not understanding where to move in the water once the fish was set. Ian would say, “left, two steps sideways, one step back, run as fast as you can behind it.” My mind was spinning as I tried to keep these bigger ones on the line. To make things worse I was trying to reel in the fish thinking it was like catching a bass. My muscle memory was disoriented and frustrated. So it was basically hours of me unlearning what I had learned as a rod and reel fisherman. Big trout put up a nice fight, they are strong and smart..so you must adapt to meet that challenge. Animals in the wild don’t get to a certain age and size by being stupid.

The Grind

The day went on and time flew by. Fly fishing requires more mental focus than other forms of fishing. It’s a constant battle of finding the trout, adjusting your cast, and watching that indicator for signs of a strike. I ended up hooking about 3 or 4 big ones according to Ian. I just didn’t understand where to go or what to do once I had the fish hooked. I missed some great opportunities because of placement. You need to understand where to move in the water once those big ones are hooked. You are supposed to get behind them and set at angles that grab the mouth of the fish. You eventually can reel in the fish, but that’s at the very end. During the sixth hour we put all our effort into this one giant which I hooked with some persistence. My set was perfect and this bad boy was on the line. I took my hand off the reel, let it run with my flies and listened to Ian’s directions. I did basically everything correctly except I reeled him in too early in the end. This was the last straw for the day, both Ian and I were drained.

Wrapping Up

As we packed up all our gear and headed back to our trucks I thanked Ian for his help. It reminded me of my first day on a construction site: totally clueless, but learned some important lessons about life. When you go out to a very rural area where the landscape is stunning and you feel a connection with nature, your perspective for the day changes.

You feel a sense of gratitude and awe with your place in nature. Fishing is perhaps one of the oldest forms of hunting and only recently have we been spoiled by the option of a grocery store to obtain our food source. I learned that my guide had also done some electrical work and we exchanged apprentice stories. I find it interesting that people who work with their hands also love hobbies that utilize their hands. It makes sense that most trade workers love the outdoors (hunting and fishing) because they know the gratitude and bliss it brings after a long hard day. It’s something many of those who work in corporate offices forget or never get to experience. We have become so watered down from our natural hunter/gather ancestry that we never consider where our meat actually comes from. We are also not designed to sit in chairs all day taking in artificial light from a computer screen. We are supposed to be working in the fields, sweating for our livelihood. I think outdoor activities like fly fishing remind us how disconnected we actually have become from our natural ways.

Conclusion

By the time I got in my truck to go home I was very dehydrated and hungry. I was so lightheaded that I didn’t know if I would make it back home in one piece. I just needed some water and a sugary snack. Driving home in a half delirious state, going through the day’s events trying to sort out what I did right and wrong kept me focused. I eventually found a rest stop with a water fountain and just sat there for 20 minutes taking in the view over Florissant, Colorado. It was an amazing day and made me realize that I’m slowly accomplishing all the things I set out to do in Colorado that are worthwhile. With just a little more practice and guidance I will one day become a real fly fisherman.