Your first Salmon on the fly?

[johnmac]

Tell me all how long did it take for you to take your first Salmon on the fly??? either hours on the water..... days..... weeks or in my case months and still counting!!! the time will come!

Im sure there will be a few jammy sod's who got a fish on their first outing!! but so far i am thirty or so sessions (anything from 2hrs to a full day!) but nae luck!!

Your thoughts... and stories, if you please!

[tyneandrew]

About 5 minutes! River Don July 96'

Grilse about 4lbs! For the Monday morning i had 2 grilse and 3lb 8oz brownie (which is in a case).

For the rest of the week - nothing

[robmason]

First season of trying. River Awe. That initial beginners luck soon deserted me though don't you worry!

[exerod]

After messing about for three seasons with spinner and worm and only hooking two fish (both lost) I took up the fly rod and had eight in four days Don't know why but I just felt confident and could do no wrong. Never had it quite so easy since though!

Stick with it and stay positive, I've never had a fish when I've gone to the river on a downer. Don't worry if others catch when you don't, it just show that fish are around and the next one is yours!

Andy

[johnmac]

thanks for the stories folks! and thanks for the offer springer! I'm sure that i'll get there sooner rather than later!! its a matter of time!! I am just interested to hear other peoples experiences! Im sure that once the first fish comes all will be well!! I just need to get over that hurdle!! then it will be a breeze after that!!

I did actually hook a fish when Dennis took me out on Kercock.... i think it was a kelt or maybe even a Brownie!! but i made a total mess of it and lost it in a few seconds.... so we will never know!! but like i said...i'm full of confidence and hopefully its just a matter of time!! In no time at all i'll have my first photo posted on here!! well maybe! cheers all.... and keep the stories coming!

[Fruin]

John,
It's as springer said; it's all about being at the right place at the right time and applying the basic principles. If you fish a beat or a river where you are fishing well, but there are very few fish about, then it has more to do with chance than skill.
I've always thought that a novice would be able to catch a few fish on a renowned beat stuffed with fish. However, a good angler will probably catch a lot more fish in the same circumstances.
Skill and experience enter the equation when the fish are there but the conditions are against you.

[easky]

first from the Easky River about 5 years ago, caught the first and then 2 more that day! (and 4 for the week). After that its been a mixture of good days, lucky days and frequent slow days. As the other guys have said it is a lot about being in the right place at the right time - experience and local knowledge does come into play esp when the conditions are not as good.

tight lines - the first one will come (I have been out 7 times this year without so much as a pull )

E

[The-Real-FlyBri]

I guess it was 3 seasons but probably an accumulated 10 days.
Although as lucky as a lucky thing with a shamrock tied onto a horseshoe, probably the best thing I've done to contribute to my chances were to go on the 3 days on the Dee with some of the guys on here, when I had the expert advice from a good ghillie which if nothing else gave me the fundamentals, ability to put a line out and some confidence to keep at it.


Bri

[jan]

bought a norway about 8 years ago - and got a free week on the cork blackwater from sportsmail- no water of course so flogged the water to death, on the last day a guide from the local pub sneaked me on to a private beat just up from where i was fishing and i got a small grilse on my trout rod and a size 12 single blue charm - brilliant.

[davewallbridge]

Second cast on the Dyfi, a six pound grilse.
I had just arrived at the pool, saw the fish show, waded out and cast short with the first cast.
Bit disappointing really in a strange kind of way. It was my first day on the river (the first attempt at flyfishing for either seatrout or salmon) and I was hoping for and expecting to catch a seatrout.

There must have been a small shoal as I hooked and played a similar sized fish ten minutes later that came unstuck as I was bringing it in to beach.

"This salmon fishing is easy", I thought - HA !... didn't see another for three years.

Dave.

[imb]

I'm in the same boat as yourself!caught a grilse on the worm last year,that was me away then,bought all the gear,joined the ness,conon and glass associations this year,wife cracking up and i've not seen a fish all season!pulled up for a look at river the other night and had to give a young loon a hand landing a cracker of about 10lb!thats as close as i've come to one on the fly!!
tight lines all
Ian B

[hans]

About 10 years ago we heard good news about the Suldalslagen, in the west of Norway near Stavanger. It used to be a great river, with a very short running season. Approx. 3 or 4 weeks, starting halfway August.
Average catching weight 9 kilo's, say 20 lbs. So we telephoned with Mo Laksegard, the guy who runs most of the beats. He told us, the fishing was great,: everybody here fishes, everybody catches fish, if you come, you catch your fish as well.
So, we were off to the Suldalslagen, prime time, spot on!
When, after a long drive we arived at the river, the first thing we noticed, that there were no anglers on the banks..... To make the story short, we fished for 1 whole week, I did manage to catch my first salmon ever... a 3 lbs grilse... we could not help thinking we had beed cheated by this Mo Laksegaaard chap...
we looked at the catch-reports about the river: on the beat we fished, 2 salmon had been taken this whole season. Mine was the biggest..... but, my first salmon was safe!
Cheers, Hans.

[wilbert]

I treated my self to a fly outfit for my birthday at the beginning of August and lost 2 fish that season, I caught my fist fish on 23rd July the season after a 7lb sea liced fish. i t probably took me about 25 - 30 attempts and these ranged from an hour to 6 hours and I was learning to cast at the time. My catch rate has gone up since but i still have to put many hours in for each fish.

[rennie]

First fish came on reservoir trout tackle 3lb cast and a hardy gold butcher and weighed 18lb from what now is the Isla bank beat (clarkys hole) thought this is the way to go lets do this properly,it was four to five years before anything else interrupted the progress of my fly again that came from the Tay and weighed 18lb along with a 9lber the same day,was right though it is the way to go. Pedro.