Fly Fishing Schools and Mini Schools
Seattle,
Washington
Our fly fishing schools are meant to serve a variety of different purposes for all levels of fly anglers. All too often, people associate fly fishing schools for beginners only. We want to not only help accelerate the learning curve for novice anglers but also make better anglers of people have been fly fishing for years.
For novice anglers, the Full Day School is an intensive, educational and of course fun experience. During the spring, summer and fall months, most if not all of the class is spent out on the water putting everyting discussed into realistic situations.
During the winter months, we move this class inside for much of the class and move outside to go over the casting and on water skills such as mending, reading water and fly selection.
Location of each school varies by instructor but is usually on the following:
upper Yakima River or Cle Elum River
Forks of Snoqualmie and Main Snoqualmie River
Green River
Cedar River when open
The Two Day School takes the 1 day school and then follows it up with a second day of all on water fishing and practicing skill sets necessary to be a self sufficient angler. This class will take a novice and give them all the confidence and tools necessary to step into the water and feel comfortable on their own, in only 2 days!
Here is what we cover in the 1 and 2 days schools respectively:
Fly Rods
1. Cosmetic versus functional differences
2. Benefits of different lengths
3. Purpose of various actions and how they relate to line, leader and tippet when fishing
4. Action and your personal casting stroke, which is different for everyone
Fly Reels
Much the same topics as above
Fly Lines
Construction and shape to fit different fly rods by action and application
Leaders and Tippet
1. Differences between Flourocarbon and Monofillament, both have many pros and cons
2. Different lengths and why
3. Appropriate diameter for various situations and why
Fly Selection based on Entomology
1. Cover the major hatches on most rivers in the country and detail the physical characteristics of each so they are more identifiable, then translate that into the flies in your fly box
2. Cover basic life cycle of an insect and all the stages they go through, how to identify each in each stage
Basic Knots
1. We cover between 3 and 8 knots to make you self sufficient on the water
2. Discuss differences in various knots that perform similar tasks in building your line/leader/tippet system
Casting
1. Cast several different rods from fast to slow, expensive to affordable, short to long
2. Cover over head cast, roll cast, shooting line, stripping line
3. Teach self analyzation to help you recognize problems in own casting
Species of fish -- Talk at great length about how the various species in the region vary from one to another in the following ways:
1. Water temperature
2. Seasonality
3. Anadromous vs Resident
4. Altitude and its affects
5. East of the mountains vs West
6. Hatchery vs Native/Wild
7. Saltwater vs Fresh, just scratch the surface really
8. Migration for hatches and spawning
9. Where to trout and other fish reside in rivers/streams and why
Reading Water -- Second day is basically a guided day and is meant to apply everything learned the first day while on the water with the guide/instructor.
1. Differences in species and how they will choose different water for different reasons
2. Pocket water
3. Seams and runs
4. Structure
5. Sunlight direction, shade and time of day
Line Management and Approach
Go into great detail on mending, high sticking, various on water casts and other aspects of managing line while presenting a fly
Link together how line management works in conjunction with your approach to the water you are reading and presenting your fly to
Presentation of Fly -- Talk about various ways to present flies both on the surface and subsurface:
1. Stripping streamers
2. Dead drifting nymphs and dry flies
3. Swinging flies on surface and subsurface
4. Skittering or waking
5. Upstream vs downstream
Hooking and Landing Fish
Idea is to give you the opportunity to have your first fish on a fly rod experience with an instructor to discuss handling the fish, release, where to land fish in difficult situations, know whether trout is female or male and specie
Locations
We want you to be successful so we will give you a number of places to go fly fish on your own the first time
Ettiquette -- Discuss various aspects of on water ettiquette in following areas:
1. Approaching other anglers or when they approach you
2. Handling fish for photos and release
3. Leave only footprints and take on pictures
4. Catch-and-Release and why
5. Trash on or near fisheries
6 Other on-water rules of awareness
Either of these two schools can be advanced for anglers already with experience but wanting to learn more about other types of fly fishing. We offer the Advanced Full and Two Day Schools in the following areas:
Puget Sound Saltwater Fly Fishing
Steelhead Fly Fishing
Tropical/Warm Water Fly Fishing
The 5 Hour Mini School is another option for those who want to freshen up on their skills before a big trip, educate themselves a bit before heading off to fish something they have never done before (steelhead, spey casting, flats fishing, saltwater knots and equipment rigging) or just want to take a taste of fly fishing class without going too deep. Anyway you look at it, this is the school which can be customized to your specific needs.
Clothing and equipment checklist -- Summer, Winter
Pricing:
| $125.00 |
5 Hour Mini School
Includes: Instructor, digital EWA Fly Fishing Manual. 5 anglers maximum. |
| $195.00 |
1 Day Fly Fishing School
Includes: Instructor, digital EWA Fly Fishing Manual. 3 anglers maximum. |
| $375.00 |
2 Day Fly Fishing School
Includes: Instructor, digital EWA Fly Fishing Manual. 3 anglers maximum. |
| $425.00 |
Advanced 2 Day Fly Fishing School
Includes: Instructor, digital EWA Fly Fishing Manua. 3 anglers maximum. |
In our clients' words...
In the press...
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