Beginner fly fishing/tenkara

[Slothman60]

I’m looking to get into fly fishing and or tenkara. I live on the west side and have some of the equipment and old flies. I was wondering what the best patterns to use and flies to use in lakes and smaller streams. Any advice helps tia. 

[Parasite]

I’m looking to get into fly fishing and or tenkara. I live on the west side and have some of the equipment and old flies. I was wondering what the best patterns to use and flies to use in lakes and smaller streams. Any advice helps tia. 

 I would talk to your local fly shop. Based on the time of the year and what is hatching, fly choice varies wildly.

[metlhead]

Elk hair caddis will catch anything

[Stein]

Mayfly, caddis and a couple nymphs and you'll be good to go.

[7mmfan]

Small dry flies, as mentioned, are deadly in small creeks for resident rainbow and cutthroat, but they are primarily a late spring/summer/early fall fly. All of those bugs come from a nymph stage underwater. 99% of a fish's diet is on subsurface food sources (insect nymphs/larvae, leaches, forage fish, etc...). So having an assortment of nymphs appropriate for the timeframe you're fishing is important. Parasite's suggestion of talking with your local fly shop is spot on. They will give you great information on where you're fishing.

The small dries that are listed are great, I'd add in a couple of larger foam bodied flies like Chubby Chernobles, and a couple of grasshopper and Stimulator patterns.

For nymphs, Pheasant Tails, Lightening Bugs, and Hares Ear nymphs cover most things. Do not forget to have a couple of San Juan worms in your box. When all else fails, the worm will usually catch a couple.

Lastly, Wooly Buggers are the ubiquitous leach/streamer pattern that works everywhere. Get a couple of black and olive colored ones and you'll be set.

Good luck and have fun, it's a fun hobby that will quickly turn into passion and then obsession.

[Bullkllr]

 

After that I'd add it somewhat depends on where you're fishing. Small west-side streams are typically not rich enough for trout to be selective much. You can get by with a dry -like a Royal Wulff since they float and are easy to see- and a basic nymph. Eastside more productive and insect-rich like the Yakima require more 'matching the hatch'.

Lakes are very much their own kinda thing. With a few variations from lake-to-lake you can get by with a relative handful of mostly specific lake patterns.

I wouldn't go to a lake without Wooly Buggers or Carey Specials. An old fly I don't see a lot any more but is dynamite when large blood-worm chironomids hatch is the Pink Lady.

Chironomid pupa imitations catch a lot of lake trout, albeit with a somewhat specialized presentation.

Great discussion here: https://pnwflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/go-to-trout-lake-patterns.4208/
And more info than you'd know what to do with overall on that forum.

[Pathfinder101]

Fly fishing is a rabbit hole (from which most of us will never find a way out  nor do we want to...)
That being said; you can catch most trout with about a half dozen flies:
Dry Flies:
Elk Hair Caddis
Adams
Royal Wulff
Nymphs:
Bead Head Pheasant Tail
Bead Head Hare's Ear
Streamers:
Wooly Bugger

You could fill a fly box with different sizes and colors of these and do pretty well most places...
Good luck.  Let me know if you find that rabbit 

[boneaddict]

Chironimid
Hares ear
Some sort of leech or wooly bugger
Adams
Caddies. 

Now to the other 400 fly patterns I have in my boxe(s)

[jackelope]

I seriously think I have 700+ flies and use like 6 of them. 15 rods and use 3 of them.
7mmfan nailed it.
Westside rivers are not difficult. Biggest challenge for me is river flows and water temperature.
It’s a huge rabbit hole.
I have a tenkara rod but I’ve never used it. It seems like it would be a PITA on small streams. I can’t get into it.

Bugger box:

[Platensek-po]

I catch a lot of cutties on the west side streams using a royal Adam’s streamer. Dry fly fishing only works for a few months on the westside. Be prepared to hike and to fish smaller runs and holes for trout. I find I use my 7.5’ fly rod a lot for that kind of fishing. It’s a blast but it’s definitely a different beast than fly fishing the snake in Wyoming lol.

[acrocker]

I bought my kid who was 10 at the time am 8' Tenkara rod a couple years ago. We camp on the Naches river fairly often at a well-used RV park, and he walks right out of the campground and into the water, 50' from the travel trailer steps. Since it's an RV campground, the river in that particular spot gets hammered pretty hard day in and day out by people throwing everything you can imagine at the trout. I can't count the number of times I've watched people, kids and adults alike, throwing spoons or spinners in the morning for a couple hours and not catching anything.

We sit around the campfire in morning and my kid will grab his little Tenkara rod and wade out to around shin-deep and start flicking a small elk-hair caddis at the closer riffles. It usually doesn't take long, and he'll be yelling out, "Got one!" and he'll bring in a little 6" rainbow or cuttie. From the camp spots next to us I can hear the adults saying, "Does that kid have one...?" as they watch him release it. A few more minutes, and the process repeats - from next to us I hear "I think he's got another one!" After a few more fish, I hear, "What the hell is he using, he's got another one!"

After 4 or 5 or 6 fish, or an hour, which ever comes first, my kid gets bored and walks back up the bank top flop down next to the fire. Nothing he catches is very big, they are running 5-7 inches usually, but every now and then he hooks into a 10 or 12 incher. I never have him use anything but an elk-hair caddis, which in my opinion is the deadliest fly there is for trout. All you need is one of them, a little 8' Tenkara rod, and about 10 feet of line and it's good time, guaranteed!

[Pathfinder101]

Never heard of Tenkara.  I just went to their website and watched the video.  Not sure I'm sold on that one.  I think it would be a good tool for the situation described by the post just above, but not much outside of that situation.  I think if there were a 20" trout rising 30' away and I had one of those rods... I'd jump off a cliff 

[fly-by]

I fish Tenkara on the west side from time to time.   It's really cumbersome to bushwhack a west side creek with a 11 or 12 foot rod and it's overkill for the tiny fish here.   I use a 7'8" Daiwa Soyokase for this kind of fishing.  Something 9-10 feet would be a good general purpose rod.  A Daiwa Kiyose 30 S-F is about 10 feet and $70. I like the absence of a cork grip.  There is just a textured portion of the blank.

Dry/dropper with a size 14 foam beetle or an elk hair caddis and a size 16-18 nymph 6-12" below.

[Pathfinder101]

I must be missing something... Tenkara looks like a $200 collapsible cane pole with no reel.  Why not just buy a light $100 fly rod and reel set up? What's the "lure" of the Tenkara...?

[fly-by]

I must be missing something... Tenkara looks like a $200 collapsible cane pole with no reel.  Why not just buy a light $100 fly rod and reel set up? What's the "lure" of the Tenkara...?

Simplicity and the need to get close to the fish.  A $100 Tenkara rod is also much more enjoyable to cast than a comparably priced fly outfit.