Big Y Fly Fishing Blog

Fly fishing can look intimidating from the outside — all the fancy casts, long leaders, and mysterious bug names. But the truth? It’s one of the most enjoyable, beginner-friendly ways to get outside, unwind, and catch fish. You don’t need expensive gear. You don’t need elite casting skills. You just need a few basics and a willingness to try something new.

If you’ve ever walked past a river and seen someone making long, elegant loops of line through the air, you’ve witnessed fly fishing—the art-forward, sometimes frustrating, often addicting cousin of conventional fishing. But what actually is fly fishing, and why does it look so different from the bobbers-and-worms approach most folks grew up with?

Understanding Hook Sizes in Fly Fishing: A Beginner’s Guide If you’re new to fly fishing, hook sizes can feel a little backwards—sometimes literally. The numbers run in opposite directions, different brands size things differently, and a size 8 in one...

In February 2025, Big Y Fly Co hosted our first shop trip to Christmas Island. For a lot of anglers, this is the big trip. It’s a sort of rite of passage—one of those places that leaves a mark on you and changes the way you think about saltwater fly fishing. If you’ve put in a week on Christmas Island, nobody will ever question your devotion to this whole fly-fishing thing again.

This write-up is a debrief, an explainer, and a handful of things we learned that might help make your first trip to CXI go as smoothly as ours did. If you want a packing list or gear list, we’ve got a blog post for that.

It’s been on the radar for years. Watching someone battle a marlin on an old 80’s TV show is one of my earliest childhood memories. A friend once described chasing marlin on the fly as fly fishing’s “final boss,” and...

Big Y Fly Co. vs Big Retail Brands: What You’re Really Paying For Ever wonder why you’re paying $2.00–$7.50 for a single fly at a big box retailer—but can get the same pattern from us for under a buck? We...

MPX vs. Premier Gold vs. Hydros Trout: Which Fly Line Should You Actually Fish? Choosing a fly line these days is like picking a craft IPA—too many options, and they all claim to be the best. But when it comes...

Dry Fly vs. Nymph: How to Choose the Right One for the Day Fly fishing gives you endless options—but when it comes to dry flies vs. nymphs, the choice can make or break your day on the water. Dry flies...

This started off as a review and comparison between the Sage R8 Salt and the Orvis Helios D.  I fished those two rods extensively for bonefish and triggerfish on a recent trip to Christmas Island.  They were both so nice,...