I was blessed to have received a fly rod & reel setup and a certificate for a guided trip from my BIL for Christmas. He got me a Sage VXP 4 wt. Rod with a Reddington Rise reel along with a trip through Kirk's fly fishing shop in Estes Park, CO. I reside in the NW Houston area and want to get in some practice before I get back up to Estes to utilize this trip. I have access to my neighborhood bass & crappie pond but the walking path surrounding it doesn't bode well for backcasting. I have never used a fly rod aside from the 5 minutes spent at lunch today casting in my backyard. I watched a Lefty Krehl video online last night and tried to impart the techniques I recalled from the video and didn't find it overly difficult so far.

All that being said, what are some pointers for an absolute beginner from casting to must have equipment? I am a blank slate at this point and am excited to learn a new hobby.

Thanks,

Strosfann

Pointers #1-324-- find a local flyfishing club. The members there will be overflowingly helpful in filling your every need.

A polite approach, introduction, and request for help from near any silverhaired stream side fisherman will usually genereate a positive experience too.

An admitted schooling day with a reputable guide is also money well spent.

Good luck out there,

I would check you local area for instructors or guides to see if you can spend a few hours getting some lessons. You may have to spend a few bucks, but it will be worth it to have some skills before you go on the trip. You'll want to be able to fish with your guide instead of spending the day having him teach you how to cast.

There are some good dudes on the water...All it would take is to start the chit chat with someone on the water..
I meet great people more often than not......Its only the cocky guides that I want to punch in the throat

You will learn much more on the water watching someone and picking their brain than anything else

Again I agree with that comment. On fly selection - seek out proven patterns from local sources. When I began, I made the mistake of purchasing several books and tying boxes of near all the illustrated flies. The bulk of those were essentially useless in our local streams and lakes and been disposed off. Success comes now from about 5 or 6 proven patterns.

When one does venture to a completely new environment though, one may need to shift to locally known producers. Here (eastern Oregon), I get by with gold ribbed hare's ears, parachute Adams, elk hair caddis, some scuds, maybe a hopper pattern, and a few tiny midges. When I visited the San Juan in New Mexico, San Juan worms, brassies, and some tiny midges were the ticket. On the Yellowstone, one can go crazy adapting to the myriad of hatches that appear within a single hour. Those fish will turn on and off of patterns in a manner of minutes.

Good luck,

There a fly fishing club in your area with several good instructors https://www.facebook.com/TexasFlyfishers Good people to hook up with

Invest in some casting lessons, one or two sessions will save you years of trial and error and frustration. I know from experience, I picked up my first flyrod in 1963 and well it was a learning experience. As for equipment well, you can go nuts or you can just buy what you really need, some tippets, a set of nippers to cut tippets a fly box and some flies. I just to carry a lot of stuff, now just a box or two of fly patterns, a few spools of tippets, one spool of floating fly line, I fish Double Taper, and one spool with a sinking tip- the fastest sinking tip you can get. Some split shot and that is about it. Right now I am considering looking into the Japanese fly Fishing method. No reel just a long rod and a line no longer that the rod. Seems to work very well, from what I see on youtube.

As far as flies go? As the local shop and guide. They will more than willing to sell you some.
Roll casting, always an important skill. Good polorized glasses, are a must! Can't stress that enuff.
Seek out the local guys.....they should help a bunch

As several said, get some good basic casting instruction..the local fly club would be perfect..otherwise you develop habits that are difficult or impossible to eliminate..I learned on my own at about 9 or 10and have never been able to break my bad habits..but I am a hunter first..As for flies, as 1minute said a few basic patterns are enough andwill catch lots of trout..again 1 minuted gave and excellent list ..I would add some royal coachman..