Fly fishing Questions

I had one heck of a day at Defenbaker last Friday trout fishing and
thought I would share and ask a few fly fishing questions. My wife and I
went to Defenbaker lake in Saskatchewan and were "still" fishing from shore
using Pickeral rigs weighted to the bottom of the lake and were baited with
Power bait trout dough. Things were pretty slow and I got bored....so I went
back to the car and got my fly rod my wife bought me for Xmas one year. She
said it was not of good quality as she didn't want to buy something that I
may never use.....It turned out I hadn't used it only to try my hand at
casting in the back yard.

The reel had "floating" type line and a long 10 foot tapered
leader. I tied on a black "Wooly Bugger". I started to whip the rod back and
forth and managed to get about 20 feet or so from shore. I could see where
the trout were coming to the surface another 10 or so feet from where I was
landing my presentation...After several attempts and being totally wrapped
up in the line a few times....digging my Wooly Bugger out of the lawn chair
that I had behind me....putting up with my wifes laughter at my expense..I
finally conected...
That trout hit so hard I couldn't beleive it....It ran and ran ...I
didn't think it was going to stop... I used my hand as a brake on the side
of the reel so try and slow the fish down.... I started reeling in the fish
and backing away from the shoreline so my wife could get the net. It took
forever to get the line back in the reel as I am used to a geared spinning
reel. As soon as I got the fish to shore it would take off like a scalded
cat again and again. After a very long fight my wife managed to roll the
brute in the net. I had caught my very first fish on a fly rod... 6 lb
Rainbow trout. I was very happy. After taking some photos and putting our
trout on ice (yes I kept it), I made a second cast...."Bang" I was hit
again on the very next cast and this one came out of the water...it was
huge....from our estimate it would have gone 8lbs plus...It took off like a
rocket....again I was using my hand to add pressure to the spool as the fish
ran.... Then suddenly the plastic spool broke in half on the reel....My line
fell out of the reel and landed in a ball on the ground. The fish kept
running and I was feeding it line off the ground until a tangled ball came
up and jammed itself into the eye of the rod...snap went my line and goodby
Rainbow...
Upon inspection of the reel I see where it had been wrecked by the
first fish. The reel was made of black plastic and some kind of steel rivet
had egged out the plastic and everything flew apart from there..
Anyways....My question are these....How does one "Play" the fish when
you connect?...IE:...do you pull the line in by hand while keeeping the rod
bent?....or do you used the (Very slow) reel and reel it in?...or is it a
combination there of?
I have fished for many years and have always used a spinning reel. I am
right handed so I cast using my right hand and reel with my left hand.
(Handle on the left) ....When I set up a fly rod is it set up the same way?
Y'know...there is so much literature witten on casting while using
different fly fishing techniques and damned little written when you actually
connect. I feel I have graduated from the casting phase (actually I still
have a ways to go) to the catching phase and am at somewhat of a loss. Any
tips?
I picked up a new reel (made of steel LOL)and am going back to
Defenbaker Lake in a few days. This time I will be armed with better
equipment and hopefully some knowledge. Thanks for any replies on this..
Thanks.... Jim

You can install your new fly reel so the reel handle is on the left side.
There are probably a few mods you must do inside the reel in order to do
this.

Yes, the fish is played from the reel. As you know now, a cheap reel can
cause problems.

You should have dacron backing on your reel, under the fly line.

A fly reel usually has no drag, your palm against the rim of the reel
applies the drag.