so i have been fly fishing for trout for about 2 years now but i am still not very sucessful i need some help?
Posted by admin on Thursday, September 9th, 2010
i can cast just fine i am positive that my problem lies with the fly selection i dont know when to use a dry or a wet a streamer or a nymph i am pretty much clueless when it comes to this part of fly fishing so will somebody please set me straight thanks..
Filed in Fly Fishing Flies | 7 responses so far
Dan Bon 09 Sep 2010 at 9:51 pm 1Serious fly fishermen and women refer to this as having to “match the hatch” which simply means you do a bit of research when and where you fish. If there are hatches of insects coming off the water, make your offering replicate those hatchlings as close in size, shape, and color as you can. If there is no hatch happening, look to the stones in the stream to see what insects are going through the development stages under their cover. By looking at the insect life at ground level in the stream, again, you can match the (about to) hatch and provide the fish with what they are currently eating, or a reasonable facsimile of it. There are always going to be times when insects on the menu just don’t stir up many appetites when it comes to finicky trout. That’s when you’ll also want to include some bigger and more fulfilling offerings. Try woolly boogers and heavy fluff flies that imitate baitfish like minnows, sculpins, etc. Others may even appear to look like crayfish or frogs to curious trout. Some deerhair flies even closely imitate mice, voles, and lemmings which are popular with fly fishermen in Alaska when pursuing the BIG rainbow trout and arctic char that follow the spawning salmon up stream. Don’t forget to look inside the stomach of already caught fish to see EXACTLY what they are feeding on. Once you become aware of what the fish are feeding on naturally, you will be better able to match the hatch and master the catch. It’s all a part of what makes the challenge of fly-fishing the sport that it is. To make it even MORE challenging, others take on the task of tying their own flies. But if you are like me, we’d rather just check out the great selection in our local bait and tackle establishment and and pick the ones that catch our eye in hopes they will ALSO catch our trout. Good luck.
john kon 09 Sep 2010 at 10:35 pm 2spending more time on the water is always the best way to learn, but here are some great articles
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/55249-how-to-determine-the-right-fly-for-the-right-fish
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1083991/blind_fishing_dry_flies.html
the author has a bunch of articles on fly fishing on both sites they should help, good luck
geobert24on 09 Sep 2010 at 10:44 pm 3As Dan said, try to match the hatch. If you see bugs on the surface or in the air, try to grab one and see if you have anything in your fly box that looks like it. I fish the Holston River a lot and the trout there are very selective. It’s below a bottom release dam so the water is always cold and they have plenty of stuff to eat. I need to have something very close to what’s hatching or they won’t even look at it. I also fish the small mountain streams here where the food isn’t as abundant. Usually, anything you put in front of a trout will work there. The best thing to do is check at your nearest fly shop. They will be able to tell you what is hatching in your area at the time and show you some imitations. As a rule, when nothing is in the air, fish a nymph and when you see bugs flying or on the surface, try to use something that’s close to them. Good luck with your fishing.
e.b.on 09 Sep 2010 at 11:38 pm 4Without knowing more about the particular water you’re fishing, it’s not possible to give a single, exact answer. Here are some things to consider:
1. “Matching the hatch” is important primarily on waters that have ample invertibrate life with heavy/reliable hatches. Trout in such “rich” streams may focus on a particular life stage of a particular insect, and this focus changes multiple times throughout the day. “Limestone” streams and “spring creeks” are types of moving waters that are frequently rich in nutrients, aquatic life, and selective trout.
2. If your water has sparse, less reliable hatches, matching the hatch becomes less important. Fish in rushing mountain streams, coastal rivers, and lake inlets don’t typically live in a high nutrient environment. They can’t be as selective…or they risk starving. Freestone streams are typical of such waters, and the fish can respond quite well to general patterns or “attractors.”
3. Flipping stones and screening samples from the water column will help you identify the common food sources and their densities. Use one of the many hatch guides available online or through a book dealer to identify the species and anticipate their importance in the trout’s diet throughout the year. The whole idea here is for you to get to know your home waters more intimately.
4. Most streams aren’t rich. As such, learning how to “prospect” for trout with the right selection of general patterns can do wonders. Tom Rosenbauer has a book on the subject, and there are others. Most anglers have “favorite” patterns that perform well for them, and often these are general or attractor patterns, not specific hatch matchers.
5. While you state your casting is fine, can you say the same for your approach to the water and your wading technique? In my first years on the water, I know I screwed up some good opportunities by not being alert to my approach. Every footstep, every ripple, and every shadow has the ability to change the outcome.
6. Don’t ever believe that your presentation can’t be improved. Competent, highly skilled anglers never stop learning, and they never believe they’re beyond improvement. Keep practicing.
7. Trout do the vast majority of their feeding under the surface. Most of this is within a few inches of the surface film or within a foot of the bottom. Very little food is available in the large zone between these. If fishing with a nymph, you’ll want to try to keep your fly at the right depth. It’s easy to believe your fly is deep enough, when in fact it’s nowhere near the bottom.
8. Streamers are sometimes the right fly for catching the larger or more aggressive trout in a stream, but an improperly fished streamer will alert fish and turn them off the feed. Go with a streamer if you’ve tried everything else and are willing to accept that once you’ve swam a streamer through the water, your chances of successfully following it with a nymph or dry are greatly reduced.
9. You’ve got to know how to read the water. If you can’t, it really doesn’t matter what else you know. The ability to determine where trout should be located, what insects should be prevalent in a particular stretch, and how the line/leader/fly will behave in and on the water are fundamental to successful trout angling.
10. Accept every day as a learning experience, even the fishless days. Everyone gets skunked. Frustrating, yes…shameful, no. The more time you put in on the water and the more you attempt to absorb about every angling experience, the better your chances for a successful outing next time. There are some great anglers…and even a few masters…that have lived. However, most anglers are just like us…folks just hoping to hit the water at the right time with the right fly.
Katon 10 Sep 2010 at 12:28 am 5use a real fishing pole and a trout worm
joedon 10 Sep 2010 at 1:01 am 6There is a lot of information available on the web for fly fishers. Check out the Fly Fishing Tools at the bottom of this page for lots of good information: http://www.orvis.com/store/shop.aspx?dir_id=758&shop_id=1446&cm_ven=performics&cm_cat=Cross%20Current%20Guide%20Service&cm_pla=NO&cm_ite=875&adv=875&bhcp=1
foxxyfisheron 10 Sep 2010 at 1:24 am 7Fly selection is important. As far as which fly to use, you need to know what food is natural to the water that you are fishing. Are you seeing hatches of certain bugs? Are you seeing small bait fish at the water’s edge? Is it the summer and grashooppers and other terestials available? Going to a local fly shop should dial you in to the selection of flies that will work.
Equally important is the presentation. This goes beyond casting, and getting the fly to the fish. No drag is critical to dry fly fishing. Proper water level is also important for nymphs etc.
A good idea is to actually fish with someone that knows the water and have her/him work with you. Once you get it all figured out ….. there are no words to descibe the joy of fly fishing.