Fly Fishing Tech Tips
Our fly fishing Experts have weighed in with their top tips for refining your fly fishing technique:
FLY FISH TECH TIP #1
Time of year affects where and how to fish. Tailwater areas fish well throughout the winter and come alive in the spring. Just remember that fish are lethargic with cold water temps, so they will still most likely be hiding in calm glassy areas then. Make sure to take advantage of dry fly fishing before the water comes up high in May and learn the river bottoms then so you will do better in the summer. Last of all, sow bugs are good, reliable food sources while insect activity is sporadic. Use them in the winter and spring for the best chance of success.
FLY FISH TECH TIP #2
Fish the bubble line. Only 10% of a river holds feeding fish so increase your odds by placing the fly in or under the white, foamy, bubbly channel seen on the surface. This is the river telling you “Hey, over here - I’ve concentrated tons of fish food in this water column and the big ones are down here chowing.” This is the moving buffet that fish seek because the contrasting currents have concentrated flowing food sources in this narrow seam that cuts a prime swath in the river.
FLY FISH TECH TIP #3
Don’t be fooled! When it appears that fish are eating adult flies on the surface, inspect the rise form to determine whether they are feeding on the mature adult or the struggling emerger trapped in the surface tension of the water. The moments just before an insect breaks through the surface are the easiest pickings for fish since the bugs are stuck trying to spread their wings to fly away. If you see a bubble in the rise form, then the fish are eating on top. No bubble means they are feeding just below the surface. Fish the emerger, not the dry.
FLY FISH TECH TIP #4
The Hopper/Dropper is a dry/wet combo that can be deadly when the time is right. Off the bend of a hopper pattern, tie on 18 to 24 inches of tippet, add a small bead-head nymph and you will bring fish up to survey the fly. If the fish rejects the hopper it may grab the trailing nymph on the way back to its holding lie. The hopper then becomes your strike indicator, but if you are getting lots of takes on the dry, clip off the nymph and just fish the dry.
FLY FISH TECH TIP #5
A nymph double rig means that two are better than one. Tie on a pair of nymphs to double your chances. Mix the offering with combos such as a caddis/baetis, stone/midge or leech/caddis. You can also use two of the same aquatic group, but be sure to mix it up: large stone/small stone, large baetis/small baetis, light colored fly/dark colored fly. Find the right combo and stick with it.
FLY FISH TECH TIP #6
Mending your line - every second your fly spends in the feeding zone is critical to hooking fish, so to increase those seconds, anticipate the mend before it is needed and react with a correcting mend that will not disturb the drag-free drift. This means mending before you need to so you will be in the zone longer which ups the chances of hooking up. You can also mend the line in the air before the fly hits the water if you can read the surface currents to anticipate what kind of mend to perform.