Fly Fishing Tips

 

 

Alright, now you have some level of understanding on the needs of the trout.  So, now we can use this information to best determine where we should focus our attention when we approach a stream.  There are many anglers who wont even cast a line unless they can see the fish.  Unless they knew where to look, I imagine those would be pretty long and generally fish-less days.  I enjoy blind casting, that is, casting where I can't see a fish.  However, I like think I can read the water well enough to anticipate where the fish should be.  To me, nothing is more satisfying than seeing an obvious lie, but not seeing a fish, casting a fly perfectly and having it hammered by a monster trout.  

 

So, where are these "obvious" lies?  Well, based on the needs of the trout, I would start looking along banks, particularly where they are undercut.  When there is an undercut, there is protection for the trout.  Look for trees and bushes along the bank, particularly when they hang over the water.  Again, more trout protection.  These can be killer when they offer the only shade on water.  Usually water just in front of boulders and trailing behind are excellent trout holding lies too.  Logs and other structures that can supply shelter should be worked thoroughly.  Like boulders, cast upstream and trailing down stream.  Drop offs are excellent.  These are places where there is an obvious shelf in the water where the river bottom either abruptly shallows or deepens.  Those shelves are usually pockets of slow or dead water.  Seams in the water can be unbelievable productive as well.  Keep an eye out for where the current is fastest in the stream.  You will notice places where there is a visible seam created from that current coming along a slower moving current.  A trout can wait in the slow water, then slip over to the fast water to grab a meal nearly effortlessly.  Watch the bubble line.  This will give you an idea of where the current is moving the food.  Late in the day, those bubble lines see my streamers moving through them.  

 

 

 

These tend to be the most unproductive waters on most streams.  Before I explain why, I should mention that there are some streams that are almost completely structured with flats that are abundant with fish.  Most aren't though.   Most streams and rivers have an always changing current, slope and terrain.  Flats, as the name implies are stretches of stream that go through flat terrain and the water tends to match it.  The surface is often very smooth and the depth is very consitant.  The bottom of a flat is often gravel or small rocks.  If there are larger rocks or boulders, they are infrequent.  Often, these flats are also shallow.  Also, the current slows down substantially in a flat which doesn't help stimulate a strong insect population.  The lack of food and protection keep trout away generally which is why you rarely have turf wars with other anglers in the flats.

 

If you are going to fish flats, keep an eye out for where the current starts to change.  Usually, this will happen at the head and tail of the flat.  The faster water feeding the head of the flat may be insect rich.  And at the tail of the flat,  if the water gets darker, you know it's getting deeper and that may be a great lie for trout.   

 

 

Riffles are generally shallow and fast.  They tend to run anywhere from a few inches deep to a few feet.  You can tell a riffle immediately by its surface.  Riffles are choppy.  The bottom is usually small and medium stones.  When this faster current washes over this bumpy bottom, it is reflected in the surface.  The bottom combined with the current makes riffles a highly productive source of food.  Now, generally you wont find pigs in riffles, but there can be a lot of medium sized trout.  Keep an eye out for pockets of water on the surface where there is a dead spot or a seam.  This will show you where larger rocks are submerged and where there is a a change in current.  That is where the fish are going to hold.  you'll notice that along the banks of a riffle, the water is very slow, almost stopped.  Often fishing the seam of that slow water where it runs along the faster current can be productive.  This is particularly true at the head of the riffle.  Just like the flats, really work the head and tail.

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