There may be nothing more misunderstood in the tight line game than floating the sighter. But it’s a great tactic that solves a lot of problems and offers some unique presentations that fool trout.
However, there’s a lot more to floating the sighter than simply laying line on the water. In fact, without a solid understanding of what’s going on, laying the floating the sighter can hurt the presentation . . .
Find feeding fish. Find the fishy water. These are the keys to putting trout in the net. But as the seasons change, so do the habits of trout. This film focuses on the shift between summer to fall.
Consistency on the water, day to day, requires an awareness of the shifts that take place, season to season.
Meeting trout in these times of transition takes some forethought and willingness to adapt . . .
Are trout opportunistic feeders? Sure, but it depends on the opportunity. We choose the fly and decide how to present it. We then pick what water will receive the cast. And to inform those decisions, it’s critical to understand what we’re asking the trout to do.
How big of an ask is it?
And how opportunistic do we expect the trout to be?
Here are a few examples . . .
Trout can’t hear your boot studs — not in a river with any movement to it. So stud-up those wading boots and love your life. Here’s a video to prove it . . .
In the short term, reeling with the casting hand might lose fish. But in the long term, it encourages poor line maintenance principles.
In this article I give a lot of thought to the various inefficiencies and handicaps that hurt when reeling with the casting hand . . .
. . .The fact is, keeping it simple only works when trout agree to your narrow terms.
. . . All those adjustments sounds complicated, right? What happened to simple? Well, it didn’t work so well. And it might actually be simpler (or at least more efficient) to make a few leader adjustments than to fight with dragging dry flies and short drifts all afternoon.
Who among us cleans our waders with enough frequency to maximize the long term durability that we believe we’ve paid for? Very few. So I asked my friends from every prominent wader building company. How should we care for them? Here are their replies . . .
Trout eat the fly or they don’t. Remember, it’s tough to convince a trout that has already said no. Don’t force it. Just fish it.
The key to a good carrying system is efficiency. Carry lots of gear or be a minimalist. But however you carry your gear, make sure it works for you. Think it through. And then change something if the system is holding you back, if it’s getting in your way or taking you out of rhythm. A carrying system should be designed around the way you fish, and not the other way around. Think about that. Don’t change the way you fish to suit a poorly chosen pack.
My vest is the most important piece of gear that I own. Because it holds everything that I work with. And having things laid out with a purpose keeps me efficient and ready to adapt.
What do you do when the fly line to leader connection comes back through your rod guides? How do you get to fly line back out there? And if you’re using a long leader system or a tight line nymphing system, and the butt section of your leader wraps around your rod tip, how do you get it unwrapped?
The fly rod dip and swish. That’s the answer you do. It’s a really useful tool that solves a lot of problems . . .
A good fishing pace need not be fast, but it should flow and be efficient. And it might be the most important thing out there.
It comes from intention, from having a plan and following through. Surely, adjusting our plan along the way is part of the fun, but pace remains an element that every angler can set, every day . . .