** NOTE ** Formula for the Harvey Gold Leader appears below It’s 8:00, and your morning begins by tucking large ant patterns tight to the bank. Each delivery of the dry fly drifts the ant a few seconds in slow bank water before quick, neighboring currents rip away...
Today's article is a remix from a couple years ago. You can find it here: Why Are Summer Trout Harder to Catch? Enjoy the day. Domenick Swentosky T R O U T B I T T E N domenick@troutbitten.com
** This article is part of the Spooky Trout series on Troutbitten. You can find all articles in the series HERE. ** Just after dawn, I rounded a river bend and cleared the floodplain, leaving the broken hemlocks and growing sycamores behind me. On countless mornings,...
Should you splat a terrestrial dry fly? Sure. Why not take advantage of the sometimes-irresistible attraction of a fly smacking the water? On the best days, trout seem poised to jump on anything that plops on the water’s surface. Ants, beetles, hoppers and even...
Understand that trout can’t turn their heads, and they don’t look behind themselves casually.
And from a fisherman’s perspective, as one who has spent decades accidentally scaring the fish I intended to catch, I assure you that the best way to approach a trout is from behind . . .
All trout continuously adapt to their surroundings — they learn what to expect, and they spook from the unexpected.
So, stealth on the water and understanding what spooks a trout is foundational knowledge in fly fishing. Trout are easily scared. Are you spooking fish?
Many anglers hang up the fly rod when the days grow long. As spring surrenders its sweetheart days, summer signals the conclusion of trout fishing season, and new interests take over. The streams are fished out, the water is too warm and trout are off the feed. It’s not worth the effort, they say. Summer water surely presents a challenge. But good trout fishing can be had all summer long by accepting the difficulties and understanding the roots of the problems faced . . .
Fast, heavy, deep runs have always been my favorite water type to fish. I can spend a full day in the big stuff. I love the mind-clearing washout of whitewater. No average sounds penetrate it. And the never ending roar of a chunky run is mesmerizing. I also enjoy the wading challenge. The heaviest water requires not just effort, but a constant focus and a planned path to keep you upright and on two feet. Constant adjustment is needed to stay balanced, and one slip or misstep ends up in a thorough dunking. It reminds me of the scaffold work I did on construction crews in my twenties. I always enjoyed being a few stories up, because the workday flew by. When every movement means life or death, you’d better stay focused. I always liked that . . .
You’ve probably been wading upstream on a favorite trout stream and seen another angler’s lost tackle. Maybe the whole mess was in the streamside trees, with split shot and bobber attached, or a misguided F13 Rapala with rusted hooks. Maybe you’ve snagged a pile of monofilament stuck in waterlogged branches and lodged against a rock. And when you’ve seen all that mess, maybe you were stunned by how heavy the tackle was. Are you with me? . . .