What do you believe in? What can you fish hard enough and long enough to effectively convince a sluggish trout that it’s hungry? That’s the fisherman’s confidence. And it beats out the hatch chart, the guide’s advice and last week’s river stories every time . . .
Fishing is a story . . . On one of the last mornings of summer, I found good action with a Crossover technique, combing the advantages of both streamers and nymphs on a tight line, Mono Rig system. This style was a perfect match for trout that were eager enough, but not in all water types. I covered many different sections and enjoyed fishing some of my favorite wild trout water — big woods and a big river.
Anglers cling to the stories and accounts others. We believe in the experts. We want masters of this craft to exist and to tell us the answers.
Sure, you might have a group of wild trout dialed in for the better part of a season. Maybe it’s a midge hatch every summer morning, or a streamer bite on fall evenings, for one hour on either side of dusk.
But it will end. That’s what’s so special about chasing trout. Like the wings of a mayfly spinner, predictability is a fading ghost . . .
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 . . .
For this final episode in the dry fly skills series, we work through some scenarios that anglers frequently encounter. Because, just like nymphing, fishing streamers and fishing wets, we fish dry flies for many different reasons and in many different ways.
Head Hunting, Fishing, Terrestrials, Small Stream Stuff, and Working a Hatch . . .
This third installment of the Fish and Film series highlights the technical aspects of good, adaptive nymphing. It’s a look at a full morning of fishing riffles, runs and flats, while making the necessary and natural changes to find fish.
There are many adjustments along the way. And I comfortably switch between pure tight line tactics and tight line to the indicator style, along with weight adjustments, using both beadhead flies and additional split shot . . .
Watch for different rise forms and prepare for the hooks set. It’s all a lot of fun when you realize that good fishing isn’t luck. It’s attention to detail with an open mind and a willingness to dive into the mystery . . .
When a particularly large pair of dark phantoms abandoned the bank and skirted the perimeter of my position, I’d had enough. I turned my back to the main flow where I was catching trout.
The Lagging Curve is a beautiful way to provide slack to a dry fly, and it’s my favorite way to get perfect dead drifts to a dry fly in rivers. I fish a lagging curve at just about any angle, using both a forehand and backhand cast, and it provides slack to a dry fly for days.
The lagging curve is really the opposite of what most people mean by a curve cast. This is an underpowered curve and not a power curve.
The leader design matters a lot, and so does the casting stroke. I cover it all in the video . . .
The flies matter. But more than anything, it’s about matching the moment, the water type, the lifecycle of the bug – and even the wind conditions. For us, those conditions — those situations — dictate our next fly choice.
We don’t guess on patterns. Instead, we think about things, develop a theory and test it with the next fly choice and (hopefully) a great presentation.