Articles in the Category Tips

VIDEO: Fishing The Rocks — The Opportunities Around Midstream Boulders

How do we fish around midstream rocks? How do we use them to our advantage? Because trout surely use them to their advantage . . .

VIDEO: Floating the Sighter

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 . . .

VIDEO: Fishy Water — Summer to Fall

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 . . .

How Big of an Ask?

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 . . .

Finding the (Almost) Invisible Potholes — Reading Water

Oct 17, 2021 | Reading Water, Tactics, Tips

Just as the taller rock creates a surface wave, the pothole, bucket or depression in the riverbed has a corresponding feature on the surface. It’s a flatter, calmer piece of water — smoother than the surrounding surface currents. Is it harder to recognize? Sure it is. It’s also not as reliable of a sign. But quite often, if you find a calm piece of water, surrounded by mixed currents and minor waves, a pothole lies below.

Be careful what you’re reading, though. The stall, or slower piece of water that lies just downstream of every rock, is not the same thing as a pothole — not at all . . .

Carry the Fly Rod In Front or Behind? An Eternal Debate Continues

Aug 8, 2021 | Fly Fishing Strategies, Tips

Maybe this is something you’ve never given any thought to. And maybe you’re tired of cursing the limbs and brush while untangling and undoing unintended knots. Maybe not.

Keeping the tip behind you results in far fewer hang ups. Truly, the rod tends to glide along easier through places you’ve already been . . .

Tip — Don’t Rig Up at the Truck

Jun 30, 2021 | Fly Fishing Strategies, Tips

Why guess about what the trout will be eating? Why decide how much weight you will need? Why even choose nymphs over dries or streamers until you see the water? Unless you back the truck down to the river’s edge and drop the tailgate right there, you don’t really know what the water will look like. And you don’t have enough intimate detail about where you’ll make the first cast . . .

They Don’t Have to Eat It to Learn to Reject It

Jun 8, 2021 | Commentary, Tips

You’ve probably heard this a lot: “These trout have been caught on that fly before, so they won’t take it.”

Or this: “Once trout are caught on a fly a few times, they learn that it’s a fake.

But trout don’t have to be caught on a fly to learn that it isn’t real. In fact, just seeing one bad drift after another is enough to put trout off of a particular pattern . . .

Never Blame the Fish

Jun 6, 2021 | Commentary, Stories, Tactics, Tips

When everything you expect to work produces nothing, don’t blame the fish. Think more. Try harder.

When your good drifts still leave the net empty, then don’t settle for good. Make things perfect. Never blame the fish . . .

Six Knots to Know for Trout Anglers on the Fly

Jan 31, 2021 | Tactics, Tips | 39 Comments

One simple thing can change an angler’s enjoyment and success on the water, maybe more than any other — knot tying skill. But I meet too many otherwise excellent fly anglers who complain about knots or lament the amount of time it takes to make tactical transitions on the river.

You need six knots. Two, really — and then four more to fill in some technical stuff . . .

Trout Like To Do What Their Friends Are Doing

Jan 17, 2021 | Reading Water, Tactics, Tips | 8 Comments

If you fish hard and pay attention to the details, you’ll often catch, miss or turn enough trout to learn something. At the heart of the puzzle is an eternal question: What do the trout want?

The best days start by learning what most trout in the river are doing. So, gather data toward those questions, and then branch off from there.

Maybe You’re Holding the Fly Rod Wrong

Dec 17, 2020 | Fly Casting, Tactics, Tips | 16 Comments

Finding the fulcrum with your trigger finger, and cradling the rod in your hand makes for effortless casting. If your rod hand aches at the end of the day, you’re doing it wrong.

Everything about casting and drifting improves by holding the rod with barely enough pressure to keep it in your hand. The fish will follow.

Tips for Better Wading and More Trout

Nov 2, 2020 | Tactics, Tips | 14 Comments

Good fly fishing requires great footwork along the way. Staying mobile, reading the water, body positioning, wading not walking, and gear preparation. These are the keys to better wading . . .

Habits: Keep It On the Reel

Jul 15, 2020 | Tips | 10 Comments

Bad habits start easily enough, but they’re ingrained when an angler chooses not to make a change, instead staying with what is comfortable and convenient. We all do this at times. Instead of learning a better way, we do what is easier. In fishing, that happens a lot.

All line and leader not being used should be on the reel. Always. Yes, always, as in ALL the time.

Here’s how, why and what problems arise from doing it any other way . . .

Perfect from the Start

Jun 28, 2020 | Tips | 15 Comments

Never underestimate how far away a trout can see upstream. And never underestimate how far away a trout will refuse a fly. It might drift perfectly, right past the trout. But the decision — the refusal, may have already been made with the fly twenty feet upstream.

Here’s more . . .