After a half dozen casts to the bank seam, it feels like the odds are against convincing these trout with a Parachute Ant. My drifts are good — drag free, and right down the center of a prime lane. So I stand up from the fisherman’s lean that happens under low...
Most of the die-hard locals in this region are nymph-first fishermen. We fish all year, but the opportunities for good dry fly fishing are a small percentage of our time on the water. So, we learn nymphs and catch fish. Because a nymphing approach produces, everywhere...
Today's article is a remix from a couple years ago. You can find it here: Fly Fishing Tips -- Don't let a good bite teach bad habits Enjoy the day. Domenick Swentosky T R O U T B I T T E N domenick@troutbitten.com
One of the greatest ongoing mysteries in fly fishing is why trout eat our flies at all. In a resource-rich river, what triggers a trout to choose our fly over the real thing? Sometimes our presentation of the fly is so dead-on that it is purely convincing. A trout...
As we pursue trout and aim for perfect presentations that convince, it certainly matters if we catch one, five, ten or twenty.
One trout is luck. Three or four signals that we’re doing something right. And a few more trout starts to be enough data to dial in a tactic, or a water type, or a fly pattern. This is the true joy of fishing for numbers. With enough response from the trout, we can honestly learn the trout habits. We aren’t lucking into a couple fish. Instead, we’re refining a system that meets the trout on their own terms. What are those terms? Catching more than a few trout is the only way to find out . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
If you’re committed to working a section of river, then once you’ve done your job in one lane, trust what the trout tell you. Don’t re-fish it, and don’t let the next cast drift down into the same spot again either. Sure the water looks good, and that’s why you fished it in the first place. But you’ve already covered it. So let it go, and focus on the next target. Trust the next opportunity . . .