Top 10 Fly Fishing Tips
1. Aim For A Natural Drift
When dry fly and nymph fishing it usually works best to let the flies drift naturally with the current (also called a dead drift). There are exceptions such as when imitating Cicadas or Sedges, in these situation a bit of movement can help. Achieving a natural drift can be very difficult in certain situations where you're casting across water with varying current speeds, you'll need to learn to mend the line. The term mending describes a technique where you flip the upstream or downstream to allow for the varying current speeds. Mending is quite an art but in some situations it's almost essential if you want to catch trout.
2. Don't Let The Trout See You
Staying out of sight of the trout can be very important. In clear water it is almost essential that you approach from downstream, this helps because trout usually face into the current. You'll also want to stay low and dress in natural colours. When a downstream approach isn't possible it can pay to basically crawl into position. Make use of any cover around the banks, if you're trying to spot trout before fishing to them you can actually hide behind trees and peer through the branches.
3. Fish At The Right Depth
Generally speaking trout are more willing to move sideways to intercept a fly than they are to move up or down. This means it can be very important to present your fly at the same depth as the trout. When nymphing you can use flies of different weight to vary the depth of drift, if fishing to trout hugging the bottom in deep water you'll need to make sure the leader is long enough to let the flies get down there - you'll want to use a leader at least one and half times as long as the water depth. Fishing with dead drift (see above) also allows the flies to sink faster, an unnaturally slow or fast drift will tend to plane the flies towards the surface.
When wet fly or lure fishing with a sinking line you can use a slower or faster sinking line. Varying the angle of your cast will also allow you to fish a different depths without having to change to a different line. The further upstream you angle your cast the more the line will be able to sink before it starts swinging across the current.
4. Change The Size Of Your Fly
Often a lot of focus goes on using different patterns of trout fly but I've found that the size of fly seems to be more important. On many occasions a change to a smaller or larger fly of the same pattern will bring success. Typically smaller flies fish well in clearer water, however there are a lot of factors at play so it pays to experiment.
5. Get Polaroid Glasses
Polaroid sunglasses cut down on the glare coming from the waters surface and allow you to see fish much easier. Spotting fish before casting can be a huge advantage ... it certainly adds to the excitement! Glasses designed especially for fishing seem to be superior than general polarised glasses. Even if you're unable to spot fish the polaroids can make it easier to spot under water snags and changes in depth. Wearing glasses is also quite important from a safety perspective, no-one want's to end up with a fish hook in their eye!
6. Keep Your Line Hand Down When Casting
You can ignore this tip if you're proficient with the double-hauling technique or are trying to learn it, but if you're just learning to cast it can make a big difference. Many people tend to follow the action of the hand holding the rod with their other hand. If this sounds like you try keeping the hand holding the line down by your side, this will generate much more line speed with little effort and make casting much easier.
7. Practise Casting
Obviously everyone practises casting when they go fishing, but chances are you're probably unable to get out fishing as often as you would like. A bit of practice in the backyard or out in the park can greatly accelerate the learning process. You cast a lot more often when practising, so even just 5 or 10 minutes of practise on a regular basis can make a big improvement in your casting skills. This applies to experienced fisherman as well, you'll be much more likely to experiment and try new techniques when you're not focussed on catching fish. Try it out a few times and see.
8. Concentrate
Concentration can really help you to catch fish. It's particularly important to be focussed on the task at hand when nymphing or trying to spot trout. Regardless of the fishing method it's important to always pay attention to what you're doing otherwise you won't know how to repeat it when you get a fish.
9. Learn New Methods
Many people have a favourite method that they use almost exclusively. Often this makes sense as certain techniques will work better on some rivers. Sometimes though a change to a different method will bring success. For example try lure fishing when whitebait or other small fish are plentiful in the river. If the trout are clearly feeding off the surface you'll want to try dry flies, it's definitely not the time to be dredging the bottom with fast sinking lines or heavy nymphs. The conditions can change throughout the day due to water flows and change of light as well as natural feeding cycles. If you're doing well stick with it but when your current method stops working experiment!!
10. Use Two Fly Rigs
In some situations using a two fly rig can massively increase your chances of catching fish. The classic example of this is nymphing in deep water or fast flowing water where you need a lot of weight to get the fly down to the fish, you'll need a large fly to build enough weight into it but if the fish won't take the large fly you'll often be able to get them on a small fly attached to a dropper. Fishing in New Zealand's Tongariro river is like this I'll usually use a size 10 heavily weighted nymph to get it down and a #14 or even #16 unweighted behind it. Wether it's the size or the more natural drift of the lighter fly I'm not sure but in clear water conditions at least 95% of the trout are taken on the small fly. Dry fly and nymph combo's can also work very well although I do find they tend to scare the fish more when they're particularly spooky.
I hope you find these tips useful - if you have any tips of your own feel free to leave a comment below.