⑦ Downsize Your Dry
You get to the river and a sulphur hatch is underway. Rise rings are everywhere. You capture a natural and confirm it’s a size 16. You tie on a high confidence pattern, your drifts are impeccable, and you catch. . . nothing. Try going down to a size 18 or even a size 20. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.
⑧ Fish Droppers
Not every situation calls for multiple flies (for example, I prefer to fish a single dry). But many do, such as wet fly fishing. For hundreds of years, wet fly anglers have known that droppers are the fastest way to find out what the fish want. That’s because they give the fish a choice of size, color, species, and life stages. Also, more targets in the water means more potential hookups. Whenever possible, don’t tie a dropper off the bend of another hook. Use a tag off a leader so the fly can swim freely. Besides a team of wets, you can use droppers for nymphs, streamers, dry/nymph or wet—use your imagination. If you fish for stripers, try droppers when there’s a lot of small bait in the water (like grass shrimp or sand eels). That said, some fisheries do not allow multiple flies, so always check the local fishing regulations.
⑨ Improve Your Drift with a Long Leader
Nothing in dry-fly fishing induces more self-loathing than when a perfect cast is followed by a sloppy mend that moves the fly in an unnatural manner, causing a refusal. The solution: use a longer leader. Most times, I keep things simple; for example, a nine-foot, 5X leader with four feet of 6X tippet. Thirteen feet gives you a lot more latitude when you’re mending. It also helps you achieve a truer drift across multiple current seams.
⑩ Before You Change Nymphs, Change Your Weight or Depth
When you’re nymphing under an indicator, remember this basic rule of thumb: if you’re not catching and you’re not occasionally getting stuck on the bottom, you’re not fishing deep enough. The solution is to adjust your indicator (a good starting point is 1 1/2 times greater than the estimated depth) and/or add weight. Adding weight isn’t just for getting flies deep. It’s also a way to slow your drift (remember, water on the bottom moves slower than on the surface). If you’re still not reaching deep enough, try a longer leader. It’s tempting to blame nymphing failure on fly selection, what with all those sexy UV hot spot, wiggly legged, species-specific bead-head options beckoning from fly shop bins. But consider this: Over a 45-day period last summer, I used only two different nymph patterns. One of them was a plain, brown, soft-hackled Pheasant Tail, and I caught trout every time out. I was simply putting my flies where the fish were.
⑪ Fish Where Others Don’t
There may be safety in numbers, but there is glory in solitude. Think of it as the run less fished. By taking it, you not only get away from the crowds, you also create the opportunity to find unpressured waters that are loaded with fish. Discovering a private honey hole is one of the sweetest experiences in fly fishing. My home river, the Farmington in Connecticut, is one of the most heavily-fished waters in the northeast. But I can find solitude, and trout, whenever I want, simply because I once took the time to walk down that obscure trail and do a little exploring.
⑫ Know A Spot Cold
If you’re just starting out, this is one of the best exercises you can do to improve your fishing. Pick a spot you really like and learn it inside and out. Where are the fish holding in the morning, at high noon, and in the evening? What’s the structure like behind that downed tree? How deep is that hole in lower flows? Does it fish better on the incoming tide, or the outgoing? These are the kinds of questions you should be asking and answering. If you can, get into the water and wade it. What’s the bottom structure like? If you were a fish, where would you find current, food, and shelter? Now, take what you’ve learned, and apply it to all the similar looking water you fish. You’re on your way to becoming that most dangerous of machines: an angler who knows how to read water and locate fish.
⑬ Find Your Own Truths
Question authority (you can start with everything I’ve written here). Just because someone is a published author or a well-known personality doesn’t mean they’re infallible. The truth is we all put our waders on one leg at a time. And we all get skunked. Next, question conventional wisdom. I was told I couldn’t catch stripers on the surface in 44-degree water. I was told it’s ridiculous to use a five-weight for stripers. I was told a floating line has limited use for stripers. Had I listened, I would have missed out on incalculable numbers of fish. Don’t ever be afraid to break some rules (not to be confused with fishing regulations—we all need to be good citizens).
Finally, remember the words of James Leisenring, who said, “We fish for pleasure. . . I for mine, you for yours.” You are the only person you need to please.
Steve Culton is an outdoor writer, guide, speaker, and fly tyer. You can see more of his work at www.currentseams.com.