Most fly fishers will tell you that presentation is more important in catching fish than fly selection. I tend to agree with this concept, but Cade makes a good point that brings the concepts of presentation and fly selection closer together than we may sometimes consider. Fly selection is more than just the kind of bug you are presenting the fish. Flies can change how we present the fly as well.
We drove along the Provo River looking for a good spot to stop and fish. From the passenger seat I caught glimpses of the water over the guard rail between the curves in the highway.
Tactics and Techniques
Targeting the Middle of the Water Column and Alternatives to the Hopper Dropper
When I first started fishing to the middle of the water column, it was typically to trout eating just below the surface. The hopper dropper (or dry dropper) was my primary tactic. But the more I fished, the more I saw opportunities to fish the middle of the water column that were not best suited for the dry dropper technique.
“I’d say just time on the water. You have to put in the time, if you want to get better.”
“I think it was when I started spending a lot more time on the water that I really began to improve.”
“Time on the water is the most important thing. You have to put in the time”
Time on the water. We’ve all heard it at this point. So many anglers attribute this single factor as the most important step towards improvement on their fly fishing journey.
I’ve come to believe that making significant strides in our fly fishing abilities is not that far out of reach if we do what we can to make the most of our time on the water.
Podcast
Podcast Ep. 104 – Winter Fishing and Building Friendships on the Provo River with Rebeca Granillo
The river has changed in the winter, but somehow it's familiar. Amplified somehow in every experience. We walk out to the river, but it's quieter. The sound of snow crunching beneath our boots reminds us of that silence. We read water, but the seams and pockets are more nuanced and subtle.
Getting your flies down is a requirement if you want to catch trout while nymphing. It’s just the way it is. I cringe when I think of all the hours I’ve spent with flies in the water and very little chance of catching trout because I didn't understand this concept. This article is an attempt to spare you some of those wasted hours, and perhaps introduce some new techniques.
I saw the flash in the current below the surface and knew it was a nice fish. Big brown if I had to guess. That’s what I told myself, at least, as I thought of how to reach it. It had risen, rolled over and back down to the pool that swirled behind the boulder that made the seam across from where I’d been fishing.
Spotting fish is easy, until it’s not. We all know what a fish looks like and when it’s obvious, sight fishing moves along nicely. But mother nature has a tendency to make things tough. There’s a reason these trout are so beautiful. They blend in with their surroundings, and we all know “trout don’t live in ugly places.” Rocks and stones along river bottoms combined with debris, vegetation, or branches do a good job of fooling us and helping trout. There are lots of things we can do to help us spot fish and tell the difference but only a few ways to know for sure. How can we be certain what we are looking at is not a rock? There are only two guarantees. Catch it or spook it. Even though catching fish is the goal, both will improve your sight fishing game over time. Here’s how…