Articles- Fly Fishing Fundamentals

Anglers arriving at the stream side or lakeside are always anxious to get going, to wet the line and to the feel the electrifying excitement that comes with first tightening of the line. There is a strong urge to hurriedly tie on the fly that is used the most, or the first one that comes to hand, and head blindly into the river or lake. In general, though, it is far more productive to slow down and take a few minutes to analyze the body of water. The first things to look for are signs of fish activity. These signs are usually small surface disturbances they make as they feed. Fish indicate their presence in one or another of the following ways.

Jumping fish are easy to identify because the fish actually jump clear out of the water to catch their prey as they rest on the surface of the water. "Fish tend to use this approach when the competition for food is heavy" (Ruel 52). When a fly fisherman comes across dimples of swirling water, this is a kind of incomplete rise of the fish. Usually these fish are targeting larvae or nymphs that are active beneath the surface or in the process of emerging.

Seeing one of more these signs of activity is a starting point when you're deciding which fly to use, but it is better to wait a bit longer and look for additional hints. There should also be some insects on the surface that trigger the fish's activity, and ideally, you should capture one to get an idea of its size, shape and coloration. "Many anglers carry a small net, with a handle on each side, in their fly vest for this purpose. With the information you gather, you can decide whether a dry fly or nymph is most appropriate and select a fly that resembles the specie of insect the fish are feeding on" (Whitlock 96). If there are no signs of fish activity and no hatch occurring, try an attractor-type fly or streamer to work the water blindly. This may entice a resting fish to take your fly.

Fish are very opportunistic, so if the opportunity is presented, the fish will take your fly. Once a fly fisherman has analyzed the feeding activities of fish, and discovered they are feeding on insects on the surface, a dry fly would be the appropriate fly to use. Dry flies are usually presented with a floating fly line and allowed to drift or float as naturally as possible. " If the real insect is active on the surface, you should attempt to convey a similar action to the fly. On the other hand, if the natural is inactive, the fly should also be inactive" (Whitlock 99). Wind, river and stream current speeds, or both of these forces will often cause drag on the fly line, leader, and fly. Drag causes the fly to move unnaturally. This can usually be avoided by proper presentation and mending of the fly line.

When fishing a dry fly, try to be positioned diagonally downstream from the rise of the fish so that alerting or spooking a fish is less likely. From this position, try to place the fly several feed upstream from where you saw the rise, in the same line of current, and let it drift freely downstream. To do this, the fly fisherman will need to make an upstream mended cast and be prepared to mend the line to avoid drag in the fly's drift (Ruel 52).

When fish are not actively feeding on the surface, they are probably feeding on the larvae and nymphs of aquatic insects. Nymphs mainly suggest or imitate these immature aquatic insects. Nymph flies are designed to be fished below the surface, including on the bottom, of either calm or moving water. Nymphs also may be used to imitate leeches, snails, scuds, crayfish, worms and similar foods that live in the water. When nymphing, a beginner should use a floating line for all stream and river fishing. A small split-shot can then be attached 18 inches up from the fly for added weight to get the nymph down to where the fish are. This technique is very adequate for most situations.

There are many various methods of fishing nymphs. The usual manner is to cast upstream at a slight angle, and then let the fly drift downstream with the current in a natural manner (Ruel 56). "Because strikes can be very gentle and extremely difficult to detect under nymphing conditions, it is highly recommended that you used a strike indicator-a soft doughy paste that comes in highly visible colors and can be molded into a small round ball at the junction of the fly line and leader" (Whitlock 98). On a lake or in a still-water pool, you need to provide the action that will make the nymph look alive. A good technique is to cast the fly onto the water and letting it sink just into the surface film before retrieving it slowly, giving it either a steady swimming motion or pulling it in fast strips. This gives the fly the appearance of a live nymph trying to shed its casing in the surface film as it emerges in to the adult stage (Ruel 59).

"‘Big fish like big mouthfuls' is the principle emphatically proclaimed by many anglers who use streamers. It is true that adult fish of all species are reluctant to expend energy unnecessarily and that a small, plump fish must constitute, in their eyes, a much more worthwhile reward for their efforts than a minuscule insect" (Ruel 104). Fishing streamers can be achieved through similar techniques described earlier.