What Is Fly Fishing?
Fly fishing is an angling technique where an artificial "fly" is used to fool fish into biting. The techniques used to cast and present the weightless fly differ greatly from any other form of angling.
How Do I Learn to Fly Fish?
If you're ready to start fly fishing then let's take a look at the steps that can simplify the process of getting out on the water and getting fish at the end of your line!
What Is Nymph Fishing?
Nymphing is the most productive way to get a trout into the net, time after time, situation after situation, and river after river. So it’s worth your time to become proficient in this art.
How Does Fly Fishing Differ From Spin Fishing?
What largely separates spin and fly fishing is the gear. In fly fishing, the weight of the tapered fly line and leader is what propels the weightless fly to its target. In spin fishing, the casting of a weighted hook is what propels the lure to its destination. Simply put, you can't cast a fly with a spin fishing set up, and you can't cast a lure with a fly fishing set up.
How Is Fly Fishing for Bass Different Than Trout?
Characteristically, bass are ambush predators much more so than trout. They will find a good holding spot, behind a boulder, under lily pads, or tucked into woody debris, and typically lay in wait for smaller baitfish, insects, or even frogs to swim by. They will then surprise their prey and attack with high-energy burst of speed to stun and kill their prey.
Should I Tie My Own Flies?
There’s a lot about fly fishing that’s rewarding: from successfully matching your first hatch to the first time you bring in a trophy trout. And there’s something else that can be just as rewarding: tying your own flies. Once you get into it, it can be as enjoyable as catching fish.
When Should I Add Tippet?
The beauty of fly fishing is that you truly never know what you may hook, so you should always be prepared to tangle with the fish of a lifetime on every cast. Being prepared in this case means having the correct size of tippet and length for the job.
What Is Drag and Why Is It Bad?
Having a "drag free" drift is crucial in order to consistently catch trout. Unless you are swinging wet flies across and downstream or stripping streamers, you should be striving for a drag free presentation with your nymphs and dry flies.
Should I Take a Guided Trip?
There are a number of benefits from taking a guided trip. With a guided trip, you will likely be exposed to new water to fish, insights into techniques, creative fly selection and be given opportunities to catch fish that you may not have had on your own. Anglers traveling to destination fisheries all over the world almost always use the help of guides to help ensure angling success.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Guided Trip
Most people decide to take a guided fly fishing trip in order to try and catch more fish, see a new piece of water, or utilize the guides' professional skills to tap into a tricky fishing situation. These are all good enough reasons to pay hard earned money for a day's worth of fishing time, but they miss the mark when it comes to the most important aspect of taking a guided trip; knowledge.
How Should I Tip My Guide?
Tipping a fishing guide is an accepted way to reward the hard work, collected knowledge, and teaching ability of any professional guide. Guiding operations, especially independent guides that work without the aid of large lodge operations backing them up, work long hours, have tight margins for profit, and physically work very hard to get you into fish.
How Do I Fish Dry Flies on Spring Creeks?
Spring creeks are special places. Because they originate underground, they can appear in unlikely spots and stay can cool and fishable in the hottest weather. The water is crystal clear, and because it seeps up from the ground, it’s full of minerals that support a vast range of aquatic life. Mayflies and caddis flies love spring creeks almost as much as the trout that feed on these bugs and thrive in these gem-like rivers. Spring creeks are also one of the toughest places to fool a fish.
How Do I Cast and Mend When Fishing Dry Flies?
To feed and stay safe, trout locate themselves in some of the toughest lies in the river. These lies can challenge your fly fishing skills and make these trout seem untouchable. But with a few tips and techniques, you can find success—and some nice fish on the end of your line.
How Do I Nymph With an Indicator, Split Shot, and Multiple Flies?
Casting a leader that’s rigged with a bulbous indicator, several split shot, and a couple flies can be just plain arduous. If you’ve fished rigs like this, you’ve probably wondered if there are ways you could make them easier to handle. Here they are.
How Do I Nymph a Long, Slow Pool With an Indicator?
One of the most intriguing parts of a river is its deep, dark pools. When you stop to look at one, it’s hard not to imagine those long stretches of slow moving water being stacked full of big fish, lurking on the bottom and waiting to take your fly. Pools like these are their own little worlds. Fished right, they can provide you with some of the finest angling of your life.
How Do You Fish Soft Hackle Flies?
In the modern age of fly fishing, the art of fishing wet flies or soft hackles has fallen by the wayside in popularity. It seems streamer fishing, indicator fishing, and dry-fly fishing takes precedence for most anglers on the water today. While these techniques are absolutely effective, you may be missing out on some hidden action if you dismiss the soft hackle fly. Soft hackles are some of the oldest flies in the history of fly fishing, and have caught trout effectively since the very beginning of fly fishing, so why not continue the tradition of success and give a wet fly a swing?
Is It Better to Swing Streamers or Strip Them?
Once you begin spending some time streamer fishing, it's easy to see that the way you retrieve your streamer plays a huge part in how successful your day of fishing will or won't be. Water conditions, available food in the water, and the preference of the local fish all play a huge part in which streamer retrieve will mean more fish in the net. Across the board, one technique of retrieval may not necessarily be better than the other day in and day out. Instead, it's best to have a handle on the variety of techniques at your disposal and see which one works best on that particular day.
What Are Crayfish and Why Do Bass Like Them?
Crayfish are quite prolific when the environmental conditions allow, and they represent a huge food source for all types of freshwater fish. Typically encased in their hard shell, crayfish periodically shed their outer skin in order to grow larger. Crayfish patterns are always a good option to fish, but especially important during the time of the year when they are molting.