Fly Fishing Techniques

Head out on Mikey Wier’s overland adventure in pursuit of one of the biggest wild rainbow trout ever caught on a fly in California.

one peaceful day in the woods of colorado a river trout is enjoying his day in the streams. The fish spots a hovering fly just 6inches out of reach for the fish to catch. At the same time a bear sees the fish and waits on the river bank for the trout to jump out of the water Behind the bear a hunter waits for the bear to grab the fish so he can get a clear shot. Behind the hunter waits a mouse eyeing the large peice of cheese that’s about to fall out of the hunter’s pocket. Behind that mouse a cat waits for the mouse to emerge for the cheese.

suddenly the fly drops 6 inches.
the fish grabs the fly
the bear jumps up and grabs the fish
the hunter shoots the bear, losing the peice of cheese in his pocket in the process
the mouse runs for the peice of cheese,
the cat sees the mouse and leaps for it, but misses and falls into the river.

what’s the morale of this story?

If a fly goes down 6 in. a p*ssy will get wet!!!

Learn the stripping-in technique in fly fishing and how to use it effectively in this free video.

Many fishermen find a way to take their hobby of angling to the next level by making a strong personal statement about the bait they use: yes, I’m talking about people that make their own fly fishing baits by hand and make the winter evening a happening one by doing so! Tying your own flying fishing lures is an easy enough task that can be given a personal touch with the freely available kits in the market that allow you to put your stamp on the baits you tie; besides this, you can also design patterns you particularly like or want to be known by as regards the flies you make for hooking those prize catches like bass and trout when warmer months come over you! Thus, those that advocate making your own lures are actually prescribing an interesting and fruitful past time for avid anglers – even newbies can be successful when tying a dry fly fishing bait- it’s that easy!

Easy Way to Make Dry Fly Fishing Lures

The best way to make an easy dry fly fishing bait is to put together all the supplies you will require, including a compact grip for holding the hook, a more basic one, a line and perhaps, tiny feathers or coarse deer or elk hair. You can also substitute this animal hair with synthetic fibers you can pick up at sports stores – ask hackle barbs and it should do the trick!

• Put the hook in the grip with its curved end held in a vice-like hold and the stem side facing away; with the forefinger of the opposite hand held along the this shank of the hook, start winding the line over and over again, by gripping it as near the bend as possible. You should ideally be able to see a good portion of the hook peeping through the thread and when you reach the end, change the directing you are wrapping the thread in a cross-over pattern over each loop, so it forms an ‘X’ pattern. On reaching the first binding of the line, let your finger slip away so the line hangs and other items stay put!

• After measuring the material for the tail, snip off the extras keeping it the same length as the shank measurement with a little extra for tying it to the hook; now’s the time to loosely tie the animal hairs or hackle barbs so they are smack against the wings near the middle of the hook shank Next, pull the line tight to the opposite side so the bundle of hair moves towards the top of the hook-bend and fasten this with additional thread-wraps.

• If you want a thicker portion for the body of the bait, ‘dubbing’ is required: you can do this by twisting thread round the hook shank, giving it a specific shape, taking care to begin winding at the back of the wings and tapering it off at the tail-end.

• Whatever your choice of hackle tips, trim them to your chosen length (same as shaft of the hook) and keeping an angle from middle of feather shaft to side of the hook, start working downwards so you end up wrapping up the front of it. Keep feather straight and wind more till you can push it as upright as possible; wrap at the back of the feather too so the wings stand straight up as well. Do the same on the opposite side so wings are carefully spread-out.

• If you like more decorations, place more hackle feathers to the lure-front and remember, the finer your feathers in the lure, the further it will fly across – so 3to 5 wrap-arounds should serve you well!

• To finish off, wind the line a few times so the bobbin falls through the loop, then pull tight to secure the fly you are tying – fastening securely will ensure it does not come loose while fishing.





By: Abhishek Agarwal

When you mention fly fishing to people, many times they think you are fishing exclusively for trout. However, there are some amazing spots you can fly fish for trophy sized bass as well. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass abound in rivers and lakes, so why not try your hand fly fishing for bass?

Many experienced fly fishermen report that bass fly fishing can be extremely challenging as well as extremely satisfying. Bass have larger mouths than trout, so your choice of lures is much more diverse. They strike hard and fight strong, so when you are fly fishing for bass, expect to be exhilarated by the fight in these guys!

Experts suggest that you use a 6-7 weight rod, but if you are especially experienced, you can use a 4-5 weight rod. If you choose the smaller rod, you may have trouble casting the larger flies, so be aware of that. You can use a floating or a sinking line with a weight forward taper. You should have a 7 ½ to 9 foot leader tapered down to a 10 pound test.

Most bass are opportunistic feeders and will bite at anything. In general, however, flies for bass fishing are usually larger and influence a bigger bite. Try big muddler minnows, clousy minnows, wooly buggers, poppers, leech patterns, and crayfish patterns. Size 8 or 10 would be a little on the small side while size 2 or 1/0 would be a little too large, so opt for something in between.

Largemouth bass live in shallow water habitats among reeds, water lilies, and other vegetation naturally found in the water. They are adapted to warm waters in the 80 degree range and are seldom found deeper than twenty feet down. They prefer clear waters with little or no current. They stay fairly active year-round, but tend to stay near the bottom in the winter months.

Great bass fly fishing can be found in various locations throughout the United States. In the northeastern United States, try the rivers and streams in the Adirondack Mountains such as the Mohawk or Black Rivers. There are also some prized bass in the Great Lakes region. Southern Ontario in Canada can also provide some great opportunities to catch trophy sized bass.

Bass fly fishing can be a great experience for both the beginning fly fisherman as well as those with a little more experience. Fly fishing for bass requires a little bit of finesse and some tenacity when they bite. Stay with the fish and pull a whopper out of the water you can be proud of!





By: Steve W Sharpe

Learn tips on what fly tying materials you need to tie a wooly bugger fishing lure for angling and fly fishing in this free sports and outdoors video.

Trout strikes while fly fishing

Trout and other fish have common feeding behavior.  Understanding these feeding clues are good fly fishing fundamentals that will make fly fishing more fun and productive.   These clues are telling signs of what type of foods the trout are eating and whether the food is on top of the water or subsurface.  A wide brimmed hat and a good pair of Polaroid sunglasses will reduce glare from the water and help you spot these vital clues.

   

1        A normal rise with bubbles indicates that trout are taking food off the surface.

2        Trout leaping out of the water may be feeding on flying insect like dragonflies and damselflies, spinners and caddis flies.

3        Tailing trout with their head down fossicking and tails in the air indicate feeding on nymphs, pupae and scuds.

4        Smelting.  Trout are taking baitfish and are aggressive in their feeding, sometimes there will be bow waves as the bigger fish rush in and attack the baitfish in the shallows.

  

5        Slashing means the trout are feeding on fast moving insects like caddis moths and grasshoppers. Slashing can also indicate feeding on snails; this can be exciting but hard fishing.

6        Porpoising indicates trout feeding on emergers.  With abundance of food in some cases the trout will be predictable in their direction of feeding before the surface again.  Landing a fly well in front of the fish porpoising can be effective.

  

7        A swirl or small whirlpool means the fish are feeding below the surface.

8        Bulging also points to feeding just under the surface.  Sometimes the trout will angle up towards the surface and stop as they take the food causing a bulge in the water.

9        Sipping indicates trout feeding on smaller insects like ants or spent spinners low on the water surface.

10    A normal rise without air bubbles is a sign of the trout taking emergers right under the surface tension of the water.  

 Studying the water and feeding behavior of trout and other fish will increase your knowledge and observation skills.  These indicators will increase your chances of landing the trophy fish as you can then select the right imitation fly, equipment and techniques to match the hatch! 

© 2008-2009 Fly Fishing Fish





By: Craig Alan Howlett

If you are considering taking up fly fishing as a hobby then two of the reasons probably include enjoying the beauty of nature and breathing in the beautiful fresh air. Fly fishing is one of the sports where you can truly enjoy the nature around you and experience the calming effect of the water.

There is no speed involved with things flying by you too fast to notice, there is no rush to go anywhere, and there are no guarantees that you will catch any fish.

These attributes of fly fishing make it an ideal weekend or vacation sports if your purpose is to be outside in nature and fully relax far away from the hustle and bustle of normal day to day life.

The fly fishing rod is lighter and shorter than the average rod used for other types of fishing. These rods are on average around 9 feet long with a weight of about 5 ounces. However, the length of the rod will depend on the size of the stream that you want to fish in. Smaller streams will require that you purchase and use a shorter rod.

The fly fishing line is usually heavier than the usual line used for other types of fishing. These lines are manufactured to either float on the surface of the water or to sink into the water.

The fly lure that you choose will depend on the type of fishing that you want to do and the species of fish that you want to catch.

Some fish seek their food from amongst objects that float on the water surface and to catch these fish your lure needs to mimic floating insects. Other fish get their food from objects in the water and to catch those you lure needs to mimic those objects.

The experience fly fisherman always carries a wide selection of fishing lure because what worked yesterday might not necessarily work today.

With fly fishing, the time of the day, the temperature of the water, the glare of the sun on the surface of the water, the speed of the water in the stream, and other factors determine what type of lure will work.

Fly fishing is such an established sport that the fishing lures have been divided into official categories. These are the dry flies and emergers, the nymphs, the streamers, the wet flies, the saltwater flies, the bass and panfish flies, and these salmon and steelhead flies.

Enjoying fly fishing requires a little bit of preparation and knowledge acquisition and thereafter it is learning from experience whilst enjoying the beauty and serenity of nature.





By: Ryan Simpson

Have you ever been fishing? Many people would answer yes to this. In America alone, according to the American Sportfishing Association, there are nearly 40,000,000 anglers. But; have you ever tried Fly Fishing? Well, If you enjoy fishing of any kind I strongly suggest you try it. But, and this is very important. Learn How To Fly Fish Properly. If you go out with your new fly fishing gear, tie on your fly, cast, and hope, it’s likely that you’ll catch nothing, and then you’ll become disillusioned.

There are many things to learn first: Rod selection, line selection, leader and tippet selection, casting techniques. I could go on and on. But what I’m saying is, get the basics right first.

Fly Fishing is learning to imitate nature as you fool the fish into taking your carefully selected fly. Then feeling the exhilaration as you maybe hook a Smallmouth Bass and skilfully reel it in as it jumps and fights for all it’s worth on the surface, trying to throw the hook. Or perhaps a big trout that threatens to break your line.

O.k. so you can get the same thrill from bait fishing, and once you’ve hooked a fish, the way you reel it in is much the same. But it’s the skill of catching the fish which makes Fly Fishing so exhilarating.

So which is best, Bait Fishing or Fly Fishing? The answer is that neither one is better, or worse than the other. They’re just different. There is more to learn for successful Fly Fishing, it’s true, and some people just don’t want to learn about hatches, fly patterns etc. The skill of Fly Fishing is to make the fish see the fly and believe it’s a real insect and not a threat, or something to ignore. In my opinion, when you catch a fish this way, the feeling you get is 100 times that, of putting live bait in the water and waiting for the fish to bite.

Most novice anglers start with bait fishing. And it’s the best way to introduce children to fishing. But for me, and every Fly Fisherman I’ve ever talked to, bait fishing just doesn’t give the excitement of Fly Fishing.

Learn how to Fly Fish properly and it’s unlikely that you’ll ever want to go back to bait fishing.





By: William Carter