People often fail to recognize how much thought and effort goes into making a good first cast when fly fishing. The following will share some of the tricks and tips which I’ve picked up along the way.
What to tie on?
There are a few different strategies which can be used to figure out what fly to use when first arriving at the river. One of which is the simply look around you and see if there are any bugs flying around near the water. Now you may not always be able to tell exactly what insects you see, but if you can at least tell the approximate size and color of the bug, do your best to find the fly in your box that comes closest to matching that profile. Another useful trick is the step into the water and look underneath a few of the rocks in the river as there will almost always be several different insects hiding there. Once you’ve figured out what bugs are in the water, again do your best to match them with a size and pattern in your fly box.
Don’t Spook the Fish!
Trout tend to be especially skittish fish, which means one must approach the river with a lot of caution in order to keep the fish from swimming for cover or shutting down feeding. One thing that can help prevent this is doing your best to avoid casting any shadows over the water as a trout’s only real predatory threats are birds and other animals such as bears and raccoons, all of which can be detected by the shadows they cast. Always try to keep the sun in front of you, and try to crouch when necessary to stay out of the fishes line of sight. Additionally, do your best to cast in front of the fish and avoid landing your fly directly above where the fish is holding, as doing so can scare them off.
Setting the Hook
This can often be one of the most difficult parts of fly fishing. The most important thing to remember is to set the hook DOWNSTREAM! More times than not, a trout is going to take your fly in an upstream direction, meaning if you attempt to set the hook upstream, you will likely pull your fly right out of its mouth and the fish will probably get spooked and leave the area. However, if you set the hook downstream of the fish, you give yourself the best chance of lodging that hook into the fishes mouth, giving you the best chance of landing it!
