Fly Fishing Faults and Fixes

Fly Fishing Faults and Fixes

I am going to list a few fly fishing faults an the way to get around them, if you want real detail, download the free report!!

Leader Tangles

Yes, we have all done it. Pretending not to see the little knot in your leader. You have just seen a fish rise right in front of you, it looked a good size fish and its well within you casting distance. Change the leader or not? Absolutely, you must change your leader if you cant untangle the knot, you may hook the fish with the knot in the leader, you may even land it, but your breaking strain goes to roughly 35% of the stated breaking strain! So, if you are using 6lb fluorocarbon, you will not land a fish of 3lb, you should always remember that. Change it if you cant untangle!!!!

Flexibility

You must be flexible and prepared to change you position and tactics. All fish have to eat at some point, whether its raining, sunny, cold or thundering, so think about your quarry and imagine where these cold blooded fish would go if its any of the extremes of fine weather we have. If its hot, its likely they will be deeper, but not all of the time. In a hot summer month you see many fish rising. So don’t be cloned by the popular fishing press and think that ‘hot weather = fish deep all the time’…not true. Too many anglers learn a certain method and stick to it, be prepared to have a go at other methods of casting, like single haul, double haul, etc. Also, be prepared to fish where others don’t, like into the wind, or near trees. If you cant cast near trees or into the wind, you will never be able to do it unless you try. I will do a video demo of both soon….watch this space!!! Remember, a successful angler masters a range of techniques and is quick to change to the most suitable method for his/her position, the wind, the depth of water, the weather, etc.

Increase your chances

It stands to reason that the more flies you have on you leader the more chance you have of catching a fish, but be careful if you are new to having ‘droppers’, only start with a point fly and a single dropper about a foot or half a metre from the point. Master casting with the dropper and before you attempt to go on to 3 or even 4 droppers.

Dry fly and a nymph on a dropper is the tool of choice for most of the summer – using 2 flies doubles your chances!

• Early in the season, fish tend to be deeper, feeding on nymphs – give them a choice, because you might not know what’s happening today on the river bottom. Is it a caddis day, or a mayfly day? Put a pound each way with two different nymphs.

• Lures represent a big piece of protein, and when fish will take nothing else, or are feeding selectively, a big juicy lure fly (olive Woolly Bugger, Cats Whisker, Butt Monkey, Gold Head etc) may well gain their attention when all else fails.

When the “usual” method is not delivering results, experiment with different techniques. Buy a sinking line and swing a lure fly through the bottom of the pools at mid-day in mid-summer. You might be surprised…