Fishing Tips 101

What's in this article?

* A review of the top trout producing lures
* Fishing Tips from Sierra Tackle Shop Managers
* Tips and Techniques for Using Lures in Streams
* Using a Fly Rod Un-conventionally (Like the Old Timers)
* A Killer Technique (NO BULL!)

Through the years I have not kept up with the continuous introduction of new spoons and spinners. I follow the minimalist approach to fly fishing and lure fishing. It has saved me lots of money, allowed me to organize my tackle boxes more intuitively and, most importantly, it has kept me from befuddlement trying to remember when, where and how to effectively fish all the lures that I have crammed into a tackle box. I wasn't surprised to see that my old standbys from the fifties and sixties still reigned supreme in John Merwin's Field and Stream article, "50 Greatest Lures of All Time," published April 2006. When I checked to see if my All-Time Favorite Lure for Mammoth Lakes circa 1959 was even mentioned, I was delighted to find the red and white Daredevle Spinnie ranked in the number two position, just below the Curley Tail Grub. My next favorite lures, Mepps Aglia, Panther Martin, Kastmaster and Little Cleo, were all ranked high. Along with a Super Duper lure, these were the lures that I used exclusively in my youth when I wasn't using a fly rod to dab a red worm in a small crick.

Field and Stream published a follow-up article a year later with "50 Best Lures." For the trout recommendations, they listed (in order of preference) a baker's dozen: 1. Wiggle King Flatfish; 2. Rooster Tail; 3. Panther Martin; 4. Mepps Aglia; 5. Norman Deep Tiny "N" crankbait; 6. CountDown Rapala; 7. Yo-Zuri Snap Bean crankbait; 8. Al's Goldfish; 9. Needlefish spoon; 10. Phoebe spoon; 11. Float and Fly trailer; 12. Marabou Micro-Jig; 13. Mister Twister Jig. Everyone has their confidence lures and their secret, unorthodox perversions of angling tradition that they often don't even share with a brother or best friend. I will share my, honest-to-Goodness, fish catching abomination later in the article.

Recently I surveyed two tackle shop managers in the eastern Sierras for their recommendations. Both shops have long standing reputations for offering good tackle selection, friendly service and outstanding tips and information. Jeremy Ross of Ernie's Tackle and Ski Shop in June Lake and Jim Reid of Ken's Sporting Goods in Bridgeport echoed some of the recommendations of Field and Stream, as well as suggesting tried-and-proven trout catching techniques for the Sierras. In the survey that I submitted to them, I asked them to rank spoons and lures with four rankings. Number 1 was a top choice. I asked them not to differentiate between which lure was the top lure in their number one choices. Keep in mind that I also included bait in this survey. Both men listed CountDown Rapala and Thomas Buoyants as a number one choice. Both managers recommended inflated nightcrawlers and PowerBait as a number 1 pick. Salmon eggs came in 2 and 3, as did Kastmaster lures, Little Cleo lures, Daredevle lures and float-and-fly combinations. Both Jeremy and Jim ranked the Mepps Aglia and the Rooster Tail as a number four choice.

For bait Jeremy Ross recommended PowerBait or Gulp or Rainbow. He also recommended original Rapala lures in silver and rated them as a #2 choice. Other lures that he recommends to his customers are Trout Teasers, Tasmanian Devils and Panther Martins, which I forgot to include on the survey. He noted that June Lake has excellent shore access, and he noted that fly fishers in float tubes and kick-boats do well early in the morning and the evening with Woolly Buggers and Matuka streamers. Jim Reid of Bridgeport recommends trolling from Rainbow Point to the dam with flashers and crawlers, Rapala, or Thomas Buoyants both early and late in the season on Bridgeport Reservoir. He also recommended Worden's Flatfish as a #3 choice. When fishing from the shore or a stationary boat, he recommends CountDown Rapala, Buoyants, and Kastmasters near the dam. He said that the best side of the reservoir for shore anglers was northeast from the dam to about a ¼ mile south.

Tips and Techniques

An old adage among lure fisherman is that lures are designed and packaged to attract buyers. Don't believe it for a minute. Most lure companies spend a great deal of money on scientific research. If you fished and fished a lure and never caught a fish and than lost it on a snag, are you going to rush out and replace it? The movement of the spoon or spinner has to be realistic; it has to reflect light, and the color of the lure needs to match a particular color of water, such as brown, green or blue. One simple rule to remember is that if you are fishing at dusk or very low light, fish will see a dark silhouette against a lighter skyline better than if you use a light colored lure. If you are fishing in bright light go white. If you are fishing in the dark go black. Mepps recommends using "silver on bright days; polished brass (gold) blades produce best when it is overcast. Try copper in streams after a heavy rain, or in dark, stained water." Into this equation must be factored the depth and the color of the water and how much current exits. The following lures are recommendations for stream fishing patterns and lake patterns, but first let me review some general information.
As I have outlined in my article on fly fishing creeks and again in using baits on creeks, let me reiterate a key factor on catching trout in moving water. Get in the water and wade upstream!

Reasons to Get Your Feet Wet and Fish Upstream
1. Fish face upstream. If you are behind them, you can catch them directly in front of you.
2. If you can see to the bottom of the creek, they can see you! Approaching a creek or stream from the bank often spooks fish.
3. It is much easier to cast to a pocket, pool or small riffle from the center of a stream and maintain a slow retrieve. Best of all you are in an ideal position to cast effectively towards either bank.
4. Wade fishing in a stream also allows you to cast directly upstream which creates minimal arm, rod and line movement that might otherwise spook a fish. Trout have great peripheral vision. Often they lie in broken water out of sight, but if they don't see the angler blended into the bank cover, they often see a flash of line or arm or rod movement, which warns them that a predator is near. Even while you are wading in the current, it is paramount to keep your shadow off the water in front of you. I often crouch in the water behind a boulder to make a short cast to a pool above me.
5. In many instances, where there is heavy brush or trees, it is difficult to reach choice water from the bank. If you are wading upstream, you have an easier shot at often over-looked water that bank anglers pass up because they can not penetrate the tangled bank barrier.
6. Finally, once you are in the water, keep moving! Bank anglers typically spend too much time sitting on a comfortable rock or log. Fishing is a game of percentages. How many perfect casts to good holding water can you achieve in an outing? If you have made two or three casts to a pool without eliciting a strike, move on to the next spot.
7. I am always amazed at how I can walk up a stream under the cover of moving water without spooking fish, but when I walk along a meadow bank I spook fish way ahead of me just from the vibration of my footsteps, which is another reason to be out in the current. An exception to casting and wading upstream is if you locate a shallow pool that is difficult to approach upstream. Remember that trout face upstream in current so they are often spooked by a lure working from the downstream position right past them. However, in slower water the trout will cruise in all directions so the approach is not critical. Another exception to wading upstream and casting upstream is when you are on a river or large stream. In this situation you can make an effective downstream cast by quartering the stream.
Cast downstream in a quartering angle. In other words, stand facing the opposite bank. Draw an imaginary line from your feet to the opposing bank. You now have half the stream above you and half the stream below you. As you face the bank, the stream flow is coming from your left down stream past your right side. Now, divide the stream below you in half. This quarter demarcation is your target angle for the opposing bank. Cast as close to the bank as possible. If a trout is on the far bank, he will see the lure coming at him broadside and "swimming" out and away from the bank, as the current sweeps the lure out towards the faster water. Sometimes if you plant it right in front of the trout, your cast will trigger a reaction take. Often times they will follow the streamer as it drifts downstream and begins to sweep out into the deeper water. They will hit the lure just as it swings out from the bank and slows down.
8. If you walk up to a pool, target the tail-out first. Trout will often drift back to the tail-out and hide under broken water or behind small rocks waiting for food to be pushed up from the bottom of the pool into a zone of compressed water. Approach the tail-out quietly and with a low profile. Make your cast land softly. The next target is the center of the pool. Allow your lure to flutter down to the bottom of the pool, and don't be surprised if you get a take on the decent. Just as bass anglers use a spinnerbait sometimes in a jigging motion off the bottom, good spinner anglers will jig up the spinner from the bottom once or twice before retrieving the lure back towards them. The next pool target is to place the lure or spinner above the riffle or small waterfall that feeds the pool. Trout will often lie in wait for bugs and insects to drop from the plunging waters into the pool.
9. ALWAYS target bank cover, rocks, submerged logs, foam lines and broken water where you can not see the bottom. (Guess who is hiding down there waiting for dinner?)
10. If you snag your lure on an underwater object, reach down and retrieve it. After all, you are already wading. Snagging a lure is another reason to use a single hook when fishing a creek or a stream. Often you can retrieve the lure by simply pushing the eyelet of the rod tip right down on the lure and shaking it.

Recommendations for Lure Fishing in Streams or Rivers

For best results when fishing a stream, both for hook-ups and less snagging, use a single hook on a spoon or spinner, and bend down the barb for easy release. The Thomas Buoyant lures work well in small streams, unlike the heavier Kastmasters that sink too rapidly. Use a Thomas Buoyant in a red/gold combination or a blue/silver combination in a 1/6 oz. or a ¼ oz. You want a slower retrieve with an occasional twitch. I would also recommend the Mepps Aglia #2 or a Mepps Black Fury #2. Field and Stream recommend Al's Goldfish for heavy, fast water or a Phoebe spoon for slower retrieves on a shallow stream. Generally stick with 1/16 ounce lure for small creeks and 1/8 and ¼ ounce for larger streams and lakes.

Recommendations for Lure Fishing on Lakes

If you plan on fishing a lake from the shore, you have a primary decision to make. The heavier pound test lines do not cast a lure as far as a smaller, lighter line. A four-pound test line is generally all that you need for fishing most alpine lakes and creeks. Changing your reel spool to a two-pound test line will significantly increase your casting distance, but it also comes with the potential for "the big one that got away story." Be sure to buy high quality lighter lines. Be sure that your rod is rated for 2 to 6 lb. lines. Never use a snap swivel on your lures unless you are trolling. The snap swivel frequently alters the designed motion of the lure. If you are in a boat or the lake is sufficiently small enough to hike around it, always target the major inlet first thing in the morning. Other target areas are other creek inlets, points, drop-off ledges, weed beds and banks with good over-hanging cover. Use larger lures, especially more heavily weighted lures like the Kastmaster, and concentrate on your retrieval pattern. Generally, a steady retrieve punctuated by a pause and a twitch is the most effective retrieve to start. Vary your retrieves and your count down, but really give a pattern a chance before you switch. If you see fish working the surface, switch to a bubble-and-fly technique

Recommendations for Fishing Jigs on Small Streams and Rivers
Or How I Became an Un-Conventional Fly Fisher
Or Back to the Future of Fly Fishing.

I am like Rip Van Winkle. I have been asleep for far too many years regarding new fishing techniques and the resurrection of old methods. After retiring as a teacher in Montana, I headed to the Modesto area of California to finish out my last few years as an educator. I went with the clear goal of buying recreational toys and boats before I actually retired. When I realized that my trout fishing opportunities required extensive driving, I took up bass fishing. Living in Ripon, I was just a few blocks from the Stanislaus River. I soon discovered what great fun it was catching smallmouth bass while floating in a kick-boat. I used my fly rod and small Gitzits or tube worms. When I got back to Montana for a visit, I excitedly told a local fly shop owner my great discovery. He went to the book shelf and pulled down two books that he recommended that I buy. OK, so I didn't re-discover or invent anything! My success with lead-head jigs, curly tail grubs and tube worms on both trout and bass and delivered with a fly rod has been an outstanding journey. Hey, sometimes the casts are not very pretty when I am slinging heavy tube baits on the end of my fly rod, but the results have been greatly rewarding.

Don't hesitate in using curly tail grubs, white mini-jigs, marabou jigs or tiny Rooster Tail lures on creeks and streams regardless if they are delivered with a fly rod or a spinning rod. Small marabou jigs in white and red are my first choice. All of the above can be purchased. I have come to the close of this article, and it is time to reveal my honest-to-goodness trout catching abomination. A few years back I landed a 7-pound rainbow in Klamath Lake using a fly rod and a 1-inch crankbait. My soft-plastic confidence bait for bass is a tube bait. (I prefer the original Gitzits.) I was heading back to Montana, and I began wondering how they would work on a Brown trout that had never seen a crawdad. It was early summer and I was fishing a canyon fork of one of western Montana's famous rivers. The salmon fly hatch was over, but a few golden stoneflies were still whirling up the canyon. Because the water was too deep and fast to wade, I crawled down the embankment to a tail-out of a large pool. I cast upstream without success. My stimulator drifted below me as I surveyed how I was going to approach the main pool. Just as I was about to lift my fly, I saw a dark shadow rise and then silently retreat when he saw my presence. It was a really big fish. I had been made so I retreated to the shore and had lunch and began wondering what I should present this fish sub-surface.

Munching on my sandwich, I remember that I had packed a number of tube worms in my vest. I had been optimistic when I packed them. They were two to three inches long! Nonetheless, I changed to a stout leader and put on a speckled, brown tube worm and marveled at the long tentacles that so effectively work on bass. Would it work here I thought? I crouched back to the water's edge and made a perfect drift through the dark crevice three times without success. Just downstream was another dark crevice about four to five feet deep. I lobbed out the lead-head jig hook with the Gitzit and saw a flash of silver boil up from the dark. If he had headed downstream through the fast riffle, I would never have landed him. Instead this big Bull trout buck pushed up into the pool. When I landed him, he measured 25 inches.

I fished the Gitzit in varying sizes and colors ranging from tan to brown to green. On Rock Creek I landed many Brown trout ranging in size from 12 to 17 inches; on the Bitterroot River I landed only a few rainbows, but on Idaho's Lochsa River I had outstanding fishing catching many 16 to 18-inch cutthroats. The only difficulty that I encountered was that the smaller fish in the seven to ten inch range would bite the tail, and I could not catch them. Sure I could have added a stinger hook, but I was having too much fun catching larger fish. I swore I wouldn't reveal this secret, but according to my Google analytics, readers seldom read more than a page and a half of any article on my web site. If you have got this far, give a Gitzit a try. This summer I plan on packing Berkley PowerBait dough in the tube and try some different colors on the rainbows in the Bitterroot River

What's in this article?

*Stream Strategy and Productive Spots to Fish
*How Much Gear Should You Lug Up that Canyon Creek?
*Rigging for Worms, Salmon Eggs and Power Bait in Both Streams and Lakes
*Fishing with Live, Natural Bait
*Fishing with Live Grasshoppers the HemingWAY (Read Hemingway's "Big Two- Hearted River," or read my synopsis.)

It is with some hesitation that I review the basics steps for bait fishing. I have been a catch-and-release adherent since the 1970's. But I must remind myself that much of Sierra trout fishing is "put-and-take" harvest fishing. So much pressure is put on the resources that generous weekly stockings in creeks or small streams are frequently harvested in three or four days. Perhaps you have brought your family from southern California on a camping trip to the eastern Sierras. How can I hold judgment on your desire to share a trout dinner with your family, as my generation did back in the 50's and 60's? Please kill only what you will eat fresh, and never take them home in a cooler to reside in a freezer until they get freezer burn or lose their flavor. When you are ready to fish for fun, go to a lake and fish with a fly and bubble. You will have more action, and best of all you can easily release the fish unharmed. Keep in mind that if you catch a trout on bait and they swallow it, there is a high probability that they will not survive. Once they bleed around the gills, they eventually bleed to death. Fishing with lures and flies with pinched barbs allows the lure to be easily removed from their mouth or jaw. Forgive me for this lecture. Old principles die hard after fishing for wild fish for over forty years. If you are new to fishing, just enjoy the sport along with a camp dinner of trout and fried potatoes. However, when you move to a stream with wild trout, plan a camp dinner of hot dogs held over a campfire with a freshly cut willow stick, and don't forget the marshmallows!

Stream Strategy and Productive Spots to Fish

I would suggest that you read my article on fly fishing on creeks. I am not trying to convert you to fly fishing so much as to provide a review of the holding water that trout seek out for both feeding and sanctuary. Keep in mind that a fly rod is an excellent rod for bait fishing on creeks and small streams. Unless the creek is a "crick" and so small that you only have to sneak or crawl through the willows and brush to "poke and dab" at a likely spot, get right in the water and walk upstream like fly anglers do. I can not recall seeing a bait angler in the middle of a stream using the same approach as a fly fisher. Why would a bait angler limit his opportunities? Regardless of what bait you are using, get out in the middle of the stream so that you will catch more fish, catch bigger fish, cover more water and make more progress!

Reasons to Get Your Feet Wet and Fish Upstream

1. Fish face upstream. If you are behind them, you can catch them directly in front of you.
2. If you can see to the bottom of the creek, they can see you! Approaching a creek or stream from the bank often spooks fish.
3. It is much easier to cast to a pocket, pool or small riffle from the center of a stream and maintain a natural drift with your bait. Best of all you are in an ideal position to cast effectively towards either bank.
4. Wade fishing in a stream also allows you to cast directly upstream which creates minimal arm, rod and line movement that might otherwise spook a fish. (Trout have great peripheral vision. Often they lie in broken water out of site, but if they don't see the angler blended into the bank cover, they often see a flash of line or arm or rod movement, which warns them that a predator is near. Even while you are wading in the current, it is paramount to keep your shadow off the water in front of you. I often crouch in the water behind a boulder to make a short cast to a pool above me.)

5. In many instances where there is heavy brush or trees it is difficult to reach choice water from the bank. If you are wading upstream, you have an easier shot at often over-looked water that bank anglers pass up because they can not penetrate the tangled bank barrier.
6. Finally, once you are in the water, keep moving! Bank anglers typically spend too much time sitting on a comfortable rock or log. Fishing is a game of percentages. How many perfect casts to good holding water can you achieve in an outing? If you have made two or three casts to a pool without eliciting a strike, move on to the next spot.
7. I am always amazed at how I can walk up a stream under the cover of moving water without spooking fish, but when I walk along a meadow bank I spook fish way ahead of me just from the vibration of my footsteps, which is another reason to be out in the current.

Productive Spots to Fish

Most fishing books spend chapters discussing and diagramming trout lies and holding water. Let's look at it from a fish's perspective. They want cover to hide from predators. That could mean hiding below broken water, hiding directly below a foam line, holding behind or to the side of a boulder or just lazily resting in shallow water with a canopy of overhanging branches above them. Next, a trout wants to be in a spot where it can find a food source. This could be off to the side of a boulder where the force of water plunging past the boulder funnels insects past the boulder and down a bubbly seam of water. Big Moe will be just behind the boulder waiting just beneath the bubbling foam. But a smaller fish or two might be directly underneath the seam or foam line. A prime lie is a spot which provides both good protection and a steady source of food. The point here is that the trout will be facing upstream waiting for food to come to them. Casting above a trout and allowing your presentation to drift naturally to the waiting trout is the key to success. A final reminder is that if the fish are down on the bottom of the stream bed protected from the fast water, where should your bait be?

The next factor that a trout must consider when picking a home or prime lie is to find a spot that it doesn't have to expend more energy than its calorie intake! I remember diving for abalone along the coast of northern California when I was in my twenties. We would drop an anchor from our inner tube and swim down fifteen to twenty feet through the kelp. The currents and rip tides were so fierce that I could see and feel myself propelled sideways so fast that I wasn't gaining much depth. My partners told me to grab a piece of kelp and pull myself down to the bottom! Meanwhile, over the top of me waves were crashing towards the beach. What a surprise awaited me when I reached the last five or six feet of water. It was relatively slow water compared to just a few feet above, and when I found a ledge or a large rock, it was like being in a swimming pool. Rainbows like fast, shallow riffles. They sink to the bottom and rest in a trough or behind a rock and await their dinner. Brown trout and cutthroats prefer slower water that offers cover and deeper water to escape to in an emergency situation.

Everyone knows to fish a pool, but don't over-look the head of the pool. Often a pool will have a small riffle or ledge that the water plunges down into the pool. Trout will lie in wait for food at the base of the ledge or drop-off. At the tail-out of the pool, water surges upwards from the deeper pool to meet a riffle or run. Trout will often drift back into this shallow water to pick off insects that are pulled down into the pool and then re-emerge in the shallow tail-out where the water is compressed and the food sources likewise. For a couple of years I guided Sam Lawrence, the founder of Budget Rental Cars. We primarily fished the Bitterroot River in Montana. A hatch was on mid-day, and a few simpers could be seen at the tail-out of a pool just below some over-hanging willows. Sam picked off a nice fished as we drifted by the tail-out. We pulled up downstream where Sam landed a nice rainbow, and then we hiked back to the tail-out. Usually, trout will move into the tail-outs under cover of darkness or cloudy weather or a rain storm. Sam walked up behind the tail-out and landed four big trout in less than a half hour. He picked off the first fish closest to the end of the tail-out and worked it downstream in the riffle water. Than he hiked up to the same spot and made a short, deft cast just a little further out towards the pool. He caught the next fish, and then he went on to catch two more really big trout. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometime trout break their own rules for survival!

The greatest reason for fishing a small stream as a beginner is that you gain much knowledge about where the fish are holding. Small streams and many creeks have the same holding water as larger rivers - riffles, pools and runs. My mother taught me the greatest fishing lesson that I have ever learned at age five. We lived in Bishop, California. Near our house was an irrigation ditch that during the summer held many smaller trout. We would see them on our daily walks. They would dart ahead of us in the waving grass and disappear. I begged her to take me fishing until one day she agreed. She cut a willow branch, tied one of my father's fly fishing leaders to the end of the willow branch. Her rigging was simple enough. She tied on a small safety pin to which she molded a piece of Velveeta cheese. She picked a nice shady spot along the ditch, tossed out the offering, and than we sat down for a picnic lunch. Eating my baloney sandwich, I looked down in the water at the Velveeta cheese resting close by. I was five years old, and I knew I was participating in a farce. We had already scared the fish away. I knew they would not come back and bite an offering directly beneath my gaze, and I knew we needed a real hook, and that we would have to be sneaky in our approach. It was a revelation. My mother was not the perfect woman. She was flawed. Worse, I didn't know if she was patronizing me or she was just plain ignorant. I only recently shared this experience with my 90-year old mother. She just laughed and said, "I didn't know anything about fishing, and I probably figured you didn't either."

How Much Gear Should You Take Along?
A cheap or expensive fishing vest is essential. Toss in a small, hinged fly box with compartments for split-shot, hooks and swivels. Add a pair of needle-nose pliers and nippers to cut line, as well as a pocket knife. Add a spool of tippet material. Drop in some mosquito repellant into one pocket, along with a mosquito head net. Toss in a bottle of water and an apple into the back pocket. Finally, pick a pocket to store your bait. When I was a youngster, you could buy a curved, tin worm can with air holes in the top. It had rings to thread your belt through. To be on the safe side, I would bring a small box of lures and a few wet flies. A hemostat attached to a retractable pull string is really essential for removing a hook and releasing a fish unharmed. Now, you are ready.

Rigging for Worms and Salmon Eggs on Moving Water (Hook, Line and Sinker!)

The two most popular baits for stream or creek fishing are red worms and salmon eggs. It doesn't get any easier than this. Use a short-shank number 8 or 10 hook. Embed the hook completely inside the worm. If you are fishing a slow stretch of water, you may not need a split-shot for the worm to drift naturally on the bottom. If need be, attach a small split-shot about 10 to 12-inches above the hook. If your weight is impeding a natural drift along the bottom, change out the split-shot with a smaller one. Cast upstream and allow the bait to drift through a prime lie. Keep a taunt line, as any slack in the line and you will not be able to detect subtle bites. Your bait is drifting back to you as you slowly lift the rod tip and reel in excess line. Suddenly your bait stops tumbling along the bottom, but you did not detect a tick at the end of your line nor a sharp pull on your rod tip. Maybe you are stuck. After all you have already replaced your hook and sinker when it became lodged in a crevice. Your instinct is to quickly snatch the bait off the bottom. But just as likely a trout has gingerly sucked in your bait in the corner of its mouth and it has moved back to its former position or lie. Lift the rod slowly upwards to determine if there is resistance and a fish on the line. Otherwise, if you react too quickly thinking that you have got stuck on the bottom, you might just rip the bait out of the fish's mouth without embedding the hook. If it is not a fish and your bait breaks free, you may simply lower the rod and allow the bait to continue drifting. Learn to be patient when fishing fast, tumbling water, as snagging the bottom is quite common.
A cricket rigging begins with 1 or 2 BB weights followed by a #14 Snap Swivel. Attached to the Snap Swivel is a two-pound test, 18-22-inch leader terminating with a #10 worm hook.

Rigging a Wet Fly on a Spinning Outfit for Larger Streams

You don't have to be a fly fisher to use a wet fly or streamer pattern on a river. Simply add a medium size casting bubble to your line and fill it full with water. (They have a retractable stop plug.) After the bubble add a #14 Snap Swivel. (Now the bubble can not slide forward.) Add 5 to 6-feet of two to three pound test leader. At the terminal end add a streamer. Cast downstream in a quartering angle. In other words, stand facing the opposite bank. Draw an imaginary line from your feet to the opposing bank. You now have half the stream above you and half the stream below you. As you face the bank the stream flow is coming from your left down stream on your right side. Now, divide the stream below you in half. This quarter demarcation is your target angle for the opposing bank. Cast as close to the bank as possible. If a trout is on the far bank, he will see the streamer coming at him broadside and "swimming" out and away from the bank, as the current sweeps the fly and bubble out towards the faster water. Sometimes if you plant it right in front of the trout your cast will trigger a reaction take. Often times they will follow the streamer downstream and hit the fly just as it swings out from the bank and slows down.

Rigging for Worms, Salmon Eggs and Power Baits in Still Water--Unlike a stream where you want your bait drifting on or near the bottom, in a lake you will need to keep your bait visible above the weeds or mossy bottom. You need to float or suspend your bait one to two feet above the bottom with a marshmallow, or if you are fishing with a nightcrawler, you may want to inflate the nightcrawler with air from a device that most tackle shops carry.

Rigging a Worm: Add a ¼ oz. Egg Sinker to your line. Directly in front of the Egg Sinker add a #14 Snap Swivel with an improved clinch knot. Attach a two-pound test, 18-22-inch leader . At the end of the leader add a #10-14 worm hook. Just add worm! If the lake is weedy, use an inflated nightcrawler to float your bait above the weeds.

Rigging Salmon Eggs: Add a ¼ oz. Egg Sinker to your line with an improved clinch knot. Directly in front of the Egg Sinker add a #14 Snap Swivel. Attach a two-pound test, 18-22-inch leader. At the end of the leader add a #10-14 worm hook or a treble hook. Before you attach the egg(s) run a miniature marshmallow through the hook up to the eye of the hook. The marshmallow will float the egg up off the bottom. If you use PowerBait dough or trout bait, it floats. Be sure to test the amount that you apply to the hook to be sure that it floats and negates the weight of the hook and the line.

Rigging a PowerBait Creature: Add a ¼ oz. Egg Sinker to your line. Directly in front of the Egg Sinker add a #14 Snap Swivel. Attach a two-pound, 18-22-inch leader. At the end of the leader add a #14 dry fly hook and attach a scented PowerBait creature, such as a minnow, grub or lizard.

Note: I would like to thank Carolyn Webb of Virginia Lakes Resort for the above formulas. It has been too many years since I last used bait. Carolyn teaches children the merits of catch-and-release using the fly-and-bubble technique.

Fishing with Live, Natural Bait
After almost thirty years, I met up with my favorite childhood cousin, Steve Odell. Steve grew up in Lee Vining where his father was a deputy sheriff. He took to fishing Lee Vining Creek at a very early age. He is a bait fisherman from the old school, which is to simply gather up natural fish food such as crickets, grasshoppers and ----ant eggs! I had taken a different path in my angling life preferring to fly fish. When Steve told me about an Old Indian woman named Nellie who was the best angler in town, I was ready to listen. Nellie had the reputation for knowing how to catch fish even when they weren't on the bite. Nellie gathered up her fishing gear and with Steve in tow went hunting up ant hills to raid the ant eggs. After she taught him to ignore the ant bites and stop crying, off they went to one of the Virginia Lakes. Steve said that the fishing was fantastic and that lesson changed his perspective on how to fish. He said some tourists gathered around when they began catching some big fish. When they asked what Nellie and Steve were using, Steve said they were using ant eggs. Some of the tourists just shook their head in disbelief thinking they were having their leg pulled. Recently I was reminded of Steve's lesson from Nellie when I read an article on bait fishing in the free 2007 Eastern Sierra Fishing Guide. If you pass through Bishop country, be sure to pick one up as it is an excellent fishing resource.
The author of the article, "Getting Back to Nature", suggests gathering up the ant eggs early in the morning when the ants are cold and lethargic. He recommends threading three or four ant eggs on a fine wire #14 hook. He also suggests adding a bit of Styrofoam first to keep the eggs off the bottom as they are easily damaged. If you are fishing with children, make an adventure out of gathering up crickets, grubs, beetles and ant eggs, and fish with the real thing! It will probably be a lesson that both you and your children will never forget.

Fishing with Grasshoppers the HemingWAY
(I'll post this information next September when I can get some good photographs.)

Trout Identification / Salmonidae

Rainbow Trout / Oncorhynchus mykiss

Associated with the West Coast drainages, the Rainbow trout inspires reverence world wide since its stocked introduction to Japan, South America, the East Coast, Europe and New Zealand. Known for its fighting spirit and aerial acrobatics, the Rainbow trout is distinguished by its pinkish broad band along its lateral line and sometimes as far as its gills and cheeks. It is not uncommon for Rainbows living in deeper water to display orange and lavender hues at maturity. The other striking characteristic of this trout is the greenish bronze back and sides which are dotted with small black spots. The Rainbows underbelly is whitish or silvery. During the spawning period the males develop a hooked jaw, (oncorhynchus) and the rainbow pink darkens into a defining red. Also known by sportsman for its propensity for growth, especially in larger waters, the Rainbow has a sea-run member of its family in the steelhead of the West Coast. A variety of regional Rainbows are identified such as British Columbia’s Kamloop rainbow and specific drainage strains such as the McCloud River strain or the Kern River strain.

Habitat: Although the Rainbow trout has been cultured in breeding programs for a variety of water conditions, its preferred water is cold, clear oxygenated waters, particularly fast riffles and good flowing runs. It prefers water temperatures from 55 to high 60’s.

Food sources: Ranging from zooplankton to forage fish, Rainbows feed most heavily on insect life in streams and rivers.

Spawning: Depending on the geographical zone and water conditions, Rainbows begin spawning as early as March, but more typical are the months of April through June. Rainbows are extensively stocked in the Eastern Sierra Mountains.

Cutthroat Trout / Salmo clarki

Covering a huge expanse of territory in the West, the Cutthroat is native to the southwest in the high plains and deserts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico to the over thrust of the Rockies to the Pacific estuaries and as far north as British Colombia. Although not noted for the fighting qualities of its close cousin the Rainbow, the Cutthroat is a revered trout in these regions so much so that in some parts of its range it is simply referred to as the native trout. The Cutthroat trout has many variants and sub-species, and it is known to cross-hybridize with the Rainbow trout. As its name implies, the Cutthroat has a bold, orange slash across the lower jaw which most easily identifies this as a singular trait of recognition. Marked with small black spots on its back and extending to the tail, the Cutthroat often displays a soft, golden or orange hue across its sides blending into a greenish, gray back. It too has a sea-going member in its family along the costal waters of British Columbia down to the Oregon shores. Unlike the steelhead, sea run Cutthroat tend to stay close to their home waters preferring the sanctuary of coastal estuaries.

Habitat: Cutthroats prefer colder water and do not adapt well to habitat degradation or competition from non-native species. Unlike Rainbows, Cutthroats tend not to grow as large as Rainbows in rivers or lakes. Although they can survive up to eight years, they rarely exceed eighteen inches in streams and rivers. They prefer deeper pools and good bank cover.

Food sources: Insect life

Spawning: Similar to the Rainbow, the great majority of Cutthroats spawn once in their lives. They spawn from March through as late as August. Like Rainbows they prefer shallow, fast water for their spawning beds in small stream tributaries. They do not reach sexual maturity for two to four years.

Brown Trout / Salmo Trutta (salmon trout)

Closely identified with the Atlantic salmon and a native to Europe, the Brown trout is often associated with Germany and previously referred to as the German Brown, no doubt due to its importation by a New Yorker and a German immigrant in 1883. By 1889 the Brown Trout was being reared and stocked as far away as Montana. Initially the cries of protest were muted when opponents realized that the industrialized East had destroyed habitat for the sensitive Brook Trout. In its place the German Brown survived in warmer waters with some degree of pollution present. Pioneers in the art of fly fishing in Pennsylvania and New York discovered that the Brown trout rose readily to a dry fly, although it was more challenging to catch than a Brook trout, not doubt aided by the fact that larger Brown trout feed at night. Brownish overall, the sides are yellow-brown and are dotted with large dark spots towards the back, which in turn are ringed by a lighter hue. Along the lateral line are reddish-orange spots. The fins are clear.

Habitat: Brown trout prefer slower water, although they do survive and prosper in freestone rivers. They tolerate warmer water with greater silt concentrations than any other trout, but they too become stressed as water temperatures reach 70. They can live ten to twelve years in the wild and compete with the Rainbow trout for trophy status, especially in lakes and reservoirs.

Food sources: Aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans and other fish.

Spawning: In drought sensitive Western states, Brown trout have a distinct advantage in that they spawn in the fall from October to February. Reservoirs are dewatered for irrigation and drawn down. By fall the irrigators have shut the gates. When the Brown trout move up the tributaries, they are spawning in running water that will soon be replenished. Instead of having their redds dry up during the late spring and summer, Brown fry have already emerged and begin moving to deeper water. Brown trout also have sea-run relatives both in Europe and the North Atlantic coast. The Brown trout is also stocked throughout the Eastern Sierra Mountains from Lone Pine to Bridgeport.

Brook Trout / Salvelinus fontinalis

Called the Square Tail and the Speckled Trout, the Brook Trout is no trout at all. Rather it is a member of the char family, but science will not dissuade generations of anglers from early colonists on who call this favorite trout, just that, a trout. Much like the canary in the mine, the brookie, just like the Bull trout, is a bell weather warning against pollution and high levels of suspended sediment. Tending to be small in length, with the exception of Brookies found in Canadian lakes, the Brook trout, nonetheless, is admired for its beauty from Maine to California in the few remaining, unspoiled wilderness streams and creeks. The back tends to be a dark melding of brown and green with dark vermiculations from head to tail. Worm-like in appearance, the vermiculations resemble a maze all the way across the back. The sides are variations of green with some gray, along with distinct red dots surrounded by blue halos. The belly of the Brook trout ranges from pale yellow to pinkish orange and is muted with streaks of lead pencil shadings. The fins are lightly shaded hues of orange accented with white tips. The anal fin and the caudal fin display dark blotches.

Habitat: Found in cold, clear mountain creeks and spring-fed streams, Brook trout favor shore cover, especially where spring water filters in to the stream. Brook trout do not survive very well in water temperatures above 65. Many small creeks and high elevation lakes in the Sierras and Cascades are home to the Brook trout.

Food sources: Aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans and other fish. Preying on caddis worms and crustaceans, the Brook trout’s efficient digestive tract empties in less than a half hour. A pan size brookie won’t hesitate pouncing on small minnow.

Spawning: The Brook Trout spawn in the fall. Usually they spawn in their second season. In high elevation lakes and streams with very cold water, Brook trout tend to become stunted and may reach sexual maturity at five or six inches! They may also cross with a Brown trout creating sterile Tiger Trout.

Dolly Varden / Bull Trout
Salvelinus malma / Salvelinus confluentus

Although the Bull Trout in Montana has recently been classified as somewhat distinct from its coastal cousin the Dolly Warden, both fish are similar in appearance, and both are char rather than trout. They are closely related to the Arctic char. Today the range of both fish is shrinking. Typically found along coastal streams of Oregon and Washington, the Dolly Varden is an important game fish in Alaska as well as Kamchatka, Russia. The origin of its colorful name may be disputed, but during the 1870’s a Dolly Varden was a fanciful dress in the fashion world, and later a large, flowery hat earned the praise of the fashion world with the same name. Charles Dickens used Dolly Varden for one of his characters.

The Dolly Varden coloration varies a great deal, buy typically they have dark green backs or a bronze coloration which pales as it merges with the lateral line. From the lateral line to the belly the Dolly is often a light green or a pencil lead gray. The belly is whitish. Scattered across its sides, but not on the head or tail, are pale yellow or pinkish-yellow spots. Scattered within these dots are some small red dots on the lower sides.

Habitat: Bull Trout seek out cold, clear water, and they can not tolerate high sediment levels. They may inter-breed with Brook trout, but their off-spring are sterile. Dolly Vardens are anadromous and prefer the lower reaches of tidal rivers and estuaries. Resident and land-locked Dolly Varden and Bull Trout can weight up to twenty pounds and exceed thirty inches in length. Sea-going Dolly Vardens in Alaska typically reach ten pounds and devour spawned salmon eggs and salmon fry.

Food sources: Dollies and Bull trout are slow growing during the first few years when they feast on insects, aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans. As adults they become voracious piscivores.

Spawning: They spawn in the fall, but they do not reach sexual maturity for four to five years. Even resident Dolly Vardens and Bull trout are migratory by nature traveling long distances to spawn as well as moving for seasonal water adjustments.

Lake Trout / hungri-devili (a joke!)
Salvelinus (char) namaycush (American Indian name for Lake trout)

This Big Mac, often called Mackinaw trout in the Rockies, has only one relative in the salmon family who gets bigger, and that is the King Salmon. In actuality they are a char. Prior to the devastation of the Lake trout populations in the Great Lakes due to the Lamprey eel, commercial fisherman caught some of these big devils upwards to eighty pounds. Slow in growth with a life span of twenty years, these monsters of the deep eat a lot of trout in a given year. Yellowstone Park biologists estimate that each rogue Lake trout eats over 50 Cutthroat trout a year. Multiply that by many thousands of Lake trout and it is no wonder the Cutthroat population in Yellowstone Lake has plummeted 70% since some bucket biologist, in the words of the former superintendent, perpetrated “an appalling act of environmental terrorism.”

The Lake trout is a native of North America inhabiting deep, cold lakes. They thrive in lakes that reach depths of two hundred feet. It has the most forked tail of all its cousins in the trout family. Its back ranges in the gray-green tones to soft bronze, and its belly, depending on the water, can be silverish-white to lead-pencil gray. Large irregular, light-colored markings stretch across the sides, while its back has feint vermiculations similar to the Brook trout. Light speckling may be observed on the dorsal, adipose and caudal fin. Similar to the Brook trout, it has a white edge on the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins.

Food sources: Lake trout are slow growing during the first few years when they feast on zooplankton, insects, aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans. As adults they become voracious piscivores as biologists from Montana will attest.

Spawning: They do not reach sexual maturity for six to seven years. They return to the same spawning area of the lake in which they were spawned. They do not build nests and let their eggs free-fall to boulder or rock strewn bottoms in water depths of from ten feet to a hundred feet. Throughout the year they prefer cruising in the deep, but in the spring time they move to the shoreline and devour other fish.

Sources

Familiar Freshwater Fishes of America by Howard T. Walden, published by Harper and Row, 1964.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap16.htm

http://fwp.mt.gov/fieldguide/detail_AFCHA02090.aspx

I recently purchased a high tech fishing vest that may be the organizational design that I have needed for over forty years of fly fishing. Designed by Les Zuck, a Montana native and ardent fly fisher, his Tech Vest accommodates all the gear you commonly need in a highly engineered compact vest. I especially like the rod holder and the custom designed tool box in the center with four retractors for tools such as nipper and clamps.

I hope you will visit the Tech Vest site. You will note that on all three of my web sites I do not have product sponsors, and all the products that I endorse I paid cash for the product and enthusiastically endorse. I have been waiting for a cloth vest to wear out for over fifteen years, but I couldn’t wait more years – I bought the Tech Vest. Check out all the well thought out features.

www.techvest.biz

Tip from The Fly Shop / Redding, California

One successful technique to employ during October is a strike indicator, lead split-shot, a single egg pattern and one or two nymphs. A smaller version of this set-up can be successfully used in the smaller waters of the Sierra and Cascade Mountains.

GlaciertoYellowstone.com presents Montana fly fishing at its best. Beginning with the glacial waters of the Flathead River in Northwest Montana to the mighty Clark Fork River in Western Montana to the famous Yellowstone River in Southwest Montana, glaciertoyellowstone.com covers the principal rivers, streams and creeks which have contributed to Montana fly fishing preeminence. In addition to Montana fly fishing suggestions for the two national parks, this well balanced site covers fly fishing techniques and fly fishing tips from regional fishing guides, outfitters and shop owners. Visitors planning a vacation to this trout Mecca will find listings for services and accommodations for each of the five areas. The author of this site, David Archer, was a Montana fly fishing guide for over 15 years. As you read through the site, he will offer recommendations on where to vacation, how to plan a trip, and the right fly fishing gear to bring. Welcome to Montana fly fishing where more than one "river runs through it." www.glaciertoyellowstone.com.

For those of you closer to the Eastern Sierra Mountains and Highway 395, I am presently working on a new travel guide to Highway 395 in California and Highway 97 in Oregon.

Montana Fly Fishing & Camping Guide by David Archer

The material for this site is copyrighted in the book, Montana Fishing and Camping Guide. The fly fishing book covers everything between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Most of the book is reprinted on www.glaciertoytellowstone.com to help you plan a fly fishing trip to Montana. The 228 page book is rich in details to help you locate and fish some of the lesser known gems. The book also provides specific advice on how and where to fly fish the famous rivers that stretch out from the Kootenai River to the pristine waters of the Yellowstone. Camping information on federal, state and private campgrounds is provided. River access points for floaters and wade fishermen correspond to the Montana mileage markers spaced along each of Montana’s highways and secondary roads. Replete with photographs and maps, the book is a valuable resource for the traveler wishing to experience a Montana Sampler of some of the best fly fishing opportunities in North America.

Fly Patterns and Presentation

I always drop by a fly shop if I am away from my home waters. The price of bugs is generally the same, but the information is invaluable. Shop owners frequently buy regional and specialty flies from their guides. The fly patterns listed below will serve you well in your travels along Highway 395 in California or along Highway 97 in Oregon.

Keep in mind that each day shop outfitters send out their guides with the simple goal of getting their clients into fish, and everyday information is traded back and forth on what works, where it works and when it works. Shop owners and clerks readily pass on this information to first-time customers for half a dozen flies or less! Naturally, every shop has their killer flies that they use to expand the sale, but I don't believe that I have ever been duped. Fly shops have short seasons. In order to survive, they depend on customer loyalty, which in turn depends on their credibility. Regarding published hatch charts, take them with a grain of salt. Although I personally admire the dedication and perseverance that it takes to compile a hatch chart, the vagaries of Mother Nature generally render them in the category of "You should have been here last week." The best source of information will be from the local fly shops. Regardless of where you buy your flies, stay out of the bargain basement. Not all flies are tied equally.

For years I would shake my head in puzzlement when a client would open up his fly box and pull out a cheap and poorly tied fly. Rather than upset a client's out-of-state purchasing acumen for Montana trout flies, I would just resort to some swaps if I knew I was dealing with a tightfisted bargain hunter. Look for stiff neck hackles that will keep the fly high and dry. The next simple test is to look at the body to see if it is slender and proportionate. Finally, a good dry fly should have a three-point landing. When the fly is resting in the palm of your hand, the hackle and the tail should be aligned so that the bottom of the hook is barely resting on your palm. If the tail is too short, the fly will not land as well, nor will it offer the same profile to trout.

It is the fly that triggers the strike. The one topic guaranteed to generate instant conversation among fly anglers is the mention of fly patterns. No other facet of fly fishing evokes so much enthusiasm and reverence. Through the years many surveys have asked prominent fly fishers to share their favorite fly patterns. Lefty Kreh, in an article in Field and Stream, published February 1972, polled 12 expert fly fishers. The following list of dry flies, nymph flies and streamer flies represents a composite of the most frequently used flies for each category among these 12 experts.

* Dry Flies: Light Cahill, Adams, Royal Wulff, Irresistible, Quill Gordon, Humpy
* Nymphs: Trueblood Otter Shrimp, Quill Gordon, Ed Burk, Yellow Stone Fly, Muskrat, Woolly Worm
* Streamers: Black Nose Dace, Spruce Fly, Muddler Minnow, Gray Ghost, Black Marabou, White Marabou

Dan Abrams, in a similar type survey published in Sports Afield, October 1975, polled 30 notable fly fishers regarding their top four fly patterns. Seven of the 30 were prominent Rocky Mountain fly fishers. A generalized list of the most popular patterns produced the following: Adams, Royal Wulff, Humpy, Muddler Minnow and Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear Nymph. Add the Woolly Bugger and a Light Cahill in varying sizes and I would be content for quite some time. Well, of course, I would need to add a hopper pattern and a PMD and maybe a....

One of the great joys of fly fishing is sharing what works. If you are a beginner and meet a friendly fly fisher, pull out your fly box and ask, "Which one should I use?" I fondly recall many occasions when someone took me under their guidance and shared their secret fly for the day. Through the years my own collection of fly patterns grew in direct proportion to my fly fishing budget. Like most of the fly fishers I know, I can never have enough patterns. I have a number of match-the-hatch patterns for those special days, and I have my reliable stand-by attractor patterns and generic patterns that I started out with 40 years ago.

I have prioritized the following recommendations for the young beginner who has an empty fly box and a thin wallet. If you would like to begin tying your own flies, I highly recommend Jack Dennis's manual, Western Trout Fly Tying Manual. For a more in-depth approach to matching hatches, I recommend The Complete Book of Western Hatches by Rick Hafele and Dave Hughs.

For those of you who are new to the sport of fly fishing and have never fly fished in the Sierras or Cascades, I offer 20 patterns that will cover about 90% of the fishing from Glacier to Yellowstone. Be observant of what the trout are feeding on and use a small aquarium net to scoop up the bugs and look at them closely. Purchase a fly box with a foam backing and sort your dry mayfly patterns by color and size. For example, I start out with light, cream-colored Cahills and pro-gressively move across in increasingly darker shades to pale yellow, bright yellow, yellow-green, green, olive green and into the green-browns and finally mahogany and rust colors. I set up a separate row of gray and tan mayfly patterns. Personally, I am less concerned with Latin identification as I am with finding the right sized imitation in as close to the natural color as possible. Organizing my fly box in this manner helps me to locate a pattern quickly. It also reminds me what colors I am missing or what sizes I am missing. The following 20 patterns are the ones that "I never leave home without."
Dry Fly Patterns

Royal Wulff: Sizes 10-16

The Royal Wulff is the definitive attractor pattern. Created by the famed Lee Wulff, it imitates nothing, and yet it of-fers to the trout an equivalent of an exquisite Julia Child masterpiece. Derisively called the "Dude Fly" because of its white calf-tail wing, this extravaganza brings the fish up! Best of all, it is a fly the caster never fails to see. To digress for the beginner, keep in mind that you have to set the hook, as the trout will spit the fly out on its dive back into the water. Most beginners miss the take because by the time they react, the fish is safely on its way. Wear Polaroid sunglasses so that you can begin to train your eyes for underwater movement. Early detection allows you to react more quickly.
Presentation: Classic, upstream dead drift.

Humpy (Goofus Bug): Sizes 10-16

The Humpy's origin, according to Jack Dennis, is shrouded in controversy. Whether the fly originated in Jackson, Wyoming, or elsewhere is really unimportant. What is important to the beginner is that this fly works, and it is an indispensable pattern to have in your fly box. Although it is an attractor pattern, it may imitate a large caddis or stonefly in larger sizes. The fly is ideal for fast-flowing waters because of its inherent buoyancy. The Royal Humpy is especially easy to track in fast water. When sparsely tied, the Humpy works amazingly well on slow waters and can be used to imitate a Little Yellow Stonefly. The great advantage of this fly for the beginner is that it is almost unsinkable, and it offers great visibility in fast water for both the fisherman and the trout. It is, however, a most challenging pattern to tie. The best directions for tying this pattern may be found in The Second Fly-Tyers Almanac by Robert H. Boyle and Dave Whitlock.

Presentation: Classic, upstream dead drift. However, since this pattern closely resembles a caddis fly and floats so well, try drifting the fly downstream under willows or overhanging branches. As the fly drifts to the targeted area, lift the rod tip up to create an erratic skipping motion on top of the water, and then lower the rod tip quickly to allow the fly to drift once again on top of the water. Await the strike!

Renegade

It would appear that the Renegade attractor pattern has faded in popularity over the last 20 years, but it is a great fly for late evening fishing, as the white hackle in the front helps to see the fly on darkened waters. The second advantage is that the dual hackle design keeps the fly afloat when it is difficult to see after sundown. If you are new to the sport of fly fishing, be sure you have a good supply and a range of sizes for the Royal Wulff, the Humpy, the Renegade, the Adams and the Elk Hair Caddis.

Adams/Parachute Adams: Sizes 12-22

The ubiquitous Adams is probably the most widely used dry fly pattern on the North American continent. It imitates any number of gray mayflies. I highly recommend acquiring as many Adams in various sizes as possible. Because of the difficult visibility with this pattern, I have switched over exclusively to Parachute Adams for sizes 16-22. Although this is a generic type pattern, a size 20 Parachute Adams performs quite well during a Trico or Baetis hatch on slow moving water with a nine-foot leader and 6X tippet.

Trico

Blue-Wing Olive (Baetis)

The Trico spinner imitation has a small black body with divided white poly wings in the spinner position. During the heat of summer, get out on a Rocky Mountain river between 7 and 9 am (varies) for the Tricorithodes or Trico hatch followed by the spinner fall.
Although one of the smallest of mayfly species, nonetheless, this is a staple for feeding trout primarily because of the preponderant numbers during the spinner fall. Generally found in slower waters, the trout settle into a sipping, rhythmic rise form. Do not be deceived by the small rings and the dark noses - big fish! Fish in the morning during those dog days of August. I'm sure you will be delighted with the experience regardless of how many fish break off and get away. Because I have trouble seeing a small Trico, I often add on a small Trico as a trailer behind a small Parachute Adams.

Presentation: Classic, upstream dead drift.

Gray Drakes (Heptagenia and Siphlonurus) typically hatch throughout the summer starting in early June. Sizes 10-18.

Tricorythodes typically hatch late in the summer, usu-ally at the beginning of August. Sizes 20-26.

Light Cahill or PMD: Sizes 12-18

Cahill

Pale-Morning Dun

A light cream color Heptagenia mayfly imitation is another must have pattern. The Light Cahill pattern may also be used on slower waters and lakes to imitate Callibaetis. The Callibaetis dun body is olive-brown, however, so you may want to darken a few of your Light Cahills with a magic marker.

The Light Cahill can be used to imitate Ephemerella or Heptagenia mayflies, but be sure to closely inspect the size and color of the insect, and then match it with your color coded fly selection.

PMD - Pale Morning Dun

Pale Morning Duns are probably the most prolific and reliable hatch from Glacier to Yellowstone. These Ephemerella drake patterns should be part of your must-have patterns in sizes 16-22. PMDs hatch from June through October. Lighter in color from their cousins the Green Drakes, their bodies range from olive green to pale yellow and tan. The wings are generally slate gray to yellow. PMD cripples should be part of your collection.

Zug Bug

Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear

Nymph patterns such as the Zug Bug, Gray Nymph and the Hare's Ear generally work well. The darker green patterns will work well during a Baetis hatch as well.

The famous Green Drake hatches (Ephemerella grandis) are typically from mid-June through mid-July. If you are in an area with a Green Drake hatch, be sure to stock up on a number of these drake patterns at the nearest fly shop. The hatch is generally not heavy, but if they are out, the trout are looking for them. Reports from guides returning to the shop will determine if you should buy traditional drake patterns or Compara Duns or Green Para-drakes. All of the above patterns range in color from pale yellow to green to olive brown. Stock up.

Elk Hair Caddis: Sizes 10-18

Unlike the graceful rise and gliding fall of the mayfly, a cad-dis hatch looks like a burst of kindergartners swarming over a playground. An accompanying soundtrack for a mayfly would be a Viennese waltz. Conversely, the caddis dance would be a rap soundtrack by Snoop Dogg. Generally, the caddis will hatch in the evening. The most popular body colors are brown, olive, green, gray and tan.

Caddis flies are not easily missed, and in the pupa and winged stages they are an important part of the trout's diet. Look for them in the quiet pocket water under willow branches or overhangs, especially in the evening. You may also want to select a few patterns for the emergent phase such as a sparkle pupa. For larger caddis imitations use a Humpy or an X-Caddis. Use a Goddard Caddis for fast, heavy water.

One of the guides I worked with collected the caddis cases and tied them on a Mustad hook with a peacock thorax. He fished them on a dead drift, and I was impressed! Beginning with the Grannom Caddis hatch in May, caddis emerge throughout the summer and fall. The most consistently popular pattern is the Elk Hair Caddis.

Presentation: Classic, upstream dead drift or erratic ac-tion produced by rod tip action.

Blue-Wing Olive: Sizes 16-22

The Baetis (Blue-Wing Olive) is an important pattern in Montana, as Baetis hatch from May through October. They are generally smaller than a PMD. The body color for a Baetis pattern is olive brown with gray wings and light gray hackle. It is not uncommon for trout to be sipping the smaller Baetis during a hatch of PMDs.

Salmon Fly / Stimulator

Montana's favorite hatch calls for big bugs that hold up under heavy water conditions. They need to stay high and dry. The Salmon Fly pattern is constantly being reinvented and im-proved. During a Salmon Fly hatch, local shops have these flies displayed in tubs and buckets. The Salmon Fly hatch generally emerges late May and is essentially over by mid July. Water temperatures need to be in the low 50s.

Stimulator

The Stimulator represents a pattern for stone-flies in orange and yellow. When the trout quit hitting the big Salmon Fly patterns, they tend to strike at smaller stimulators long after the Salmon Fly hatch is over. The Stimulator is best used during a Golden Stonefly hatch.

Streamers and Wet Flies

Muddler Minnow: Sizes 4-8

Popularized by Dan Bailey of Livingston, Montana, the Muddler Minnow should always be in your fly box. I have met fly fishers who fish al-most exclusively with Muddler Minnow patterns. Along with its offshoot, the Marabou Muddler, this pattern has probably taken more large fish than any other fly. The Muddler may also be greased up and used as an effective hopper pattern, and I have used it both dry and wet on the same cast with interesting results.

Presentation: Fish the Muddler slightly upstream or down-stream in a quartering action. Retrieve the Muddler by simultaneously pumping the rod tip and stripping in the line in quick, little jerks which imitates the darting action of a sculpin minnow. Allow for pauses, and add weight if necessary.

Woolly Bugger: Sizes 4-8

This pattern is a must for late spring and early summer when the water is high and off-color and the hatches are sporadic. If you are fishing from shore, make short casts around all the rocks and boulders. Be sure the fly is actually sinking to the bottom. Add lead to your leader if necessary. Use a short 2X or 3X leader. Make short casts and keep the rod tip high so that you keep the Bugger bouncing along the bottom. Lift the rod tip when you feel a bump. Do not assume it is just a rock. If it is, lower the rod tip and let the bugger sink again.

Yuk Bug and Girdle Bug: Sizes 6-12

I love this bug! I have caught so many beautiful fish during early summer when the water is still high but clear. I float along until I find a logjam or flooded backwater eddy. I usually select a size 10 Yuk Bug. The Yuk Bug has a dark body wrapped with grizzly hackle. Protruding from the body are white rubber legs. I find I generally have to cut back on the length of the rubber legs. I want them to pulse, and I want them to flare at the sides rather than collapsing backwards. I do not use weight. I fish it like a dry fly, allowing it to gradually sink. Most important, I cast from a kneeling position. I am always amazed at how adept large trout are at hiding. As the Yuk Bug sinks into quiet water, the trout will slowly emerge from its hiding spot. I have had large trout appear from under a small tree trunk in shallow water. They never rush to the Yuk. They take their time. It also works well in creeks and small streams. I love this bug!

Nymphs: Hare's Ear Nymph: Sizes 12-16

In my opinion, this is the best of the small nymph patterns for spring creeks, beaver ponds and slow, flat stretches of river. When I fish high-elevation lakes, I always bring along the Hare's Ear Nymph and a Zug Bug in smaller sizes. They work wonders. If you have someone along who is not an accomplished fly caster, use a plastic water-filled bubble with as long of a leader as possible. Attach a Hare's Ear or Zug Bug and cast out as far as possible and retrieve with a spinning reel. If the fish are rising to the surface, be sure to cast way over them, as the splashdown from the water-filled bubble will spook the fish in the near vicinity.

Bead-head Prince Nymph

This is perhaps the most popular nymph in the region! If you don't have any, head to the nearest fly shop. They work great as a dropper off a hopper pattern during the heat of August.

Pheasant Tail

The Pheasant Tail Nymph is an excellent soft hackle nymph for slow water. The key to this fly is a slender silhouette and a sparely-tied hackle.

Terrestrials
Hopper (Joe's, Dave's, Jay's, Dan's): Sizes 6-12

As you can see from the partial list of Hopper contributors, grasshopper imitations are recorded in the "Who's Who of Terrestrials". Rarely, however, will you find such citations on the bins in a fly shop. For beginners I recommend a clipped deer-hair collar. This feature adds stability and superior floatation. Although the grasshopper is meant to have a low silhouette, without the deer hair the buoyancy is drastically reduced and the caster generally struggles with a sinking pattern.

Presentation: The best source of information on hoppers can be found in the September 1985 issue of Fly Fisherman. In this issue Dave Whitlock, in his article "Hoppertunity", discusses hopper behavior, pattern characteristics and Hoppertunity Techniques. Here are a few of his suggestions: Being a terrestrial insect, the grasshopper is on unfamiliar "ground" when he gets blown on the water. No gentle landings here. Make a splash with your hopper. Strip the hopper in with intermittent twitches from rod-tip action. Use a heavy tippet, and use a twist piece of lead to sink the hopper in those promising pools. Cast close to undercut banks and overhangs where trout hide during low water periods. Fish during the heat of the day. Carefully pick your targeted area. Although a smashing hopper on top of the water will trigger a strike, it also quite often spooks fish in the outlying area. Keep moving and practice stealth.

Beetle Patterns

The deer hair patterns dyed black work wonders. Rick Hafele and Dave Hughes in their outstanding book, The Complete Book of Western Hatches, point out that the Woolly Worm is also a good pattern to imitate a water beetle in still or slow moving water.

Ant

Although ant patterns are difficult to see in small sizes, ants are a staple diet for trout during the summer.

Bead-Head San Juan Worm

I have always had a certain amount of disdain for the San Juan Worm, but I have a growing appreciation for this pattern during the spring and again late in the fall. I favor the bead-head version with the bead in the center.

Well, there you have it - the 20 patterns that I would never leave home without!

Casting

Brook Trout

A tennis player has to smash a tennis ball in mid air while stretching over a boundary line. The trajectory of the ball must be placed in a small rectangular area on the opponent’s side. A baseball batter has to assess the velocity, angle and drop of a ball fired sixty feet away at speeds upwards to ninety miles an hour. But for starters, all a beginning caster has to accomplish is to lift a fly line over his head and cast a fly twenty feet away with a somewhat soft landing. Like any skill one wants to become proficient in, there are rarely any short cuts. I would recommend viewing the 3M videotape, Beginning Fly Casting, with Doug Swisher. I also recommend a two week casting program on your lawn, which I will outline later in this unit, and finally I recommend reading Fly Fishing Strategy by Doug Swisher and Carl Richards.

The activities in this unit should not be skipped, as they will provide the learner with a visual framework as well as a mental conception of the basics of fly casting. Throughout this unit on casting instruction, the learner should demonstrate, in a freeze-stop action, all the basic principles of casting before, during and at the conclusion of each casting lesson.

Goal of the Basic Straight Line Cast

The goal of the basic straight line cast is to deliver a fly to a predetermined target with a gentle landing such as a real insect would do. Follow these three simple rules for dry fly fishing: 1. keep the fly high and dry, 2. cast in such a manner as to avoid line drag, which drags the fly at an unnatural speed, and 3. present your fly with a soft landing.

Once you learn the basic cast, you will be catching fish and ready for more efficient casting techniques. Almost everyone can learn to become a proficient caster for short distances. And speaking of distance, having fly fished for over forty years and guided for fifteen, I contend that ninety percent of the fly fishers catch ninety percent of their fish on casts less than thirty feet. Accuracy and presentation are far more important than how far you can cast a line. What follows is a discussion of the principles of casting.

The first step in understanding the basics of the straight line cast is to understand the power arc and loop control. With this knowledge, proficiency will be a matter of fine tuning. Too often, however, adult males fall victim to the mistaken belief that random trial and error will eventually pay off. Often the male ego takes over and the beginning male caster convinces himself that with more muscle power he can compensate for his lack of finesse. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let the rod do the work!

The Hand Grip

It is the preferred grip for the beginner and advanced caster. Regarding the old bug-a-boo about use of the wrist, many of the experts stress the use of this hand grip and then cocking the wrist a split second before you reach the stopping point at one-o-clock. I have no quarrel with the experts; I have just never seen a beginner who could accomplish this feat. I recommend not using ANY wrist action initially until you experience what the rod is capable of producing through forearm movement only. From my experience, most beginners fail to stop on the invisible 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock mark primarily from use of the wrist. Learn the forearm movements and stop points before incorporating use of the wrist. If the rod is pointed back too far through over use of the wrist, the forward cast will be fraught with problems. During each casting lesson, look up and locate the 1 and 11 o'clock stop points.

A beginning caster can cast thirty feet with a rigid forearm cast; however, once you understand and can feel the dynamics of rod flex and loop control, the split-second wrist action to complete the stop points is essential in casting longer distances. Try both techniques to experience what is most comfortable, but do remember to stop where you are supposed to stop which is ________ o'clock on the back cast and _______ o'clock on the forward cast. Note: As you become a better caster, you will successfully break these somewhat rigid rules, especially in regard to the use of the wrist. Overuse of the wrist is the most common error of beginning casters. One of the best resources for learning to cast is in a local fly fishing club. Members are always enthusiastic at helping new members. Many clubs even have scheduled casting clinics. You may also attend a class sponsored by numerous organizations.

The Pickup

The starting point for any cast is with the pick up of your line as you move into your back cast position. Straight lines provide instant tension to the rod which "loads" up the rod similar to a pole vaulter. The more slack you have in your line, the more you are going to have to bring your rod back behind you. When you bring your rod back too far in the back cast behind you, your line will be directed downwards to the water or shoreline. In as much as possible, you are attempting to keep the line traveling in a straight line. If you miss your stop point or pause to long, your line collapses. The consequence for this is snagging bushes, popping your fly off or dumping your line in front of you, similar to plopping a pile of spaghetti in a bird bath.

Keep in mind that gravity, angle of the rod tip and line speed determine what type of forward cast you will make. Always begin your cast with a straight line pick up from the water. If need be, pull in those loose coils and false cast until you have regained your desired length of cast.

Loop Control

The perfect loop is said to be tight, as the loop will be parallel with the top portion and the bottom portion of the loop. Such a loop can only be achieved by almost instantaneous stops at the two stop points in the power arc. This is followed by a pause as the line or loop extends. Just as the loop is about to extend into a straight line, the caster powers the line in the opposite direction. An open loop is created when the rod extends, in either direction, beyond the stop points which are _______ o'clock on the back cast and ______ o'clock on the forward cast. An open loop is wind resistant and results in a loss of energy. A tailing loop is when the loop is so open the fly at the end of the loop collapses and during the forward cast a knot is created somewhere in the leader. We sarcastically refer to these knots as "wind" knots. Keep in mind that a "wind" knot reduces the strength 50%.

False Cast

The false cast is a cast which repeats the procedure of casting the fly line backwards and forwards until the caster has accomplished one of the three following goals: 1. false casting to dry the fly off, 2. letting out line to increase the distance of the cast, and 3. false casting to change or shift to a new target area or to gauge the distance to your targeted area. Speaking of targets, always cast to a very specific spot. Eye and hand coordination and distance computation trains the brain.

Unlike a spinning rod and reel where the weight of the lure pulls out the monofilament line, in fly fishing the weight of the line is catapulted forwards or backwards through the bending and flexing of the rod. Think of pole vaulters of the modern era. It wasn't until the advent of the fiberglass pole that the 12 foot mark was surpassed. In the days of the rigid pole, the vaulter relied almost exclusively on speed and upper body strength. However, with the introduction of the fiberglass pole, vaulters could capitalize on the bend and flexing motion of the pole. In effect, the weight of the vaulter bending the pole backwards loaded up the pole for the forward thrust. This is similar to the weight of a fly line as it loads up the rod for the transfer of energy.

Review:

1. Demonstrate the hand grip.
2. Define a false cast.
3. Provide three reasons for using a false cast
4. Demonstrate the best starting position for a pick up.
5. Why is it important to pick up a straight line rather than loose coils?
6. Demonstrate the stopping position for the back cast and the forward cast.
7. Draw a picture of a tight loop, and then briefly explain why the tight loop is every caster's goal.

Activity 1: Rod Flex

With your partner, go out to a clear casting spot on a lawn. Pull out twenty feet of line behind you. The beginning caster should hold the rod with one or two hands in the 1 o'clock position, allowing the partner to pull back the line until the rod bends in a good bow. The partner should then release the line. Note how far the line traveled forward just on the stored energy in the rod. Next, the partner should yell "go" just as he releases the line. The caster should now follow forward with the rod. What was the result? From this activity you should get the feel for what the rod will do on its own when it is "loaded up" and ready to fire!

Activity 2: Pick Up

Extend about thirty feet of line out in front of you in loose, serpentine coils. Position the rod at the ten o'clock position. Quickly pull the rod backwards to the 1 o'clock position and allow the line to fall behind you. Describe the results. Now, extend the thirty feet of line out in front of you on the grass in a straight line. Position the rod so that the tip of the rod is almost toughing the ground. Quickly pull the rod backwards to the 1 o'clock position and stop on a dime! Allow the line to fall behind you. What were the results? How was this different from your first attempt?

Note: In order to be successful, you must stop at the stop points without shaking the rod or stopping momentarily and then continuing past the stop point. Just as no means no, stop means STOP!

Activity 3: False Cast

Pull out about twenty feet of line, and tie a small piece of bright yarn to the tippet. Or tie on a bright fly, but be sure to cut off the hook portion. Stand sideways and practice the false cast. Just as the loop is about to unfold behind you, push the rod to the forward stop position and vice-versa. Your goal will be to form a fairly tight loop. This can only be accomplished through brisk speed up and stop action of the rod. Remember, the more line you have out, the longer you will pause as you wait for the loop to uncurl. I would suggest four or five false casts at a time, and then start over. If you are learning on your own, invite someone to critique your cast. Explain the stop points and the goal of a tight loop.

Casting Lesson #1

Photo needed

Now that you have experimented with developing a tight loop with a false cast, you are ready for the basic straight line cast. For this lesson you will need a level stretch of lawn with no obstacles to impede your casts. You will need two old plates. Find a starting point and place the two plates at a distance of twenty feet and thirty feet. Use a seven and a half foot leader with a 2X or 3X tippet. Tie on a #8 or #10 white wing fly. Be sure to remove the hook.

After you have practiced this lesson a few times, record your daily results on a Record Sheet. Practice twenty minutes every day for ten days and note your progress. Your goal is to be able to place your fly, in a straight line, within 12 inches of your target. Follow these directions:

1. Your first target will be the 20 foot target. This is a short cast which you will often duplicate on small streams or creeks. (Keep in mind that when fishing a small creek, you should wade right up the middle of the creek and make short casts right in front of you. In this situation, you don't even have to let the fly line drag on the water. ) Lay your rod down behind your border line. Pull out enough line so that the fly lies in the center of the plate. Return to the casting point and make a pick up and deliver cast to the center of the plate. Make no false casts. Make five casts and record the point value for each of the five casts.
1. Touching the plate = 200 points
2. Within 12 inches = 150 points
3. 12 inches to 2 feet = 100 points
4. 2 feet to 3 feet = 50 points
5. Beyond 3 feet = 0 points
2. Your second target will be the thirty foot target. Start out this cast with the fly lying somewhere between the two targets (plates). Holding your rod in the pick up position, lift your line up and false cast until you have the correct range. The fewer the false casts the better, as with each false cast you increase the odds of missing a stopping point. Drop your fly on the target. Make five casts and record the point value for each of the five casts. Remember, each of these five casts must include a false cast. Now, add up the point values for all ten casts and divide by ten.

95 - 100 = Expert -- Future tournament caster

80 - 94 = Hot Shot! Hurry up and get ready for the real thing -- you're ready!

70 - 79 = Good Sport -- You are a caster who may later proclaim, " It isn't how many fish you catch that counts, but how many casts you can make in day!"

50 - 69 = Back Cast Muffer -- Oops! More practice ahead!

Casting Lesson #2

Photo

Now you are ready for casting on water. Practice casts with gentle landings. Vary your casting distances with false casts. Start each lesson with a review. Your goal should be an accurate twenty to thirty foot cast. Parents, a child's goal should be learning to master a very short cast on a creek with good line control.

Casting Lesson #3: The Roll Cast:

Photo

In addition to the basic straight line cast, mastery of the roll cast is essential if you want to step on to the playing field against rocks, grass, logs, bushes and trees. Mother Nature impishly plays her tricks on the fly fisher. I imagine her whispering to the choke cherry, "Look, he even turned around to check his distance. Catch his fly on the next cast. Elderberry, be ready. A brown's feeding, and you can tell he's excited. You might be the one. Get ready...grab it." I swear I hear whispering chuckles in the underbrush when I snag a tree top.

So, how do you counter this backdrop of snagging opportunists who gleefully wait to steal our flies? The answer is a roll cast. And speaking of having your fly caught in a branch, here is a technique for retrieving the fly providing you can reach the fly with the end of your rod tip. Push the rod tip up to enclose the fly and shake.

When you are on a Sierra stream or brushy creek, and you have trees or brush or a steep bank behind you, roll out your fly in front of you. Pull in any excess line. Lift the rod, in a steady pull, up to the 1 o'clock position. At this point the line should start to lift out of the water directly in front of you and form a sagging curve beneath your arm pit. The line on the water should be straight as you pull it towards you. As your casting hand passes your head, speed up the ascent of the rod until your whole arm is extended upwards with the rod still maintaining the 1 o'clock stop position. (Do not pull all of the line out of the water as the surface tension of the water on the line creates the smooth turn over of the loop.)

When your arm is raised high, drive your forearm downwards and slightly forward using a little wrist action. Stop at the 9 o'clock position. This forward thrust creates a rolling loop which will completely turn over the line and fly. Longer rods make this cast easier as does a double-tapered fly line. Start out with short roll casts.

Casting Lesson 4: Mending the Line

Earlier I espoused three dogmatic principles of dry fly fishing. Do you remember them? Just as you recalled, the three basic principles of dry fly fishing are 1. Make an accurate cast with a gentle landing, 2. Keep your fly high and dry, and 3. Keeps your fly floating at the natural speed of the water.

Photo: flyonwater

Keeping your fly floating at the natural current speed provides opportunities to catch fish. If you have line drag, you will not catch fish. You may violate rule one and drown a dry fly and catch the occasional small fish. I am sure on the bell shape curve of fish intelligence, a few dumb fish are out there. I know that occasionally you can even smash down a tiny fly on a smooth surface of water and catch a fish. Nonetheless, it is a rare occasion when a trout will rise to inspect a fly traveling faster than the speed of the water.

Trout are creatures of their environment. Like all creatures, they must take in enough food to meet their daily needs as well as to build up fat reserves for the winter months. Survival is measured in calorie intake measured against energy expended. Trout hold in feeding lies and await the food to reach them. Only under slow water conditions will a trout roam the waters in search of food.

A trout is not going to expend more energy that what the food source will provide. Reaching the trout with an accurate presentation is imperative. Having been a guide many years, I am still reluctant to tell a client the truth when he says in exasperation, "I can't understand it. I'm casting right to them!" Missing a feeding lane by a foot is missing a hook-up by a mile.

No matter how difficult it is to catch them at times, trout are simple creatures. They are conditioned by their environment as to what they will eat and when they will eat. If they are selectively feeding on one hatch, they will rarely take anything else until the hatch has waned. Having said that, it is also true that they are often opportunistic and take a #12 Royal Wulff right in the middle of a trico hatch. To use the vernacular of my high school students, "Go figure!" Frequently, however, they do develop a selective feeding rhythm.

Picture the trout in a feeding lie looking up to the surface at his window of feeding opportunity. More than likely the position he holds is one which affords little expenditure of energy. Keying into a particular hatch, he slowly rises and slurps a floating dun or a struggling caddis fly. The current carries him backwards and he gently fins downwards to his previous position. Over and over he repeats this pattern. Suddenly, an unparalleled event takes place. A bug, for that he is sure of, speeds across his field of vision leaving a rooster tail wake. Shocked, the trout broods over the anomaly, becomes sullen and looses his appetite.

Mending the Line

Photo: mendingtheline

Exaggeration aside, an artificial which speeds faster than a natural floating insect will rarely trigger a reflex action from the trout. A fly will speed up when the faster current drags the mid section of the fly line downstream. This causes the artificial fly, which has just landed in slower water, to accelerate down stream. When this happens, the faster current pulls the line into an outline of a belly. The trick is to flip this "belly" upstream so that it delays interfering with the natural drift of your fly. Although an experienced fly caster can counter this condition with a specialized cast, the beginner can mend the line as soon as the line lands on the water.

To mend your line, pull in any slack line. Lower the rod to the point where you are almost touching the water with the tip of your rod. Flip up the belly of the line using a 3/4 circle motion with your wrist. The surface tension of the water on your line and leader generally keeps the fly from moving to any degree. Remember, when you provide a drag free float, you are fishing. When you are "fishing" with line drag, you are only traumatizing fish by altering the metaphysical laws of their universe.

(For fly fishing from a drifting boat, read …)

Slack Line Cast

Photo: slacklinecast

The slack line cast or S curve cast or snake cast is an effective cast when you are casting to a target downstream. In order to keep your fly from running out of line and being dragged under the water, use the slack line cast which leaves a serpentine or S curve effect on your line. This loose line then allows the fly to float naturally downstream to the targeted area before the line straightens out and drags the fly under the water. To accomplish the S curves in your line, abruptly stop your forward cast at 11 o'clock. Having already left some excess line dangling by your side, vigorously shake your rod side to side as you shoot out the slack line. Lower the rod tip to 9 o'clock.

Reach Cast

Photo: reachcast

After you have learned to mend your line, use the reach cast to essentially mend the line in the air. Picture yourself in the middle of a stream looking at a feeding fish up close to the bank where the water is very slow. The water is flowing from the left to the right of you. If you cast slightly upstream from this fish, the faster water in front of you will immediately begin to drag your fly too fast. The fly drops on target, speeds up, and the trout is spooked. The next time you will know that you have to flip the belly of the line upstream. In this manner the fly has a chance to float naturally over the targeted spot.

The reach cast changes the direction of the mid section of the fly line without altering the position of the landing fly relative to your target. To accomplish this nifty trick, you must cant your rod as little as possible during the forward cast. Stop the forward thrust at 11 o'clock. Rather than lower the rod to 9 o'clock, shift the upright rod across your chest in an upstream motion with a little wrist action. It sounds more difficult than it is. I did, however, give up on my attempts to illustrate this motion. The bulk of the line will land with the belly slightly upstream and to the left if you are a right handed caster facing the opposite bank. This maneuver will provide three or four seconds of extra drag-free drift.

Go to Step 5: Basic Fly Patterns and Presentation

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