A static retrieve where you let the wind do the work tends to be best, but a slow figure of eight and the odd long slow pull to make the nymphs move up through the water and then drop back down also works wonders.
The squirmy wormy isn't a fly you'll find in the fly box of the purist fly fisher, but it's really effective all year round and is gaining a big following with grayling fishers as well as those who target trout. The squirmy wormy is invariably fished beneath a strike indicator or bung, however, you can also fish it as a lure which lets you cover deeper water. The most effective method is to fish it feet below an indicator. See our guide on how to fish the squirmy wormy for extra pointers. Cast it out, let it drift around in the wind and give it the odd tug to make it move, then wait for the indicator the slip away The F fly is a generic dry fly pattern designed to imitate a wide range of small hatching insects, from buzzers to upwings.
Generic fly patterns like this are a great choice because they're so versatile. The F fly is generally fished in the warmer months when the trout are feeding higher up and when natural insect hatches are occuring. It's less common for trout to feed off the top in the winter months. The F fly is usually fished on its own on a long leader of 12 feet or more. Simply cast it out towards a rising fish and wait for it to be smashed off the top. If you don't get a rise within 10 seconds, re-cast gently to a different spot and see if a fish comes up.
Learn how to tie the F fly. No retrieve is needed, but you can give the F fly a little pull. This makes it bob under the water and pop back up and the movement can attract nearby trout. The Klinkhamer is another generic fly pattern designed to imitate an emerging insect breaking through the surface tension. The Klinkhamer is a great pattern to use during the spring and summer months when buzzers and other insects are hatching. The Klinkhamer is usually fished on its own on a long leader, but can also be used to fish "the duo" or New Zealand style method, in which a nymph is attached to a short length of line and tied to the bend of the hook.
It's also good for the washing line method if you're using light weight buzzers. Learn how to tie the Klinkhamer. No retrieve is needed with the Klinkhamer. Just cast it out, pull the line straight so you don't have any slack and wait for the fish to come up.
If you don't get a rise within 10 seconds, re-cast somewhere else. This pattern, as the name suggests, imitates the daddy long legs or cranefly. This is a terrestrial insect which lives in long grass and often hatches in large numbers in the summer months. Use these whenever craneflies are hatching. As these are quite large and meaty flies and are often present in large numbers, the trout get really switched-on to eating them, so they can be deadly when daddies are around.
The daddy long legs works both on the top and underwater. To make it float better you'll want to rub some floatant, such as Gherke's Gink, onto the body to keep it on the surface. However, these heavy insects often sink and trout will find plenty of them below the surface too.
Fly Fishing for Trout - The Three Main Types of Flies
Static is fine, but the odd little pull helps imitate a daddy long legs struggling to escape from the water. Matt is a former fish biologist and magazine editor. He's a fly fishing addict and fishes at least once a week on both stillwaters and rivers. Fly and Lure provides the details on over fly fishing waters, fly fishing clubs, fly fishing instructors, guides and fly shops across the UK. As well as fly fishing gear reviews, fly fishing tips and advice to get you started or help you improve your catch rate.
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Menu Latest articles Fly fishing Fly fishing gear reviews Fly fishing destinations Fly tying Lure fishing Places to fly fish Fly fishing shops Fly fishing clubs Fly fishing instructors. Seeing a fish rise up out of the water is a sight every angler should see and will keep you coming back for more. And that is just how you fish the nymph, under the surface of the water.
The nymph is one of the stages of insects such as the mayfly, caddis, or stonefly. As with most insects, they transform through various different stages until they reach the end of their life-cycle. Because of this, they become very abundant for the fish to feed on. That is precisely why trout feed primarily on these types of insects. With this being a fly that is fished sub-surface, it is necessary to use certain fishing techniques in order to detect the strike of the fish and catch them. Since you cannot see the fly as it floats under the water, detecting when the fish takes the fly is a problem.
That is why many anglers use an item called a strike indicator. This is essentially a small float that is attached up on your leader above the fly and floats along the surface as your fly drifts along. When a fish takes the fly, the indicator can do a few different things. It will either stop, slow down, move upstream, or even some other slightly different action that is not normal.
The downside to fishing with an indicator is the lag time from when the fish takes the fly until you notice the indicator movement. You can still catch many fish this way though, but it does take some practice. Another option is one of the various European Nymphing techniques that are becoming popular.
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These techniques do not utilize a strike indicator and are typically very close-quarter fishing techniques. Many times you are no more than a rods length away from the fish you are fishing to. They also can utilize a colored section of leader somewhere in your leader setup to act as a strike indicator but without the drawbacks. European nymphing is a specialized form of nymph fishing and something that will be discussed later on. The streamer can be one of the funnest flies to fly fish for trout with, along with one of the most productive, second only to the nymphs. Luckily for us, there is a solution.
If we focus our fly selection on imitative flies and smaller sizes of these patterns, we can find more consistent success. There are search patterns that imitate a variety of insects, attractor patterns that are meant to attract the eye of fish and cause a reaction strike, and imitative patterns that are meant to mimic the exact fly in the water with as much accuracy as possible. We want to focus on the latter on tailwaters most times. If the fish are eating black, size 20 midges, tie on a black, size 22 mercury midge.
The Three Main Types of Flies to Fly Fish for Trout – Fly Fishing Basics
If fish are eating BWO emergers in size 16, tie on a size 18 flashback barrs emerger in olive. The last thing I will say is in certain water conditions and times of year, it may be beneficial to fish a flashback pattern. This is the same imitative pattern mentioned above but with a little flash on the back to imitate an emerging wing case or an air bubble which insects use to bring themselves to the surface.
When given a large amount of food to choose from, a slight variation such as a hot spot or a flashback can make the difference in the fish choosing your fly over the naturals. Here are a few examples of very imitative flies. Notice how these flies are naturally colored, and use materials that imitate legs and segmentation of natural insects? See the insects below and you can see the differences. For more info on imitative, impressionistic, search and attractor patterns, check out our free guide on the 4 kinds of fishing flies.
This means that the 60 ft cast you just made upstream will not only be worthless by the time it gets down to you, but you will also be 5x less likely to set the hook with success with that much line out. Shortening up your cast can be the fastest way to catching more fish in a lot of situations. However, most if not all rivers only require you to get 25ft or less upstream with a drift in order for your flies to get down into the strike zone nearby, setting yourself up for a hook set and a landed fish.
Keep Flies Small & Imitative
If you can avoid these signals you can get amazingly close to trout. I was able to use these techniques listed below to actually hand-catch a brown trout in new zealand, one of the most difficult places to stalk trout due to the water clarity.
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The three main signals to trout are movement or shadows from overhead eagles and birds of prey , ripples made in the water, and unnatural sounds in the water. The murkier the water, the easier it is to get close to trout as they feel more comfortable and are less worried about being eaten.
Pay attention to and avoid the three signals below and you should be able to get within ft of nearly any trout.