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Using White Winged Flies
Sometimes when fishing in fast water its difficult to see your fly. It becomes hard to differentiate between your fly and stream debris, or, when fishing into the sun, the millions of sparkles on the water. A dry fly tied with a white post wing and a parachute hackle is easier to see, and won't spook the fish.
Stretching fly lines
You arrive at the stream and see a fish rising, you quickly strip some line off and start casting, the line shoots out and lays on the water - looking like a partly coiled spring.! Obviously you haven't cast that line in a while, and consequently it has adopted the shape because its been on the reel too long without a day out.
To remedy this, upon arrival at the water, attach the end of your fly line to say, a fence or shrub and walk away some 50 feet (about an average to longish cast for most people), grasp the line near the reel, wrap it around your hand, and begin to stretch the line.
Over that length (50 feet) you may be surprised to find that the line will stretch an additional 6 feet or so. Hold it stretched for perhaps 30 seconds, and slowly let it retract to its normal length, then wind it back on the reel, and with your subsequent casts, it should lay out beautifully straight on the water.
Handling and Releasing Fish
We've all seen lots of those classic photos & videos where the successful angler lifts his catch alive from the water and proudly displays it for the cameraman. Usually these fish are of above average size and most times worth a photograph or two. Then there are the innumerable instances where the fish caught is of a size which does not warrant any photographic immortalising, and is instead returned to the water with a lot less pomp and ceremony. All very gratifying and exciting, but what about the fish?
We fly fishermen tend to allocate our quarry a great deal of romanticised respect while we're on the hunt, but many of us tend to treat them a little less gently than we should in the merciful act of release.
So begs the question - will the fish you've just released actually survive? To maximise the fish's chances of post- release survival, consider these following points:
Fish are cold blooded creatures, humans are warm blooded creatures.
Fish are covered with a protective slime which helps shield them against water-borne diseases and parasites.
When warm (sometimes dry) hand touches slime-covered, cold-blooded fish a layer of that slime is left on the hand, leaving the fish open to the possibility of invasion by parasites, etc.
Any contact with our hands has to be of great discomfort the fish.
In consideration of those points, I'm sure you'll agree it makes good sense to handle the fish only when absolutely necessary to effect its release, and at all other times not to handle it all - right?
Enter the artery forceps - in common usage today as a means of extracting hooks from fish, it is both easy and practical to make this tool the means of also releasing the fish. It takes only a few seconds, once having played the fish into the shallows,to release it by means of grasping the hook bend with the force and removing it - the fish can swim free, and no human hand has ever touched it. Give it a try next you release a fish.
P.S. If you have depressed the barb of your hook, release will be considerably easier on you and the fish.
Trimming Dry Fly Hackles
Picture the dry fly floating buoyantly down the gurgling riffle, perked up on it's floatant treated hackle, looking all the world like the real thing, right? Maybe. Real mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, beetles or whatever don't float around with their heads poking high in the air like they were trying to get a better view.
You may also have had the experience where your dry fly floats lightly and patiently on the lake surface, while a hungry trout cruises toward it and, seeing it, accelerates to take it from the surface. But at the last second, hesitates and continues on his way. Refusals like this may indicate that the fly is not sitting quite right on the surface.
While it is both traditional and practical to tie flies by rotating a hackle around a hook, it does not necessarily follow that that is how you must fish them.
Parachute hackle flies are a practical and effective option, but the fly pattern you need may not always be available in the parachute configuration, so it's handy to have another easy alternative.
With the aid of scissors or line clippers, flies can be altered stream-side in any way the angler sees fit, and that particularly includes trimming hackles to achieve a more realistic float. For example many beetle dry fly patterns are tied with a full hackle, yet if you've ever noticed a beetle floating on the water, it floats well down in the surface film, usually with its legs outspread. By trimming the bottom of the hackle so that its level with the fly body, you will achieve that closer realism.
I never fish Red Tags without the hackle trimmed. Similarly, I also trim the hackle of a few other favourite patterns such as the Black Spinner, Orange Spinner and Blue Winged Olive.
An Eye For An Eye
Fish have marvellous eyesight - if you don't believe me, just poke you head over a river bank where fish are known to be - didn't see any? Told you so!
Several factors can aid the fish's already acute vision - very clear water, angle of light, refraction of light at the waters surface to name a few.
Let's face it, we anglers suffer a few disadvantages when we try to approach a fish in its natural environment. One of the biggest disadvantages is one we create for ourselves, by silhouetting ourselves against the sky. Always remember that any fish who spends a reasonable length of time in one location will become very familiar with the shapes, shadows and outlines he sees everyday in his home. If your bodily movements, or indeed, just the presence of your image, intrude on that familiarity, the fish's survival instincts tell it to exercise caution, perhaps even retreat to relative safety.
Movement is possibly the most common indication to the fish of your presence. Most serious anglers go to some trouble to ensure they blend in with the surroundings when fishing, but many waste their efforts by moving either too fast, too soon or in the wrong place. Always move slowly and steadily when in situations where you might be visible to the fish. Rapid movement will always catch a fish's eye, even if you're well camouflaged.
. . . try assessing things from the fish's viewpoint - it could increase your success rate!
