tuesday tips

When you’re fishing a bend in a river, work the water close to you before you cast to the real “lunker water” against the far bank. Start from the tailout and work upstream, beginning at the tailout (A). Next, look for trout near any rocks or structure on the inside of the main current (B). Oftentimes, there will be fish lying right out in the open on the inside of the bend (C); these fish are usually quite wary, so you need to be stealthy and make delicate presentations. Finally, look for fish at the head of the pool (D) where there are rocks that break the current. Illustration by Larry Largay, courtesy American Angler

Most fly fishermen are so intent on their own processes — making the right cast, mending correctly, and watching the fly or strike indicator — that they don’t bother to observe what the other anglers on the river are doing. When you work as a fishing guide, however, you spend a lot of time, without a rod in your hand, watching other people fish. It’s an interesting experience, because you get to see many different angling styles — some good, some not so good — and you develop a keen eye for anticipating the most common mistakes that fly fishermen make. If you can keep your client from committing one of these angling sins, . . .

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When you’re fishing a bend in a river, work the water close to you before you cast to the real “lunker water” against the far bank. Start from the tailout and work upstream, beginning at the tailout (A). Next, look for trout near any rocks or structure on the inside of the main current (B). Oftentimes, there will be fish lying right out in the open on the inside of the bend (C); these fish are usually quite wary, so you need to be stealthy and make delicate presentations. Finally, look for fish at the head of the pool (D) where there are rocks that break the current. Illustration by Larry Largay, courtesy American Angler

Most fly fishermen are so intent on their own processes — making the right cast, mending correctly, and watching the fly or strike indicator — that they don’t bother to observe what the other anglers on the river are doing. When you work as a fishing guide, however, you spend a lot of time, without a rod in your hand, watching other people fish. It’s an interesting experience, because you get to see many different angling styles — some good, some not so good — and you develop a keen eye for anticipating the most common mistakes that fly fishermen make. If you can keep your client from committing one of these angling sins, . . .

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Before you cast to that rising trout, take the time to inspect your fly, knot, and leader to ensure you’re giving yourself the best shot to land the fish. photo courtesy Sandy Hays

Fly-fishing is such a process-oriented sport that it’s easy to become fixated on the specific task at hand—whether it’s drifting a dry fly along a fallen long or high-sticking a nymph rig through a riffle. But there are lots of other things an angler needs to pay attention to if he wants to be successful. How many times have you hooked and lost a fish, only to ask yourself, “When was the last time I checked that knot?” or “Why did the tippet. . .

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See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons

In today’s video Tuesday Tip from the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center, we talk about a style of fishing that’s not as popular as it once was, yet it’s no less effective. Although not as sure-fire a way to catch trout as fishing under a bobber with weight, swinging wet flies and nymphs is an elegant way to fish them. It’s sometimes surprisingly effective when swimming mayfly or caddisfly pupae are active. I also think fish sometime mistake swinging wet flies for. . .

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See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons

In today’s video Tuesday Tip from the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center, Tom and guide Molly Semenik discuss basic mending. As Tom notes, many anglers do seem confused by mending because it seems so obvious and intuitive. The only way to get good at it is to practice on the water, dealing with currents of different speeds. Your fly will tell you if you’re doing it right: a long dead-drift is a sure sign of successful mending, while a “motorboating” indicator or. . .

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A nice brown from the [REDACTED] River in Montana. photo by Phil Monahan

A couple of years ago, Eric Rickstad and I made plans to go to Montana in late April for the Orvis Western Guide Rendezvous. As soon as our travel plans were finalized, Eric started talking about a river I’d barely heard of. “We gotta hit the [REDACTED] River,” he said. “I’ve heard lots of whispering about some big browns there in spring and fall, but I’ve never had the chance to fish it.” When I mentioned that I hadn’t heard any such rumors, Eric just said, “Exactly,” and smiled knowingly. The possibility that there was an “undiscovered” river anywhere in Montana. . .

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This beauty fell for a tiny dry fly when the air temperature was 17 degrees. photo by Phil Monahan

The very first winter trout I ever caught came from the Musconetcong River in Hackettstown, New Jersey, about 20 years ago. To tell the truth, I didn’t really believe it would happen and was completely shocked when my indicator went under. But when I raised my rod, I came tight to a foot-long brown. Since then, I’ve enjoyed lots of cold-weather fishing, in places as disparate as New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Montana. On one memorable day, I arrived at Armstrong’s Spring Creek in Paradise Valley with the mercury stuck at. . .

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The double haul is probably one of the more misunderstood casts in all of fly fishing, in two ways. First, many anglers believe that the double haul is too difficult to learn, that it requires some mystical timing-and-coordination combination that they’ll never master. In reality, the double haul is easy once you understand the. . .

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See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons

Since Phil posted that trailer about some serious streamer junkies this morning, I figured that a video tip about streamer retrieves—from the “Streamer Fishing” chapter on the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center—would be appropriate.

I see too many anglers on the stream using the same retrieve over and over, even when it isn’t producing. I’ve found that the fish are often looking for. . .

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See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons

With Skagit lines and longer rods being the ideal setup for winter steelheading, I thought this video tip from Pete Kutzer—from the “Steelhead & Salmon Fly Fishing” chapter on the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center—would be appropriate this week. And since winter steelheading involves a lot of. . .

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