My flyfishing perspective>>>>>
Equipment: Very important that the rod and reel balance well or that the butt end (reel end) of the rod is a little heavier. (If your arm is tired after a few casts it is top heavy.)
Make sure the reel is set up properly with backing/ line wt. This will help ensure that it will be balanced correctly. Unless you know how much backing needs to be put on the reel, go to the local flyshop and have them set it up for you.
How is your leader/tippet set up? I keep mine just a little longer than the rod itself.
Location: If you have no fish in the area it will be difficult to catch one. So location is important.
Fish like to hide: Look for rocks where they can hide (infront/behind them) look for the river within the river or the seam of the river. Look how the current moves. If more than one current in the area focus on trying to get your fly pattern/nymph into only one current. If it flows unnatural as in one current creating drag - trout will be skittish.
For me the "Hatch" refers to when the insect life becomes active. Every insect will go through it. It is a time when fish gorge themselves of that particular bugs and almost nothing else during that event. (matching the hatch-is trying to pick a fly/nymph that resembles one of the stages of that insects life. (copper johns/bead head prices/woolly buggers work well under water.) (for the dry fly look around at the insect life and try to find something that looks like it.)
But the hatch does not always refer to just insects since you can also have schooling minnows which can be considered a hatch. (streamers/woolly buggers) again try to match what you see in color and size. A three inch streamer floating with 1 inch minnows does not look right.
Practice casting as much as possible...Always try to get the "J" loop on the back cast before proceeding with your line forward (false cast). Remember as you add more line to the "J" loop you will need to hesitate a split second longer. On the end cast coming foward let it rip a little bit, There are numerous videos on line which break down the cast into sections. please reveiw them often if needed.
I almost always rig my flyline with a dry fly (good as an indicator and does not spook the fish) and a dropper. depending on the depth I need the nymph to be at. The nymph must tick bottom. The deeper the water the less likely I will use a dry fly or indicator. When I do deep water I keep as much slack out of the line as possible and watch the line closely. if it starts heading back up the river, usually a jerk or pause in the line will let you know I set the hook.
Make sure you have no wind knots (lazy cast knots) within 2 feet of the nymph. For some reason my catch ratio drops tremendously if there is a knot between the dry fly and the nymph.
Dry fly fishing can be a bit more challenging and at the same time totally exciting. I learned to drop the dry fly just a few inches from them when they are feeding at the top. If they have to much time to take notice of what just landed infront of them they probably will ignore the presentation.
My Ratio of on water strikes vs below surface is about 20% to 80%.
MOST IMPORTANT>>>>>DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED! FLY FISHING IS SUPPOSE TO BE FUN.
Hope this helps!!
