could really use some tips.

[TheOutlaw]

i've just started fly fishing but have fished for about 20 years. in the past i've had cheap fly rods i've used for panfish with cheapo fly assortments with bright colors. now i want to try to catch trout on a fly. i live in beech creek pa and am surrounded with mountain streams to fish. mostly wild trout with a few stocked in small sections.

current gear is
okuma cascade 5wt combo pre spooled from the factory and i added about 1.5ft of 4x tippet material to their 7.5ft leader that came on the spool.
for flies i have just a few
mudler minnow
copper john
elk hair caddis tan
royal coachmen
mosquito
a hopper of some sort made by cortland
various BIG bug looking fly's from a cortland assortment at walmart.

the streams im fishing are 10-15ft wide at most with mostly shallow fast moving water with a few slightly deeper and calmer pools . usually with tons of things to get snaged on while casting. the fish are mostly wild and VERY easy to spook.

im pretty good at getting to the trout without spooking them but they dont even seem to give anything a look. the other day i spent 2 hours throwing elk hair caddis and royal coachmens at the same 3 trout without the slightest hint of interest from them. i was feeling a little beat before leaving and put a meal worm on and got one first cast.


i dont think my casting techniques are bad because im not spooking them enough for them to flee.

i usually cast about 10ft up stream from them and let it drift to about a 3 ft behind them before yanking the fly out.

would love any tips i could get.

 

[CathyG]

Make sure there is no drag on your drift, that is, the line isn't being pulled by the current dragging the fly with it. The fish will reject such an offering every time no matter what fly you're using. The EHC and royal c should work well on the streams you're fishing.

 

[NewTyer1]

Try a wooley bugger or a greenie weenie or possibly a pheasant tail nymph. Woolies can be bought or tied in different sizes. Same with the greenie. Also try different times of the day. Most of my luck is early morning around or just after dawn or in the evening just before dusk. Another thing you might try is either a san juan worm tied or bought small like a earthworm in earthy colors or a terestrial, such as a Jassid, ant, casting close to opposite shore or down the middle where you have been casting. They can be caught. It's just finding the right combination. Good luck. Let us know which way and combo you use and if you had any luck. I would like to know if my advise helped.

 

[Swattie87]

I'd agree with the "try a Woolly Bugger" advice...that's never really bad advice. It's a good beginner fly IMO because you get to learn drifting (like a nymph) and down and across/stripping in techniques at the same time. And plus fish just like them, often no matter how they're presented.

With dries on small streams I don't know that you need to cast 10 ft upstream of the fish...odds are that the fly fline is probably landing pretty close to them if that's the case and this may be putting them off. On a small stream like you're describing a couple of feet upstream (and often less in smaller pockets) is probably enough.

In general the best piece of advice I could give ya on small streams is to keep moving though. Cast at those three fish a few times and if they don't take, move on...If you've made a decent cast/presentation odds are they're not taking because they know you're there. Move on and cast to a fresh pool.

 

[pcray1231]

Agreed on the keep moving part. 2 hours throwing flies to the same 3 fish is ridiculous. Cover water.

In this case, since those fish weren't spooked, I can only hazard a guess that they weren't interested in anything on top. But the fact that they took a mealworm means they were hungry. So, try something subsurface, like a nymph, bugger, egg pattern, etc. In your list, I woulda went to the copper john or the muddler, probably.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

My 1st time out was alone and I used a wooly bugger per reading the advice hear and on other resources. Wasn't wearing my contacts so I am not sure if it floated or went under/deep enough. 2nd time out fished with dry flies, contacts in and Foxy's advice/help.

Think I might get out tomorrow or weekend alone .. wooly buggers and other streamers should not float, correct?

How deep and how do you get them to submerge and stay under?

 

[Swattie87]

Correct, most streamers and WB's should not float. As far as how deep to fish them that depends...the obvious answer is the depth the fish are at...but it's not always that easy to accomplish.

In general you want them pretty deep IMO...near the bottom or a few inches above it, especially if you're fishing upstream and drifting it back toward you. If you're fishing down and across, or stripping it back upstream toward you, it's naturally going to rise in the water column, but this is sometimes what triggers a strike.

To get the WB down this often means fishing a WB with a beadhead and/or weight tied into the fly, or adding some shot a few inches above the WB. Before I tie a WB on I also take it and submerge it underwater and give it a few good squeezes with my fingers to make sure the marabou is saturated with water. If you have a WB with a bushy marabou tail, they'll sometimes float for a little while until you get them saturated.

 

[BelAirSteve]

I'll echo what everyone else has said regarding wooly buggers - except that I have not tried drifting them - I always chuck and strip. Cast at a slight angle downstream, as close to the bank (or fallen log, or any other structure that might be there) as possible. The fly line will actually start to swing the fly, it seems at the best spot - like at the edge of a current seam - to entice a strike. I have seen some vicious strikes on wooly buggers as they start to swing. Trout will also strike when the swing is complete and the strip starts to pull the fly up-stream. Really fun fishing - you don't have to be too patient or technical, and you can cover a lot of ground - and you will get plenty of practice landing the fly an inch or two from the bank.

 

[TheOutlaw]

so i actually managed to catch my first trout on a fly today!!! i dried damn near everything in the box a couple of times and ended up catching the trout pictured and a smaller "shiner" the trout hit a mosquito pattern and the shiner took the hopper (top left in photo)

 

[Swattie87]

Nicely done! Congrats!

 

[djs12354]

Outlaw,

Congrats!

 

[just_jon]

Concrats. There is nothing like the first trout on a fly. Mine was 46 years ago and I that moment is etched into my memory as it it happened yesterday. Fly fishing can be difficult, especially when you are starting out. Key is to not get frustrated and try to add a moment to your memory bank from each trip.

 

[ryguyfi]

I can't fully judge from you picture, but are you fishing a wild trout stream?

If so, then one of the keys to success is to KEEP MOVING!

Cast into each holding area 3-5 times, then move on. These fish are wary and can spook easily. Whether browns or brookies. I'll cover a few miles sometimes when I'm out fishing small wild trout streams.

I could type a novel, but that'll be a good start for you.

 

[TheOutlaw]

ahh sorry i havent posted back. i dont seem to get any emails telling me of reply's like i do on other forums?

yes im fishing native streams but it looks like someone put some stocked trout in also.. keeping moving is a bit hard here as its really really narrow for long distances with few deep holes that the trout are hiding in it also weaves n and out of fenced in farmers fields and posted private property so im stuck working a 100yds or so of it then getting in the truck and going to another stretch and doing another 100yds and then heading somewhere else. since my original post i've caught about 7 trout and some shiners/chubs and a horney fallfish all in the same area. most were caught on a generic fly from a cortland kit that i dont know the name of. in my fly box photo it is in the 3rd row from the left second fly down. would love to get more of them.

i managed to get some sort of poison already and have been stuck home with cold and rain. we actually had a snow storm advisery the other night lol i thought the bad weather was done weeks ago.

i just received the 20 most popular trout fly assortment from orvis and cant wait to try some of them out. im really happy with the craftsmanship these look so much better than the rest of my flies and seem alot more sonsistant and druable. love how it also tells you where, when and how to fish each fly on the back for noobs like me.

 

[pcray1231]

Honestly, I'd find a different stream if that's the case! Beech Creek is between Bellefonte and Loch Haven, correct? You're in a wild trout haven and some of us would kill to live there. You've got it all, big and small streams to your hearts content, some of the state's best limestoners and freestoners, all a hop, skip, and a jump away! Start explorin, man, you're in the middle of heaven and focusing on a stream with spotty holding water and posting problems to boot.

On smaller streams, hammering 1 or 2 holes in a 100 yd stretch is not the way to catch any numbers of fish.

 

[marcq]

if i were you and i feel most people who start out should learn to nymph. i catch most my fish nymphing. i would go out and buy alot of phesent tails, hears ear, midges, and other random nymphs that match local hatches. i always avoided it until i fish with a guide who taught me how to nymph the right way. that how i usually start the day and most of the time use the whole day. maybe hookup with someone on the fourm who is near you and go fish together. congrats on the first fish it one you will remember.

good luck marc

 

[Chaz]

Get some Royal Wulffs and some stimulators and have at it. Size 10 and 12.