Fly Fishing Techniques
Fishing Trout in Pods
PODS, large groups of feeding fish, provide exciting and demanding fishing.
- Approach from below the pod. Accuracy is key, so get as close as you can. I often get within 15 to 20 feet of my target — close enough to observe the individual rises and feeding patterns of the fish.
- Have a plan. If you cast into the pod, all the fish will spook and scatter. Strategize about how to catch as many fish as possible. That may mean picking off fish at the tail of the pod or fish feeding off to the side. If you are not after numbers, stalk the largest trout.
- Pick steady risers. Don’t waste your time on sporadic risers, unless they are large.
Fly Fishing Tips: Casting
28 Essential Fly Casting Tips
Learning to Mend When learning to mend a fly line — throwing the line upstream or downstream after the fly hits the water to eliminate drag — start with your rod tip low and mend with authority, lifting your rod high. You want to move as much line as necessary to reach the point at which the current is pulling your line in the wrong direction.
Reach Before You Mend End any cast that you know you will have to mend with an upstream reach cast, presenting the fly downstream of the line. Perform a reach cast by sweeping the rod either right or left just after delivering the forward cast and before the fly hits the water. Even if the situation doesn't require a mend, the reach cast delays the onset of drag.
Fly Fishing Techniques: Saltwater
Targeting Giant Bonefish
ONE OF THE RESULTS of winning big bonefish tournaments is that people are always asking me about the keys to catching giant bonefish. It's easy to understand; big bonefish are so difficult to fool that the frustration can become overwhelming. They are so different in "attitude" from small bonefish that I'd probably suggest you forget what you learned while casting to the schools of hundreds that are typical in parts of the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Legendary south Florida guide Steve Huff once said that if you can catch a big tailing bonefish with a fly rod, you can catch anything. And seeing a big bonefish tail sticking out of the water will make anyone's knees shake. There's no wonder that there's a mystique about these awesome fish.
