Top 10 Mistakes People Make Fly Fishing - Part 1
This is part 1 of my fishing articles that explain the biggest mistakes people make fly fishing. These suggestions specifically relate to nymph fishing because fish feed below the surface 90% of the time!
Mistake #10: * USING THE WRONG FLIES *
This is an obvious one in any fly fishing scenario. Basically, if your fly matches what the fish are eating, you will catch fish, and if not, you more than likely won’t. The first thing that you should do before you start fishing is look at what bugs are in the water.
Mistake #9: * CHANGING FLIES TOO INFREQUENTLY *
If you are not catching any fish on your current pattern, than change your fly! There are tons of fish in most rivers and most of the time they are willing to feed. If you are not getting any hits then change your fly (or go a size smaller).
Mistake #8: * CROWDING IN ON THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CATCHING FISH *
This is something that really irritates me so much and that frequently happens when I am fly fishing the San Juan river of New Mexico. I will be catching fish at a consistent rate while other people around me are not catching anything. Before I know it, people are caving in all around me crowding my space! They wrongfully assume that all the fish happen to be right in front of me and that’s why I am catching all the fish!!! Let me tell you something… there are tons of fish in a river, and probably no more fish in front of me than in front of you, so if you see me catching fish and you are not, do not crowd me! That is not the reason you are not catching anything!
Mistake #7: * TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE WEIGHT *
If the fish are down deep than you need to put more weight on your line to reach them. If they are closer to the surface put less weight on so that your fly floats right past the fish. It is as simple as that.
Mistake #6: * TOO MUCH TIME SPENT WITH YOUR FLIES OUT OF THE WATER *
The fish are in the water. If your fly is not in the water you will not be catching fish. When fly fishing, you want your fly to be in the water as much of the time as possible. Too many people spend way too much time with their flies out of the water cleaning off the algae, false casting, undoing tangles, checking out the female angler down river, etc. Obviously you need to make sure that your flies are clear of any algae with some quick splashes on the water surface, but other than that, keep your flies in the water as much as possible. You will catch more fish.
To be continued…
