Help me catch a trout

Ttannahill14 · Feb 28, 2018

Alright headed to steamboat to snowboard in 3 weeks and going to skip a couple days on the mountain and go flyfish instead(have you seen the prices for lift tickets!?!?!). This will be my 3rd trip to fly fish for trout and he first two I didn’t catch a fish. I’ve read all the articles and watched videos to try and teach myself. Never had a guide, never had a mentor, just figuring it out.

When I was in Alaska over the summer I caught salmon left and right on a fly rod. So not quite sure what I’m doing wrong for trout. That was DIY as well.

I’ll stop by the fly shop before hand to get some recommended flies...

...anything else I’m missing!? What’s your 1 thing you would tell a newbie flyfisherman to catch a single trout!

Pic of a quick morning in Alaska! I gotta get back!

Sawtooth · Feb 28, 2018

Learn how to mend your line. Beginning fly fishermen don't understand the importance of allowing a dry fly to float with a natural presentation. They worry about making a long cast and then drag their fly through the fish. Shorten up your casts and make a point to have the fly float through fishy spots (near rocks and other structure) in the river in a natural fashion. During the winter months, many of the nymphs and dry fly patterns you will be using will be quite small. Midges and Blue Winged Olives are two example. Being able to mend your line will not only help your dry fly fishing, but will allow smaller nymphs to sink deeper below the surface. Another winter time tip is to look for feeding fish in the slower deep pools. Cold water makes fish less active and the slower flowing pools require less energy to move around in. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

yacantski · Mar 1, 2018

The Yampa river has miles of great fishing but some of the best spots are right in town. Steamboat flyfishers, and Straightline sports are great shops to get all your info.

dcopas78 · Mar 1, 2018

I'd mirror what sawtooth said, good advice. If you feel or see your line being dragged by the current, you're probably not getting a good drift. I fish primarily midges/nymphs. I will dry fly fish only if I am seeing lots of rising trout and an active hatch, but that is just me. I'm just way more successful with the subsurface midge/nymph patterns myself. I believe you can also get away with more bad drifts with nymph fishing, IMHO. Definitely go small. This time of year, I don't fish anything over a size 18, but that is also Ohio/Kentucky and not the western streams, for what it's worth. I would assume it would be real similar out there right now.

2ski · Mar 1, 2018

With it being wintertime, you can't beat an egg pattern drifted through a slow area. Some view egg patterns and san juan worms as cheater patterns but they will catch fish. And any hesitation of that line means lift up to see if a fish is the cause. It's cold. These guys aren't moving fast, so you may have to put it right on their nose to induce a strike.

Also, approach a stream or river as you would elk hunting. You look at maps, google maps, ect and identify places you think will hold elk, right? So do the same with water, only you don't need a map. Stand over the water and look and identify little things about the water you think will hold fish. Maybe there's a rock that has a slower section of water behind it. Maybe it's just a little swirl of water that gives you a hint as to the under water structure. If there's a slow section of water, fish where the fast water slows and where the slow water speeds up again. Those areas will have actively feeding fish.

Also if you don't have it, pick up these great little book called the Curtis Creek Manifesto. It's a cartoon, but its a great little book. Alot of people started into fly-fishing with that book.
https://www.amazon.com/Curtis-Creek-Manifesto-Illustrated-Paraphernalia/dp/0936608064

sneakem · Mar 1, 2018

Find the deepest slowest water with current you can. As mentioned egg and worm patterns will work, I'd also look at running about a size 18 bead head pheasant tail soft hackle and bouncing it along the bottom. Olive Scuds will also produce, don't be afraid to throw a stone pattern on or strip a streamer. Not much will be on top unless you're fishing the tail water at Stagecoach, where there are early afternoon hatches of BWO's consistently but its nymph fishing the rest of the time.

Areas to try would be the Chuck Lewis SWA, Rotary park section downtown, the kayak course across from the hot springs down town, and if your ambitious the tail water below Stagecoach which fishes really well this time of year because they close the gate at the park and it's a little over a mile walk to get into, but is like fishing an aquarium...

Keep your leader on the lighter end, at least 5x and minimum of 7.5ft, good drifts mending with the current as mentioned. Both the shops at Straight Line and Flyfisher have solid guys that will help point you in the right direction....

VAspeedgoat · Mar 1, 2018

First, use a black, olive or brown weighted wooly booger. Add enough split shot to keep it just off the bottom. If you cast up stream try a short cast about ten feet above a deep hole. Immediately lift your rod tip till you feel the fly but don't pick it off the bottom. This way you will feel a strike. Or similar on a larger river, position yourself just above a deep hole and cast across or very slightly up stream of a deep run and let the line swing down stream Into the run. The line will be tight and you will again feel the strike. Wooly boogers can imitate large nymphs or minnows on either cast style. Guaranteed to catch a fish. The more precise you are trying to imitate something the more precise you need to be with presentation. Wooly boogers are not a close representation to anything specifically and is a little like using a shotgun effect on trout. Maybe they're not the best but they're never the worst. Plus you have time to mend the line in the case of a poor cast.

Ttannahill14 · Mar 2, 2018

Thanks for all the info guys. Lots and lots going on here and much to improve on. So many details that are only learned and earned through time on the water. I'll keep after it!

devon deer · Mar 2, 2018

I would echo Sawtooth's advice, and add into the mix learn a bit about entomology, just the basics, it isn't that difficult but could help you catch a few trout.
Cheers
Richard

Gary · Mar 2, 2018

If you weren't going to skip lift tickets for a couple of days, how much money would you be dropping? Use some of the money saved on lift tickets and go with a guide. Even experienced fly fishers hire guides when fishing new waters - just because its saves time in getting local know-how and results in more successful fishing on following DIY days. It can be pricey, but it can also be a shortcut to success.

LuketheDog · Mar 2, 2018

Gary said:
If you weren't going to skip lift tickets for a couple of days, how much money would you be dropping? Use some of the money saved on lift tickets and go with a guide. Even experienced fly fishers hire guides when fishing new waters - just because its saves time in getting local know-how and results in more successful fishing on following DIY days. It can be pricey, but it can also be a shortcut to success.

This^ Nothing beats hands-on instruction. Hire a guide for a day, even just a 1/2 day, and tell him very clearly before you go what your goals are-you need to learn casting and learn to read the water. You will be lightyears ahead of where you were...Trout aren't salmon, and you're not in Alaska anymore!

haiku_rodney · Mar 2, 2018

If you have amazon prime, you can watch a "Fishing with Ladin". It is a TV series on fly fishing - mostly for entertainment but also informative.

Help me catch a trout

Ttannahill14

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Sawtooth

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yacantski

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dcopas78

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2ski

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sneakem

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VAspeedgoat

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Ttannahill14

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devon deer

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Gary

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