How To Fly Fish For Trout

How to Fly Fish a Woolly Bugger Fly

The Woolly Bugger or Wooly Bugger is one of the most simple, versatile, and effective flies in fly fishing history. Trout, panfish, bass, carp, redfish, bonefish; you name it, it will eat a bugger. With that said, the woolly bugger is essential for all fly fishers, especially beginners. In this...

How To Fly Fish Euro Nymphs: Everything You Need To Know About European Nymphing

European-style nymphing, or Euro nymphing, is a type of fly fishing that has become popular in the United States in the last decade or so. Created behind the communist iron curtain of Poland, it is a fly fishing technique born out of necessity. Euro nymphing gives anglers an efficient way...

How To Fly Fish With Nymphs: Everything You Need To Know

Nymphing techniques for trout are one of the most productive methods of fly fishing for catching fish. Dry fly fishing is considered the purest form of fishing by many fly fishermen. Nymphing or fishing flies subsurface, is looked down upon by many anglers. In some parts of certain fisheries, like...

How To Fly Fish A Two Fly Setup

Fishing two flies and even three flies can double your chances of catching fish. Multiple fly rigs cover different depths and multiple insect hatches at one time. Using multiple flies can be an incredibly effective and enjoyable way to fish! The practice offers a number of benefits but also has some...

How to Fly Fish Caddis Flies

Clients often me ask on guided fishing trips, "What is the most important hatch or insect for trout fishing?" Mayflies and stoneflies, especially the big ones like green drakes, brown drakes, salmon flies, and golden stones are the 'coolest' bugs on the water. They are often a fly fisherman's favorite...

How To Fly Fish In The Spring

If you are a fly fishing nerd, then chances are you have been fishing very small flies to lethargic fish all winter long. Spring is nature's great awakening. Snow turns to rain, trees and flowers bloom, and the fish start to wake up too. For fish, this is an internal...

nymph fly fishing flies

How To Fly Fish Wet Flies: Everything You Need To Know

Fly fishing could be described as a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, then wrapped in a puzzle. From a broad view, especially for new fly fishers, showing up to a river and knowing where to start is a challenge. Just like approaching new pieces of water, breaking down the intricacies...

Blue-Winged Olive Mayflies: Everything You Need To Know

The mayfly is the quintessential aquatic insect that is often thought of when people visualize insects and fly fishing. Blue Wing Olive Mayflies are an important hatch that occurs year round, predominantly in spring, summer, and fall. They are an important food source in a trout's diet, and fly fishermen...

4 Different Types of Fly Fishing Flies And How to Use Them

Entering a fly shop for the first time can be intimidating.  I remember being new to the sport and feeling intimidated when entering fly shops.  Although everybody in the fly shop was also once a beginner, too many times there seems to be at least one person who makes you...

How to Fly Fish for Trout in the Winter

Mountain towns in winter are bustling with snow skiing bound visitors. Restaurants are full, and the streets are crowded with families searching for the next best t-shirt shop or the best place to find a hot meal. These same people make the same trek to the mountains in the summer...

How To Fly Fish in March and Early Spring Time

A Guide to Fly Fishing The Spring Fishing Season Springtime is an exciting time of the year for anglers. Huddled over our fly tying vice, or rereading The Drake Magazine in our living rooms all winter can become very mundane tasks. Replaying last season's memories of rising trout eagerly eating dry...

The Best Fly Fishing Destinations in Colorado

An Anglers Guide to Colorado's Best Trout Fishing No other state in the Union has more fishy topography than the state of Colorado.  When it comes to the American West, the state of Colorado has a lot to offer fly fishermen when seeking a destination to fish some of the country's...

10 Best Fishing Flies for Trout in the Summer

Summer is angling heaven, as days are spent tossing dry flies in wet wading attire. One of the hardest choices is knowing what to use when there are so many great options out there!   Hoppers buzz around, caddis hatches are still going strong, and nymphs will constantly produce quality...

What You Need To Know About Fly Fishing January And February

Can you fly fish in January?Can you fly fish in February?Do trout like the cold?How do you catch trout in the winter?What time of day are trout most active in the winter?Where do you find trout in the winter?What are the best flies for January and February? Can you fly fish...

Spring Hatches For Trout You Need To Know

While May is usually known as the best month for hatches in the Eastern U.S., March and early April can be a great time to get out and enjoy some early season dry fly action! Trout aren’t terribly unlike us in that they can be lethargic in the cold. The chilly...

15 Useful Explanations That Make Nymph Fly Fishing Stupid Simple

Fly fishing has so many different techniques and skills to learn, but, by far one of the most effective at catching fish is nymphing. Nymphing is essential to every fly angler so we dedicated this entire article to answer the most common questions we get. Table Of Contents What does nymphing mean?What...

How To Choose The Perfect Fly Rod For Nymphing

As winter approaches, dry fly fishing slows down, and it’s time again to fish subsurface. Nymphing is a cold-weather winner, and if you’ve never tried it before, now is a perfect time. Let’s preface this article by saying you can nymph fish with any fly rod. If you’ve already got a...

What Is A “Redd” And How To Recognize Them

Certain species of trout, brown and brook trout in particular, spawn in the fall. October and November are the heavy spawning months. Many anglers consider it unethical to target these species during the spawn; they’ve got enough obstacles in their way as it is.  It’s important to understand spawning behaviors and...

Quick Tips To Improve Your Cast

Encyclopedias are written on how to improve your fly cast. You can peruse a seemingly endless amount of instructional videos online, or browse thousands of pages. Casting is a skill that only gets better with practice, hours and hours of practice.  However, there are a few small tips that can help...

3 Tips for Fishing Off Color Trout Streams

Few things deter anglers more than water that is stained from recent rainfall or snowmelt.  In fact, some anglers would probably much prefer water that is raging high than off-color. It’s a matter of comfort for most of us, and when we can’t see the bottom to know the depth...

How to Rig a Double Nymph Setup

Two nymphs are a great way to cover more water and show trout multiple patterns, but it can be a major pain unless you know how to rig it correctly!  On most guide trips clients will immediately make a comment about a multi-nymph setup and how it’s something they wouldn’t normally...

What Size Tippet Should I Buy?

There’s nothing worse than fishing gin-clear water and watching fish shy away from your drift as it approaches their feeding line.  While sometimes it’s the fly itself that’s causing the damage, more often than not it’s the tippet that’s spooking fish.  Trout, especially on pressured waterways, get accustomed to seeing a...

How Do You Fish With Two Flies?

Many anglers take to YouTube or go on a guided trip to learn new techniques, and much of that is centered around fishing two flies.  It might be simplistic to say, “two flies are better than one,” but the fact is many times it’s true!  Having multiple patterns out there increases...

What are Tippet Rings Used For?

Every now and then there are new accessories or techniques that come into fly fishing and truly change the sport.  Simple as it may be, the tippet ring surely falls into this category.  It’s become a mainstay for guides and DIY anglers alike, and the benefits of using them far outweigh...

When Should I Change My Fly Leader?

One of the most common questions among fly anglers is, “When should I change my fly leader?” It’s a good thing to ponder, as it shows an observant nature and makes it apparent that you’re keeping an eye on your rig.  There are certainly times when folks change their leader too...

Where to Put Split Shot on a Nymph Rig?

You can do everything almost perfect on a nymph rig, but one minor error in the setup can really decrease efficiency and productivity. While fly placement, or rather incorrect placement, can negatively impact our goals, it’s often the split shot that creates the most issues.  Adding this extra weight comes with...

Fly Fishing Midge Dry Flies in the Winter

When anglers think of winter fly fishing, it’s not often that dry flies come to mind.  Rare is the January or February day when we ditch weights and indicators in favor of fly float and parachute dries.  They do happen, however, and the ambitious fly fisher can catch trout on dries...

Fly Fishing Cicada Hatches

A good bug hatch is always a welcomed occurrence for fly-fishers. Very few hatches however, are backed by the anticipation surrounding what thousands of eager anglers will experience this summer. Starting in mid-May, and lasting through the early days of July, the Brood X cicadas will emerge.  Brood X cicadas were...

Fly Fishing Scuds And Sowbugs For Trout

Fly Fishing is a complex sport. There are times of the year when an angler may go to the water anticipating catching fish in a particular way and it just doesn’t happen. This can be especially true during the colder fall, winter, and early spring months. As anglers, we focus...

dry dropper fly fishing tips

Why Am I Not Catching Any Fish Fly Fishing?

When nothing is working. You could be doing everything right and still have no luck catching anything. Sometimes matching the hatch and making near-perfect casts doesn't guarantee landing a fish.  However, there are a few fly fishing tactics that you can do to maximize your efforts and improve your chances drastically. Keep...

How Do You Approach A Trout Stream?

When you see visible signs of trout feeding on the surface don't immediately make a beeline for the water's edge.  Your most definitely going to push them away and pause them from feeding. Trout can see quite well directly on their sides about 90 degrees front-to-back.  The best places for...

Is Euro Nymphing Easy?

Euro nymphing is not as easy as watching a strike indicator plunge under the surface at every strike, but not by much. However, Euro nymphing is definitely more effective and, arguably, more entertaining due to the attentive nature you need to do it effectively. I would say that dry fly fishing...

Why Should I Use A Euro Leader?

Why? Literally, every reason is a huge bonus compared to not using a hand-crafted European nymphing leader. The leader is specifically designed for maximizing your nymphing for strikes and feeling takes. Overall, here are a few great reasons why you should be using a euro nymphing leader versus a traditional tapered...

Tips for Using Sinking Lines and Leaders

When you pass a deep pool with no bottom in sight, there’s always the wandering thought of what could be down there in the depths.  There’s no imagination required for those comfortable with sinking lines and leaders!  These great tools should be utilized by all anglers in an effort to better...

Western Fly Fishing Hatches for Trout in the Summer

Once runoff subsides, it’s game on for anglers in the Western U.S. as they flock to their favorite trout waters.  With flows receding and water warming, bugs start popping across the Rockies and trout feed hungrily to take advantage of this brief feeding frenzy.  The dry fly action is not to...

How to Fish Terrestrials for Trout

Once mid-June hits, the big hatches in the Eastern U.S. are mostly done, leaving anglers looking for the next thing to keep getting their dry fly fix.  For most, the attention should then turn towards terrestrials in the form of ants, beetles, and hoppers.  There is some sporadic caddis, midge, and...

3 Ways to Beat the Summer Heat for Trout

One of the more difficult times to catch trout is during the scorching heat of summer when the fish turn lethargic and hatches shut off.  Unfortunately for us, the urge to get out on the water doesn’t wane, even if the fishing productivity does.  Trout fishing with a fly rod doesn’t...

4 Summer Dry-Dropper Rigs to Catch Trout

Summer means dry-droppers for many anglers across the country, and the allure of the productivity found with nymphs paired with the action of a dry fly is the perfect combination.  Most trout fishers have a wide array of both dry flies and nymphs in neatly assorted rows in multiple fly boxes. ...

How to Catch Trout in Alpine Lakes

The hikes are long, the views incredible, and the trout stunningly beautiful.  It’s the scene that many fly anglers dream of, and the high alpine lakes of the Rocky Mountains hold some extraordinary opportunities for those willing to endure the thin air and arduous miles needed to get there.  Many of...

Mid-West Tips for Fly Fishing Rivers During Runoff

Few situations present more of a challenge for anglers than runoff in the West.  Gentle mountain streams become raging torrents and lazy tailwaters become gushing, chocolate milk rivers as snow melts and swells waterways onec runoff gets going in late May and June.  Depending on the year, runoff can last well...

Guide To Fly Fishing Stillwater for Trout

Trout fishing is typically synonymous with faster currents in streams and rivers, but lakes can be overlooked gems!  Stillwater provides a unique experience and it’s a stark contrast fishing in the moving water.  Trout still have likely holding places, but they can sometimes be harder to find.  Furthermore, the fly selection...

How to Catch Trout on Stoneflies

For all of the squinting into fly boxes trying to locate the size #26 midge that goes on during winter, that goes out the window when it comes time to fish stoneflies!  Trout are constantly in a caloric struggle of consuming versus conserving, and as such they love feeding on things...

Three Early Season Dry-Dropper Rigs for Trout

Much of our time is spent staring at strike indicators or sighter tippet waiting for the slightest sign of movement, so any chance to throw dry flies is a welcome change of pace!  There’s obviously nothing wrong with throwing nymph rigs since they catch so many fish, but there’s something about...

How to Catch Trout on Caddis Flies

Anglers who experience their first big caddis hatch aren’t soon to forget the event.  There are surely stronger hatches with bigger bugs that occur throughout the season, but few are as reliable as the caddis.  Unseasonal rain or cold can throw bug events like the green drake or sulphurs, but the...

3 Dry Flies for Winter Trout

While winter might not be synonymous with solid dry fly fishing, there are still plenty of opportunities to catch fish on top when the weather is cold!  One of the biggest knocks on wintertime fly fishing is that it’s often long days spent watching indicators.  The dry fly action certainly isn’t...

Top 3 High Water Nymph Rigs for Trout

Throughout much of the East, March can be a tricky time to be on the water thanks to melting snow and constant rain.  The extreme cold of winter may be in the rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean the fishing in early spring is easy!  An entire winter’s worth of snow...

Where to Find Trout in High Water

For many of us, we don’t have the luxury of waiting until the perfect weather creates ideal conditions on a favorite trout stream.  Winter seems eternal for the trout angler anxiously awaiting the return to warm weather and hungry trout.  While there’s certainly nothing wrong with throwing tiny midges for selective,...

What Is Euro Style Nymphing And How Do You Euro Nymph?

Euro nymphing is a specialized form of fly fishing using only heavily weighted nymphs with no split shots or strike indicators. It has been referred to as Czech, French, Tight-line, High Sticking, and Polish Nymphing. European nymphing was formally introduced in 1989 at the World Fly Fishing Championship by Wladyslaw...

4 Lightweight Nymphs for Tandem Fly Rigs in the Winter

Winter can be an incredibly rewarding time to be out on your favorite trout stream!  With fewer people sharing the water, the winter months offer up a fantastic opportunity to enjoy relative solitude and put a few trout in the net.  The action typically doesn’t match that of spring and summer,...

10 Great Multiple Fly Rig Setup Combinations For Trout With Flies You Already Have

There isn’t much that gets an angler’s heart pumping quite like a big trout hammering terrestrials right on the bank, which makes August a month to look forward to each year.  In most parts of the country, August is a relatively dead month in terms of heavy bug hatches.  Tricos are...

Where to Find Trout In The Fall And Into The Early Winter

There are few better ways to spend a crisp fall morning than standing knee-deep in a favorite trout stream.  The leaves are in their full color display, deer are moving freely as the rut picks up, and trout are actively feeding as they bulk up for the long winter ahead.  It’s...

3 Tips to E-Scout for Trout

One of the most common dilemmas among anglers is not knowing exactly where to go when they have some time to fish.  When time in the field is limited, anglers don’t want to spend all of their time scouting a new piece of water that they aren’t sure is productive.  Luckily,...

How To Fly Fish Tricos For Late Summer Trout

For bug enthusiasts, high summer can be a fairly dull time of year, with terrestrials taking center stage and mayfly activity bottoming out for the year.  The seemingly never-ending drought of bug activity ceases with the first sign of the trico hatch!  This is no easy trout snack to master, however. ...

Fly Fishing Fall Colorado

Common Tips You Should Know To Catch Fall Trout

Fall provides some of the best trout action of the year as fish everywhere feel the coming chill of winter and pack on the weight accordingly.  Each season has its own uniqueness that provides something new to anglers at all times of the year.  Fall is no different, with changing leaves...

4 New England Trout Flies for Fall

Fall is a welcome relief  for the trout angler exhausted from the scorching heat and dry conditions of summer.  There’s something special about spending the day on a favorite trout stream while the leaves are in full array of their fall colors.  While the wet-wading time of summer is a distant...

fly fishing hoppers grasshoppers summer

3 Hopper Tactics to Catch More Trout

It’s no secret that terrestrials are both fun to fish and incredibly effective at luring up big trout from the depths.  In terms of protein, ants and beetles certainly pack quite a punch, but it’s the hopper that really makes trout go crazy.  These buzzing bank-dwellers jump through tall grasses and...

dry dropper fly fishing tips

Dry-Dropper Nymph Tactic For Selective Trout

Every fly angler has been in this exact situation hundreds of times. You've found a slow-moving pool with a pod of trout visibly rising to feed. The trout are rising consistently and you've been watching carefully. Rather than taking insects sitting on the top, they look to be stopping short...

4 Tactics to Catch More Trout This Summer

Anglers wait all year to throw on wet wading sandals and spend warm days fishing for trout in summer. Layers of fleece and wool gloves are nothing but a distant memory, and anglers have to change tactics to reflect the summertime trout fishing scene. When flows drop and trout get...

How to Catch Trout During Runoff

Runoff is one of the more challenging aspects of fly fishing in the West during the months of May, June, and sometimes July. Tranquil streams that were mere trickles all of a sudden surge off steep slopes as snow melts and swells waters from Colorado to Montana.  For some anglers,...

4 Great Flies For Stocked Trout In The Spring Season

While everyone loves to catch wild trout, many anglers have no choice but to target stocked trout thanks to their prevalence and proximity to home.  There’s nothing wrong with going after these hatchery-reared fish, but sometimes the flies we use to target them are a bit different than on the...

Best Spring Hatches and What Flies to Use

Spring fly fishing is punctuated by strong hatches that stir trout from their winter slumber and into a feeding frenzy.  The warmth of spring stimulates bug life in a big way, and for the first time in months, trout have a variety of insects to choose from to fill their dietary...

3 Great June Hatches for Trout

June is perhaps the best month for trout fishing in the Eastern chunk of the United States, and that’s mostly because of some extraordinary hatches.  As runoff rages across much of the West, trout streams from Maine to North Carolina teem with bugs and trout happily slurping them off the surface. ...

How To Identify Bugs on a Trout Stream

The truck door slams and the sound of the rushing water gets louder as we hike down the trail towards a favorite stream.  Bugs swarm into the air when we push through the bushes that line the bank.  Trout can be seen happily rising to the steady hatch and angler excitement...

4 Tips to Fly Fish Midge Patterns in Winter

While anglers desperately await the arrival of spring and the hatches that serve as a welcome relief from winter, midges still dominate the late winter months.  Bug life often mirrors the weather outside, and rarely do huge mayflies hatch when temperatures are frigid and the snow is pounding.  With that in...

8 Best Winter Trout Flies for Fly Fishing Colorado

When winter sets in, it’s easy to opt for the warmth and comfort of home rather than the harsh conditions outside.  The easy decision isn’t always the right one, however, and that’s never been truer than in the case of winter fly fishing in Colorado.  Don’t be intimidated by freezing temperatures...

Tips for Finding Winter Trout

It doesn’t matter how many boxes filled with neatly organized flies we carry with us on the stream.  Split shot, strike indicators, spare leaders, and spools of tippet are great accouterments, but none of it translates into finding trout during the harsh of winter.   A perfectly weighted rig with beautifully...

4 Nymphs for Late Winter Trout Fly Fishing

After months of staring at tiny midges and praying for warmer weather, anglers are ready for winter to break.  At first, winter is a uniquely fun time of year to be out on the water:  snow falling and the icy temperatures seem to be worn as badges of honor that only...

What to Wear Fly Fishing in the Winter

Would you rather write the fishing report or read the fishing report?  That’s the conundrum for so many anglers during the cold winter months.  Sure, the fish are out there and probably willing to eat, but is it really worth it during that snowstorm that brings several inches of snow and...

Top 4 Winter Dry Flies For Fly Fishing

Winter months are often spent staring at strike indicators leading tiny nymphs in an effort to muscle up trout from the depths of icy streams.  While there’s nothing wrong with nymphing through the entire season, there’s something about watching trout come up and sip dry flies that is exhilarating on another...

4 Ways To Efficiently Organize Fly Boxes

At the end of the day an angler’s vest or pack can look more like a wrecked Christmas tree than anything else.  Flies are strewn about, nymphs hopelessly snarled in the yarn of an egg pattern, and dry flies dangling from the eye of an articulated streamer are commonplace after an...

4 Winter Fly Fishing Tactics to Catch More Trout

There are many anglers who consider winter to be the most enjoyable time to be out on the water.  Solitude is in short supply during these cold months, and the fish still have to eat despite snow and cold temperatures!  The situation changes in many ways when targeting trout in the...

Catch More Pre-Spawn Browns By Fly Fishing Early Fall

Visions of beautifully-colored brown trout fill anglers’ dreams all summer.  The thought of these fat, gorgeous fish attacking every fly in sight is something folks from all over the country share in.  From Montana to New York trout anglers all know the allure of fall fishing for browns. Autumn...

3 Books Every Fly Angler Should Read

It's often noted how one of the great things about fishing is there is no true "season" to it. It's possible to fish and catch a number of different species 12 months a year! That all sounds great until it's snowing and twenty degrees and the thought...

Effective Dry Fly Fishing For Rising Trout: A Delicate Presentation Is The Best Presentation

A delicate presentation helps keep your fly afloat longer. After work, I can't wait to rush out to the stream and get fishing. Often times I arrive just before dusk and right in the middle of a hatch. My adrenaline kicks in and my heart rate spikes. Seeing so many mouths feeding...

Nymphing Rigs For Fly Fishing

Top 3 High Water Fly Fishing Trout Rigs

The anticipation of the day’s fishing mounts.  A few sporadic raindrops ping the windshield, but it’s hardly noticed by the pair of anglers anxiously waiting for the desired roadside pull off to come into view.  There it is, and the truck comes to a jolting stop as the duo can hardly...

4 Reasons Why You Should Absolutely Hire a Fly Fishing Guide

Fly fishing guide services can be found in all 50 states and across the globe, for good reason!  It’s a fairly big commitment to spend hundreds of dollars to enlist a professional guide for the day, and anglers want to be sure that their investment is worthwhile.  Fishing with a guide...

How To Strip-Setting for Bass and Trout With a Fly Rod

A friend of mine once traveled to Montana to fish specifically for trophy browns and rainbows. His days on the water were chosen with meticulous attention to the weather, river levels, and barometric pressure.  After touching base with a local guide service, he arranged multiple days in a drift boat throwing...

Killer Tactics for Fly Fishing Hoppers this Summer

The buzz of a million hoppers coming from the roadside meadow overtakes the truck’s powering down engine.  A warm breeze wipes away the single bead of sweat rolling down the angler’s face as 4X leaders are topped off with 5X tippet. Waders have been stowed away for a month as the...

Strategies You Haven’t Considered While Fly Fishing For Trout

Fishing Streams After A Rain There are always tactics and techniques to catching fish in nearly every situation, and fly fishing high, muddy streams after a rain is no different. In these high water conditions fish will seek refuge in slack water and along the banks. Don’t expect to catch fish...

How to Fly Fish Grasshopper Flies and Terrestrials

The intense buzzing can be heard from the truck as rods are hastily rigged with giant globs of foam with spider-looking legs dangling from all directions.  While every angler has their favorite dry fly fishing hatch, there are few hatches in the sport of fly fishing that are more exciting than...

What Size Fly Fishing Tippet and Leader Should You Be Using?

Of all the aspects of fly fishing that intimidate anglers, choosing the right line and knowing when to use it perhaps stands above all others. So here's a quick guide to choosing the correct size fly fishing tippet and leader. Table Of Contents What is tippet? What is a fly leader? How to use tippet. Different...

4 Tips for Fly Fishing Tricos for Trout

For bug enthusiasts, high summer can be a fairly dull time of year, with terrestrials taking center stage and mayfly activity bottoming out for the year.  The seemingly never-ending drought of bug activity ceases with the first sign of the Trico hatch!  This is no easy trout snack to master, however....

4 Great Flies for Low Water Trout

Low water poses an intense challenge for even the most skilled of anglers.  Flows drop, rains become more infrequent, and the trout get sluggish in the tepid water that comes with high summer. It’s a scene that faces fly fishers each and every season, and it threatens to shut down the...

How to Fly Fish Squirmy Wormy Flies For Big Trout

In many cases, fly fishing with squirmy wormies is more effective than fishing the claimed more natural counterpart of imitating hatching insects like blue-winged olives or some nymph. Some fly anglers sneer at the thought of using a worm fly pattern to fool some fish. But, aquatic worms are a completely...

7 Common Mistakes People Make Fly Fishing For Trout

Trout fishing can be a tough business!  It’s why books have been written about it, guides focus on educating anglers, and fly shops make their money on helping make folks better fishers.  Some of our mistakes are correctable, though! Here’s a list of seven common mistakes made by anglers...

How To Fly Fish Nymphs Using Indicators In 4 Steps

As you're tackling the deep pools and runs in your local streams with some nymph flies, strike indicators will eventually become necessary. These are nothing more than the fly fishing community's version of a bobber. Strike indicators allow you to keep your distance from trout and reach pools you wouldn't...

Best 11 Soft Hackle Flies For Swinging And Nymphing Rigs

Soft hackle flies are a little known secret to a select few in the fly fishing community. But once you know exactly how to fish them and when, they become a staple fly in your fly box. There are have been countless times where I would've have gone home without a...

3 Ways To Find Productive Fishing During Runoff

The first sign that summer is truly here has to do with...snow? Yes, snow!  More specifically, the melting of snow in the mountains that leads to swollen rivers and streams at lower elevations.  It’s quite the time as air temperatures can be in the 80s and 90s while the water...

Places Trout Will Hide And Where To Cast

Trout hide in all kind of places that are a little obvious and sometimes surprising. Overall, there is always one rule to where they position themselves: an optimal spot that always them to expend as little energy as possible while still feeding, yet, it provides cover from predators or quick...

nymph fly fishing flies

The Breakdown On Fly Fishing Nymph Flies

Just like every other type of fly there are different types of species you should be imitating. Your fly box should have a variety of patterns imitating each species found in your water.  For example, if there is a large population of stone flying nymphs in the stream that you're...

Tips to Improve Casting and Spend More Time Fishing

A nice brown trout gently slides out from an undercut bank to sip the ant that had just fallen into the water. It’s a foolish move on the fish’s part, as his cover is now blown and the angler begins to formulate a plan. Making sure to stay out of sight...

Essential Tactics And Tips For Small Stream Trout

It’s hard to not fall in love with small stream fishing while scrolling through Instagram and marveling over stunning brook trout. The idea of bow and arrow casting underneath thick mountain laurel and watching gorgeous trout feed so innocently in plunge pools sounds awful nice, but it can also...

Proven Tips to Identify Bugs And Catch More Fish

Trout are rising feverishly all around us as we stare hopelessly into a box of neatly organized dry flies. There have been no willing participants as our caddis, drake, and stonefly imitations have drifted on by without an ounce of attention given by the fish.  It’s frustrating, and our flies...

7 Streamside Etiquette Mistakes That Are Just Common Sense

There are times when the desire to fish a certain spot first will blind the angler to everything around them. Visions of fish in the net can cloud what is otherwise our better judgment. Perhaps there’s a blanket drake hatch and one run, in particular, has been extra productive, or...

No Brainer Tips for Solving Picky Trout

Anglers of all skill levels can relate to the helpless feeling of dealing with picky trout. As we sit there and stare holes in our fly boxes searching for answers to this fish riddle, it’s important to remember that sometimes the solution lies outside of our fly choice!  There are...

Land More Fish With a Proper Hookset

The elation of watching a good fish hit the net is difficult to explain to non-fishing folks. Conversely, few things match the hurt of a tight line suddenly going limp as a solid trout swims back into it's home unaware of the pain felt by the angler just a few...

5 of Our Favorite Nymphing Rigs for Fly Fishing

While visions of brown trout slurping dry flies frequent our dreams, the truth is fishing subsurface flies will yield better catch rates most of the year. If anglers are serious about catching fish, they will do everything they can to increase the odds of success! That often means using multiple flies...

5 Essential Fly Fishing Tips for Being More Productive in the Winter

While winter might not seem like the best time to be standing in water in pursuit of trout, our finned friends brave the cold and are there for taking to those hardy few willing to brave the elements. Tactics change with the season, however, and nowhere is that more apparent...

7 Tactics For Fly Fishing For Winter Trout

As the temperature begins to drop winter fly fishing season is approaching fast. This can be a difficult time for anglers but can also be rewarding as the crowded days on the water begin to dwindle. Here are a few tips to maximize your fly fishing even through the winter months: 1....

How to Mend Your Fly Fishing Line

A drag free drift is something that we all dream about. There’s just something about watching your fly drift through the water in a totally unhindered way that, like a lot of aspects of fly fishing, is just beautiful. And, perhaps best of all, the fish love it, too. As beautiful...

6 Different Strike Indicators for Nymphing

There are fly fishing indicators designed for nearly every single different scenario. I’ve even used buoyant pieces of a twig when I made the mistake of leaving my foam indicators in the car. There must be a dozen different floating indicators, line indicators, and bio-putty. The good news is you...

Nymphing with Split Shots Makes All the Difference

Adding supplemental weight to your nymphing rigs is the difference between catching fish and not. Here’s why. The whole idea about split shots and using heavier beads is not only to get your nymphs down faster but to put your flies within the water column that fish most readily feed...

Fly Fishing High Muddy Water

Flooding can be a major problem for fish, not just us humans. With vast amounts of debris and sediment being pushed downstream, it can be tough for fish to discern what’s food and what’s not. Not only that, but, too much sediment can clog up their gills. But, fish still got to...

6 Different Ways to Dry Off Your Dry Flies

If you’ve ever been fly fishing long enough with dry flies you’ll know that they always take on water and sink after a few fish and drifts. This can be for a number of reasons from poor line control where mending is needed to better situations like you just landed...

How to do the Bow and Arrow Cast: Fly Fishing with Trees Behind You

Backcasts don’t work when you’re surrounded by shad-tons of brush and low hanging branches. And, it’s not my idea of a good day when you spend the whole time untangling your line out of trees. Of course, you can always move to another hole or approach the same water from a...

4 Simple Methods to Master the Art of Unsnagging your Fly

No one likes losing their flies to the river, but it’s a part of fly fishing whether you’re a rookie or an expert. Your natural instincts will take over and tell you to try and force the snag free, but this often results in losing your entire rig...

Articulated And Underestimated: Fly Fishing For Large Trout And Bass

We all know and see big nasty articulated streamers in the fly shops and online thinking would a trout really eat that thing? Isn’t it too big? In most cases yes, a lot of big crazy streamers are overkill but making sure you are equipped with a solid selection of...

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Catch-And-Release In Under 30 Seconds

I myself have been completely guilty of mishandling fish, on more than one occasion in fact. I resembled a fly fishing novice back then. Fly fishing isn't easy, fish are feisty, slippery and proper handling isn't exactly instinctual. Since the early days, I have grown as an angler, thus...

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Best Colorado Tailwaters and How to Fish Them

Colorado grants many anglers with the opportunity to fly fish year-round, despite the long winters and heavy snowfalls. The abundance of tailwater fisheries located all over the state provides incredible fly-fishing opportunities, especially during runoff season and for anglers seeking trout through the winter months.

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Improve Your Streamer Game With Jigged Streamers

Have you ever been sure that there is a big brown trout hunkered down in the deepest parts of pocket water, but it’s guarded by boulders, logs, and snags? And after losing 4 streamers you give up.  You just lost $25, or an hour at the vise.  Well, there might...

Weight, What? Yea it’s true, you’re not getting deep enough!

Every fly fisherman, at some point in time, needs a tactical intervention. In my case, it happened to be a depth issue. I needed to properly understand the connection between the weight of my flies, the depth, and flow of the water I was fishing. The most beneficial advice I have...

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How To Fish Meaty Flies And Articulated Streamers

Everyone loves “meat” flies. I’m no exception -- I love swingin’ meat to t-rex sized fish. When I first got into streamers, I loved the idea of going after those dino sized trout you can’t get with a 22 sized BWO. But now, let’s face it, it’s an addiction. Years ago,...

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The Deadly Technique: How to Fish Soft Hackles

Rarely do I hear fly anglers rave about soft hackle flies. That is partially due to the lack of fishermen that use them and I bet it has to with the lack of attractiveness in these flies. “Wait, are you telling me people don’t fish these just because they look plain...

How to Save Your Leader: Use a Tippet Ring

Tippet rings are extremely useful but can be an extreme pain if you have clumsy fingers. For those of you who are not familiar with tippet rings, they are an excellent way to extend the life of your tapered leaders without compromising the strength or buoyancy of your leaders and line....

4 Simple Considerations To Spook Less Trout

Written by CASTING ACROSS Maybe grandpa told you not to talk or you’ll scare away the fish. Perhaps you watched a super artsy video on YouTube where the anglers moved in slow motion. Whatever the reason, you’re convinced that trout are the smartest creatures on this planet. And not just smart: paranoid....

5 Small Stream Fly Fishing Tactics

Over a decade ago, I attempted to fly fish the small stream down from my house. This stream was a challenge. It was narrow and had its fair share of overhanging grass and branches. I had no idea what I was doing. I thought that it wasn't going to be that tough....

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