Fly Fishing Tips and Techniques

We recently spent several days fly fishing for Redfish in LA. Here's what we learned.

Lakes and reservoirs have different flies, but the techniques are largely very consistent with how we fish other water. The rewards can be....well, take a look.

The Fly Predictor is an app that identifies the insects most likely to occur in streams, rivers, and creeks at a given set of geo coordinates. Said, another way, drag your finger on a map to a specific body of water, and the app will tell you the bugs most likely to occur in that water. It’s like having a fishing buddy that is an entomologist, but without them bugging you with bad insect jokes!

What makes the Mirco Golden Stonefly “the fly of the month” going into April is because it is very realistic to the actual golden stone nymph, the lighter pale yellow color, the epoxy back giving that armor look, the life like segmented body and the “turkey biot” used for the legs which pushes the water and grabs fish’s attention this is definitely one of the most realistic Stonefly patterns around and a deadly pattern to use the next few months.

Hot spots are effective. We outline all the different forms and colors that you’ll find on today’s top hot spot fly fishing flies.

The black beauty, the mercury midge and other small midge patterns get a lot of airtime, but one thing that I find important when choosing flies is picking VARIATIONS!

Confidence patterns are not simply a list of best sellers, nor are they a list of most recommended flies. Confidence patterns are the stable of flies that an angler reaches to regularly with the expectation of catching fish. Our confidence in these flies is a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts…we fish these flies with the expectation of catching fish and we probably have better concentration and better presentations. And, thus, better results.

Fly design doesn’t just happen sitting behind a vice. There’s a lot of creative genius and time invested into these combinations of feathers and hooks.

I have had a lot of success using Garcia’s “Rojo Midge” pattern, both as an attractor and as my second fly. I typically fish it in a size 18 or 20, dead drifting it mid-column like a midge pupa pushing its way to the surface.

REMEMBER BIG BUGS ARE STILL IN THE RIVERS! Yes it’s “Tailwater tiny” season but don’t let that stop you from trying out new attractor patterns, a trout will eat a big meal if the presentation is there!

We do think that jig hooks have several unique characteristics that make them especially effective when used in a Euro Nymphing setup. We also think these characteristics make them great for fishing with a bobber or under a dry fly. We are less and less convinced, however, that the “hook point up” orientation is one of the benefits unique to jig flies and Euro Nymphing.

I absolutely love this fly because it’s so versatile, it can be fished on any part of your set up at any time of the year but I like to fish it in a size 18-20 in the winter as my attractor/lead fly.

So good I’ve been known to fish two at a time

Small flies catching big fish

The Poison Tung has the slim profile of a midge, additional weight to get it down where the fish are sitting in the winter and most importantly the color BLUE - which excites fish and can cause aggressive strikes reminiscent of summer eats!

If I see a midge hatch or see fish rising and don’t see any bugs I ALWAYS throw on a Jujubee. Sunday was no different, there was a strong hatch most of the day and nearly every other cast we had a fish on!!

As the temps cool trout move from from the faster, more oxygenated water to slow deep pools and in the Winter they are stacked up right where these red blood midges live. Trout become lazier than usual but trust me they are on the look out for these bright red bites of candy full of nutrients!

The PBR is a great fly and I hardly ever see it at fly shows or in fly shops and I rarely hear people talk about it but it’s a secret weapon and you should definitely try it out this winter!!

Bright orange is great and realistic but it’s good to have a variety of lighter oranges, peaches and light pinks. As the spawn slows down the eggs become less vibrant so lighter colors are great to use.

In my top 3 favorite flies. That’s it.

This fly is trout candy - ALL DAY LONG and will last all day long because of the uncanny durability!!

There are over 1000 different midge species & they are one of the only insects that hatch all year round, so having a stock in your fly box is important.

Leeches are very abundant creating a tasty snack for even the pickiest of trout some of the biggest fish I’ve caught have been on the mini leech!

If you don’t have some- GET SOME! I recommend size 20 or 22.

I threw on a Dura Jig as my lead fly and it was great action all the way til dark!

The Mercury Glass bead always seems to be more productive than a standard midge. The glass bead mimics a gas bubble that insects use to emerge and trout love emerging insects because they are most vulnerable.

I will typically fish this in a size 18 or 16 as my last fly off a dry-dropper or nymph rig so that it rides along the bottom where larva typically sit.

A versatile fly that can imitate free-living caddis, net spinners, and cased caddis.

I have been using this fly as my third fly on a tag from the point fly dropping it off a foam terrestrial with one of the previous flies of the weeks as the point fly and then the zebra bubbleback as an emerger. This has proven day in and day out that this is a fly that produces.

All You Need to Know to Get Started Euro-Style Nymphing