Finding The Fish

One of the first steps to successful fly fishing isn’t fishing at all. It is just observing the water and surroundings for a while. Take five to ten minutes or so to watch and see if you can observe any fish feeding and what food and cover is about.

You actually can observe the environment better stationary, then moving. If you are walking, you might miss seeing small spent insects on the water or hear the sound of trout rising. It takes a bit of time to let your senses absorb your surroundings. So stop walking and talking and just look and listen. If you have a fair hike along the river or lake edge, pause every hundred yards or so and scan around.

Scanning the water for feeding fish is made easier with a wide brimmed hat and good polaroid sunglasses to help cut the glare from the water. Look around weed beds, over hanging vegetation and timber in the water. Even if there is no fish feeding activity close to the surface, these areas might be good for casting around, later on.

Some anglers break lakes and rivers up into sections to scan, before moving on.

If you do find feeding fish, how are they feeding? What are the fish doing? Are they rising to flies, and can you see the fly they’re eating? If you don’t see them rising, a nymph might be in order.

Look at the insects that are about, that the fish might be feeding on. Look for evidence of recent hatches in the water and along the waters edge. Can you find any clues of a recent mayfly hatch? If you see a lot of a certain kind of insect hanging around, you can bet on patterns that imitate that insect when you get to the stream might be worth a go. Where the bugs are is probably where the fish are.

Turn up the odd submerged rock and logs carefully looking for stoneflies, nymphs, etc. Make sure you put it back though and try not to disturb the environment.

Birds feeding around the water are good signs of food available, like swallows swooping down picking up mayflies. For saltwater fly fishing, flocks of diving birds picking up baitfish are great indicators.

On strong onshore windy days, foam is whipped up around the lakes edges. The foam is worth scooping up and looking at it closely.Stick caddis, beetles and nymph casing might be blown into the foam, which can sometimes get sticky and hold the insects. A lot of fly fisherman avoid looking at the windy lake sides as casting can be difficult and uncomfortable. However, the wind blows a lot of food around the edges and is worth investigating.

The opposite side of lakes, the offshore side, can just be as productive on windy days, as fish may cruise waiting for grasshoppers, ants, crickets and beetles waiting to be blown on to the lake or river.

Over hanging trees and shrubs are worth watching for food. If you see a lot of a certain kind of insect hanging around the brush, you can bet on patterns that imitate that insect when you get to the stream might be worth a go. Sometimes shaking a branch will give you an indication of the insects about as they fly off.

Take a look at grass stems and weeds near the shore line for clues of a recent hatch. You might find mudeye casings, from recently hatched dragon flies. Around old stumps and trees are worth looking at before you even wet the line, as you know what type of food is about.

Spider webs are a great place to look for clues. Most spiders keep their web reasonably clean so you may be able to tell if it is a recent hatch. If the insects do look old, you will know for next time what other aquatic life is about, so you can use a fly to imitate it.

Watching the water is time well spent as you can find what the fish are feeding on, what other types of insect are about, possible hot areas to cover and what is the best imitation fly to use. All this valuable information is available to you and you haven’t even cast the fly yet!