3 Advanced Fly Fishing Tips

Fly fishing is unique for several reasons. For example, it takes practice to master the different casting motions and timing to propel a tiny lure that has almost no weight. There are limitations to casting distance, depth, lure size, etc. but this technique is often thought of as the most highly developed fishing skill, with anglers often growing more focused on how and where fish are caught than size and quantity. Advanced fly fishing tips vary greatly but here are a few to consider.

Try New Materials

Common fly fishing materials usually include feathers and hair such as pheasant and deer. However, advanced fly fishing tips may suggest experimenting with additional materials with slightly different properties. Open a fly fishing catalogue and you may be amazed by the components available like other natural materials such as ostrich, duck, or guinea feathers or fur/hair from calf, moose, or Australian possum, as well as unnatural material like foam or beads of glass or various metals. For fish which can be quite particular, slightly altering how the fly appears, casts, floats, etc. can be effective.

Study the Hatches

Perhaps no other fishing technique is more focused on matching the hatch. A hatch is a brief, abundant prey item, usually attributed to a life cycle of an aquatic insect. During this relatively short period of time, opportunistic fish focus primarily on this easy meal. In a book full of advanced fly fishing tips for trout anglers, Meeting & Fishing the Hatches, author Charles R. Meck shares records of insect hatches and the stage of that insect’s life for streams around the country. In addition to time of year, this volume of advanced fly fishing tips even includes references to time of day and length of these hatches, thus helping anglers learn where and when to fish, as well as what flies to bring.

Patience

Patience is a part of any fishing outing, but especially important on any list of advanced fly fishing tips. Fly anglers often target fish that are extremely selective and have great vision in clear water. Because of this, anglers not only need to stay low to stay out of sight, but sometimes it may be necessary simply to sit on a log and wait for spooked fish to resume feeding activity, perhaps triggered by the arrival of the next hatch. Teaching someone how to fly fish also requires a considerable amount of patience, but can be rewarding in its own way.