101 Fly Fishing Tips for Beginners

The first thought must be the choice of water. For instance, if fishing during the day it may not be worth fishing shallower areas as the water there heats up fastest and to such an extent that any trout there will be almost dormant. Depth creates an easier way of life. Trout do not have eyelids and therefore seek out the deeper and darker water to avoid harsh sunlight.

The first tactic will not please the purists. However we do go fishing to catch trout and in very difficult conditions these tactics may be the only way to do this.

Having roughly established the likely depth we are going to fish we now have to choose the fly line that will allow us to do this comfortably. More often than not something like a Wet Cel II should do the job well. Adjustments to the actual depth can be done by either counting down or timing on a watch (with a second hand) prior to starting the retrieve.

A fly that is considered to 'shake them up' is the Pink Tadpole. This should be fished figure of eight style using an ultra-slow retrieve, this can be interspersed with pauses, allowing the fly to undulate. Another variant is the Purple Tadpole this can also be used to effect under similar circumstances.

Stillwater trout fishing has come a long way over the last ten to fifteen years. The days of the plain black and white lures and times when your fly line just sank of floated have now gone. Modern stillwater fly fishing has now developed it's own jargon with various complications, tactics and methods. Fine tuning these tactics has become a prerequisite. On stillwaters many anglers have overlooked the one of the most fundamental, simple yet deadly methods of all - the dry fly.