Fly Fishing Tips & Skills
Though we primarily fish in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado, these fly fishing tips and skills can be applied on rivers, streams and lakes, anywhere in the world.
Below are many some excerpts from the literature we use in the fly fishing classes we teach. Hopefully you will find some things that will help to make fishing more fun and enjoyable! If you are on a guided trip with us and there is one particular skill you would like to work on our have us help you with, please don't hesitate to ask your guide about it.
Note: We offer full day fly fishing and casting classes for individuals or groups. Please call or
email us if you have any questions or would like us to do a class for you and/or your group. Classes can be done indoors or we can arrange to do them outside, on the water. Please check out the video "Los Alamos Fly Fishing Class - April, 2010" on our
NM Fishing Videos Page.
Covering The Water
When you fish a pool or run, you need to try and get your flies to go through every part of it, especially the best holding water. If you look at the illustration to the left, the dotted lines show where the fisherman has made each cast. From where all the casts land, the flies are then dead-drifted downstream well past where the fisherman is standing. At the end of each drift, they are picked up and cast again to the next location in the run. The run in the illustration has been divided up into five sections (A thru E). The first cast was made in section A; the next cast in section B and so on across the river. You always want to fish the water closest to you first and then work your way across the river. This is so you don't scare any fish that are closer to you by casting over them towards the far bank, before fishing for them directly. In sections C and D the holding water and structure looked better so more casts were made there than in sections A, B and E. Before you start fishing any type of spot in a stream or river, divide it up visually and make your casts and drifts so you get your flies to go through all of the water.
The All-Important Mend
Getting your flies to drift naturally also known as "dead-drifting") your flies is crucial to getting fish to bite them. The most important way to accomplish this throughout the drift is to "mend" your line, often multiple times. A mend or "mending the line" is simply flipping a section of the line in between the rod tip and the indicator or dry fly so that it doesn't get caught in the current and create drag (as previously discussed, line drag will screw up your dead drift). The most typical mend will be to flip the middle or "belly" section of your line up-current (upstream) so that it won't get dragged below your indicator or dry fly. This is accomplished by flipping the line with your rod by moving it in a circular motion.
The first illustration to the right shows the basic technique of how to mend the line upstream. The fisherman has made a semi-circular motion with the rod causing the line to flip upstream. For a smaller mend, this motion can be nothing more than a flip of the wrist. For a bigger mend, across a large distance, it will be a motion using the whole arm and shoulder. Notice that the fisherman in the illustration made the mend as soon as the indicator or dry fly was directly in front of him. This is a good general rule of thumb to follow. The further down stream from you the indicator or dry fly is, the greater chance that your flies aren't getting a good drift. The bigger the downstream belly in the line, the harder it is to mend it back upstream. Also, take note of the position of the indicator/dry fly - it didn't move from the mend, just the line did. This is an extremely important component of making a good mend. The idea is to keep your flies fishing throughout the whole drift. If by mending you jerk or move the indicator or dry fly, your flies won't be fishing correctly.
The middle illustration is an in-stream, aerial view of the upper illustration. The fisherman is fishing across the main part of the stream to the far bank, where most of the fish are; a very common occurrence. In this situation, mending correctly and at the right time becomes essential to getting a good drag-free drift and getting the fish to bite. The issue is that the flyline is in the middle of the stream where there is more current and your flies are drifting along the far bank where there is less current. This means that the fly line in the middle of the stream will be drifting/dragged faster than the flies along the bank. In this situation you will need to mend quickly and more often (see the bottom illustration).
1) Shows the fisherman has made an upstream and across cast to the far bank, where the fish are. Notice that the fly line is right across the middle of the steam in the stronger current.
2) This where the first mend is made. Even before the flies were across from the fisherman, there was a down stream belly in the line that needed to be corrected.
3) This is where the second mend is made. Once again the middle section of the fly line has started to be dragged downstream, faster than the flies are moving. A smaller mend was made to remedy the problem, before the flies started to drag. By making multiple mends, the flies were fishing well throughout the whole drift.
Here are a few "mending pointers" to keep in mind...- Don't "over-mend"! Most people try to mend way too much line and with too much force. This usually leads to jerking your indicator and flies. You are better off to mend just enough line; more is not better with mending.
- It is always better to make multiple, smaller mends than to wait until the last minute and attempt to make one giant mend. Making multiple smaller mends will keep your drift more consistent and allow you to make subtle changes to it as needed, without interrupting the fishing.
- Try and pick a spot on your line (i.e. the junction of the fly line and the leader) to use as a target. Mend to this target and use it as a point where your mend stops on the line. This will help you to not over-mend. It will also help your accuracy and to not move your indicator or dry fly.
- In a spot where there is a strong current, you can consider throwing an upstream mend as soon as your fly line hits the water after a cast. This will help to get the drift started off correctly at the beginning.
- As you improve your mending skills, you can start to use your mends to help place your flies in specific areas of the stream/river that will hold fish. There are also many variations other methods of mending (i.e. the "Stack Mend") which you can learn and apply once you master the typical mend described in this article.
As with everything in fly fishing, all of these tips & skills will become second nature to you with a little practice and experience. Just get out on the water, relax and have fun - that is what it is all about.Good luck and good fishing!
MORE COMING SOON...
