ACADEMYTHE

Retrieve your flies right to your feet. The trout will often take in very shallow water.

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The Flies Predators of all shapes and sizes are curious and trout are no different; this must be why lures are so successful. The trout are after something that catches their eye and is a bit of a mouthful. Now is not the time to fish small, imitative patterns; leave that for later in the year.

Tackle up with weighted flies; things with long, sinuous tails that provide plenty of movement and will make the trout take notice. Dumbbell eyes or gold heads add weight and, because they are placed at the head of the fly, by using a jerky retrieve they will rise and fall in the water column; trout find this hard to resist.

You should always be ready to change your flies too. When the fish go off the boil a change from the norm will keep you catching.

The Lines As with most kinds of fly fishing, you can’t really go far wrong with a floating line, unless it’s windy. A floater lets you cover depths up to 10 feet with ease. What’s more, it gives you greater control because, unlike with sinking lines, it allows you to retrieve your flies at various speeds. When there’s a bit of a wind, however, all you really need is an intermediate. You’re on the bank and, given enough time, this line will sink

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to the lake bed allowing you to fish your flies through all of the depths.

Another benefit of the intermediate line is the fact that it will let you fish your flies back on a level plane, which is hard to achieve with a full floater.

The Retrieves It’s all about getting an attractive action going, finding something that the trout simply can’t resist. As mentioned previously, the weight of your fly and the length of tail and materials can all be accentuated by the way in which you retrieve your flies.

You need to be in touch with your flies at all times; there should always be some tension on the line so you can feel any takes easily.

One of the best retrieves, early on in the season, is the long, slow pull. With your retrieving hand give the line a continuous pull of about a foot or so, pause, and repeat. This will cause the fly to rise and fall in the water column.

Other useful retrieves are the slow roly-poly, which will keep your flies swimming along on a level plane all the way to the bank. There’s also a fast rolypoly – it’s a bit more strenuous but it keeps you warm and it can be an incredibly successful method when the fish are in a chasing mood.

Tricky Trout There will come a time when the trout are proving a little hard to tempt. Chasing trout can be a real pain; you know they are there but getting them to take can be a major problem. A change of flies can often help, as mentioned, but at other times it may not. Nevertheless, there are ways in which you can induce the trout to take; you need to make it commit.

With the tip about 20 feet from you, stop the retrieve and lift the rod. This will often result in a well-hooked trout.

Speed up the retrieve. The best way of doing this is to cast out, start with a very slow roly-poly and gradually get faster the closer you get to the bank. With the tip about 20 feeet from you, stop the retrieve and lift the rod. This will often result in a well-hooked trout that’s followed the fly and taken it as it’s stopped dead in its tracks. There are times when it’ll miss it and you’ll see the trout looking around bamboozled, wondering where its meal has gone. Drop the fly back in near him and it’ll often take with gusto.