Summer has to be one of the most fruitfull times for fly fishing. evening fishing is most productive. Take a look around the local river activity, there is alwayas a mass of insect life hatching and buzzing with the trout taking advantage and feasting on insects either hatching or unlucky enough to fall into the water. Olives are out at the moment so time to get out the dry olives, or my favorite the Olive F Fly.

The F fly can be used when buzzers are hatching and it fishes in the film as an emerger. The cdc feathers being naturally oily hold the fly in the film and the fish will usually sip them in. Fish the fly static and do not attempt to put any floatant on the fly . The only drawback is that after a fish has been caught the fly must be changed and allowed to dry before using again. When the fish are on it you get through plenty of flies !! In larger sizes the olive version can be very effective during hatches of olives.On the rivers the fly is a good one to try when fish are rising but you are not certain what exactly they want. Experiment with sizes and colours until you find the right combination. Do not allow to drag or else the fly will become water logged although it can still take fish beneath the surface !

Midge flies are also around and I would recommend staying on a smaller hook with the tiny black flies getting results.

Stay in the shade and keep your emails coming letting us know how you are getting on !

Remember that fishing line degrades so at least once each season safely discard all old leader line and replace it. If you don’t it could cost you the fish of a life time.

Balance your equipment by remembering that a 5 weight rod is for use with small flies and light leaders and that a 9 weight is for lure fishing. If you try using fine leaders on, say, a 9 weight rod you will leave the hook in the fish on the strike as the rod is too powerful for the leader.

If you are killing fish remember to spoon the fish for clues as to what they are eating. By doing this you can put on a suitable imitation and catch plenty of fish.

This is probably the most important aspect of any fishing and particularly for fly fishing. Look around you and see what insects are in the air and water.

That should give you a clue as to which fly to start with. When actually fishing watch the end of your fly line. Any sudden movement, no matter how slight, will be a fish – so strike.

If you wait for a tug you will miss most fish which have taken your fly.

As a rough rule of thumb hold the handle with your thumb on top then – during your cast – keep your elbow tucked in to your side. Do not break the wrist too much or the rod will drift back past where you wanted it to stop and all power of the cast will be lost.

Start the cast with the rod tip close to the water and the line straight. You should have 7 to 10 yards of line beyond the rod to allow the rod to load on the back cast.

Lift the rod steadily until it is at about the 10 o’ clock position and then flick it back briskly, stopping it as the rod butt reaches the 1 o’ clock position. Done correctly the line will travel past you and flex the rod.

Once the line is extended straight behind reverse the back cast by taking the rod briskly to 10 o’ clock, let the line go forward and lower the rod tip towards the water. Take your time in the cast as flailing quickly will get you nowhere.

You will hear a gentle swish if it is done correctly. If you hear a great big whoosh then you have got it all wrong. Do not push with your shoulder on the forward cast thinking it will gain you distance. It will not.

Remember – the rod does the main work and there is no need for multiple false casting to gain good distance.

Most modern line is made out of a form of plasticiser which covers an inner core. There are some lines made in a different way but these tend to be non stretch and are often susceptible to horrific memory problems.

Lines are normally about 30 yards long and shooting heads about 10 to 12 yards long. The normal format is double taper which, as the name suggests, is tapered at both ends and has a long level middle section. In theory it is possible to turn these round when a section gets worn but in reality the end nearest the backing will be lightly coiled after months or years stored on the reel.

The other main type of line is called weight forward. This line has its main weight in the first 10 or 12 yards and only this section is aerialised. Then the rest of the line is shot out on the cast.

This is a very easy line to use as long as you remember to only put the heavy front section in the air. A useful tip is to mark the line where the fatter head begins and this will be your reminder that the optimum amount of line is out for casting.

A lot of fine cracks in a weight forward line in the thin running section means you have been casting with too much line in the air making it hard work for yourself.

Always clean your lines with a special cleaner every 3 or 4 trips to keep them in good condition. You will be rewarded by much easier shooting properties and they will last longer

When fishing with more than one fly you attach a point fly to the end of the leader and tie on droppers.

These are short lengths of nylon which can vary in length from about 4″ to 12″. 8″ is a good starting point bearing in mind each time you change flies you shorten the dropper.

There are several useful knots; you can normally use the Blood Knot or the 3 or 4 turn Water Knot. We prefer the latter as it is easier to tie and seems more reliable. Remember that when using the Water Knot you use the lower section of line for the dropper and cut the top off.

Droppers have a habit of catching around the main leader. One way to reduce this is to stroke the dropper out until it stands at right angles to the leader, then pop a dab of fishing glue over the knot and the very base of the dropper.

Some people who can not master knots put droppers on by tying tiny metal rings to the leader and then tying the droppers to these rings. The disadvantage is that their weight tends to pull the flies quickly out of the fishing zone

SINKANTS

It is vital to continually degrease your leaders as it helps them sink. It also helps get rid of the shine which is very important in bright conditions. There are lots of different products and the ones containing Fullers Earth and detergent seem to work the best.

FLOATANTS

Modern fly lines do not need floatants to float as they contain minute bubbles in their construction.

However when using dry flies you want your flies to float and you will need to put a floatant on them. This is vital in streamy water. Lots of makes are available but our favourite is Gink which lasts for ages from one small application. Do not put too much on, however, as you will often want the fly to sit in rather than on the surface film.

Normally you do not grease a leader but if you want to fish a fly just sub surface it is very useful to do so. In this case lightly grease the leader up to the depth you want the fly to fish at. If you want to be 6″ under the surface do not grease this last bit.

Rods are often broken during assembly, particularly fly rods. To prevent this happening to you hold the rod low with the reel handle uppermost and double the end of the line over.

Pull line up through the rings and then pull about a rod length in a straight line out of tip. If you pull line down from tip it puts an unnatural bend in the tip and can result in breakage.

By keeping the rod low when pulling the line out it will not all fall back to the reel if you accidentally let go of it.

ROD & LINE BALANCE

It is essential that your fly line matches the rod’s optimum casting weight which will be marked on the rod just above the handle. Normally buy a line of the same size.

There are exceptions and if a rod is dual rated and you use a double taper line then use a line of the lower rating. For weight forward line use the higher rating. For shooting heads you can generally go one size above the weight shown.

When out fly fishing we all stand on the line or let it drop into the mud. Gradually a layer of dirt builds up on the line and dramatically reduces its efficiency. the line becomes much harder to cast and possibly even starts to sink.

The answer is very simple. After every 6 or so outings treat the line to a special cleaner and conditioner. Simply pour some on a soft cloth and rub onto the line. You will be horrified at how filthy the cloth will become. Repeat and then buff the line. Try casting and it will be as if the line is turbo charged.

Get into the habit of cleaning your lines often. It helps prolong their life, keeps them supple and vastly improves casting distances. If you don’t believe us then try it. We know you will be amazed at the results.

Do you never bother to fish parts of rivers or lakes when there are steep banks, bushes or trees to interfere with castings and making the back cast impossible?

The solution is incredibly easy and will enable you to cover fish that are unlikely to have been spooked by other anglers and these fish are often the older, wiser fish.  All you need to do is perform the roll cast and if  done correctly your flies will be sent a long distance and into the path of fish.

Every fly fisher should know this cast because if you fish with a sinking or intermediate line the easiest way to get your fly to the surface at the end of the retrieve is to execute a roll cast immediately prior to the overhead cast.

Practice it and then try it out on those fish that think they have found cover that is away from all the anglers.

The biggest cause of problems with spinning reels is that anglers under fill the reels. To ensure easy casting, line must be loaded on until it is between 3/16″ and 1/8″ from the lip of the reel spool. If the level is lower than this then when the cast is made a lot of friction will be created at the spool lip and the cast will be greatly reduced.

Also remember that the finer the line diameter the further you will cast as the spool level will reduce much more slowly so the friction effect will be much slower.

Elsewhere in our tips we mention the need to change your line at frequent intervals. This advice is not given to boost the line manufacturers` profits. Line deteriorates so it is pure common sense to change it sometimes during the fishing year. There is another very good reason why you should do this with a spinning reel. The line is wound around a narrow diameter spool and it takes on memory. If you do not belive us then leave line on the reel for a month or two and then pull it off. After the first few yards the line will just be fairly tight loops – not really good for fishing with !

ALWAYS back off the drag after a fishing trip. If you do not and keep the drag in its fishing position then the drag washers will be permanently compressed and this will lead to a very jerky drag. This is the last thing you need when that extra big fish bites. The spool needs to begin turning instantly the fish wants to take line – with a jerky clutch much more inertia is needed for the spool to turn and if your drag is set tight then its bye bye fish !!

CATCHING SALMON FROM RIVER BANKS THAT ARE TREE LINED

Salmon, or any other type of fishing where perhaps you would use a lure can be very frustrating when you walk along a river bank and find a superb lie.  The only snag is that there are lots of trees or bushes so you are unable to cover the fish because the water is too deep to wade or branches hang fairly low.  The fish are there and showing but what should you do?

We have found that Salmon, Sea Trout and Brownies are all suckers for a well presented plug such as a Rapala and this is the answer.  Put on a FLOATING Rapala of the appropriate size and colour that you think should work.  Now comes the crafty bit.  Get upstream of the lie to a position where you can get a cast out and cast the Rapala across the river.  DO NOT CLOSE THE BAIL but instead feed line until the Rapala floats down to where the fish are lying and then close the bail and fish the Rapala normally and with any luck you will hook a fish especially if it is a freshly run.

LEADERS, LEADER MATERIAL & BRAIDED LOOPS

Use the longest leader you can comfortably cast with as the more
distance between line and fly the less chance you have of spooking the fish.

Leader materials come in nylon, copolymers and fluorcarbons. For normal use, nylons in the 2lb to 8lb breaking strain will suffice. Use the light strain with small flies and the heavier if casting out large weighted flies. For normal fishing, standard monofilament is suitable.

In difficult conditions use a copolymer such as Daiwa Supershinobi. It is about half the diameter of standard mono and if the water is clear it
should give better presentation.

Fluorocarbons are almost invisible in water and being heavier than water actually sink much better than nylon. They are ideal when the fish are very shy and are also great for dry flies and suspender buzzer fishing.

Tapered leaders tend to give a better presentation and you can buy them ready made or make your own by stepping down three or four different breaking strains by about 2lbs to 3lbs.

You can also get braided leader and poly leaders to which you attach a short tippet of nylon. These act like an extension of your fly line and come in different densities enabling you to easily present flies at different depths even with floating lines. It’s always worth carrying a slection to match changing conditions.

BRAIDED LOOPS

These are a very easy means of attaching backing to fly line and fly line to leaders. Place one on the end of your fly line and leaders can be added or changed very easily using the loop to loop knot.