Beginner Fly Fishing tips, Fly Fishing Stealth

For the fly angler to be successful trout fishing lakes and rivers, he must use common sense and a well-executed plan to outsmart a very wary pray. Remember, the trout you’re after is always on guard for any kind of danger, so when you alarm him you also alarm other fish in his vicinity. Although a trout’s brain is small, it has registered literally thousands of real aquatic insects in a natural and quite environment. Therefore, you must take every possible advantage that is available to you to present your fly in a natural and undisturbing manner. The following are some simple things that you can do to increase your catch rate per hour of fly fishing.

When lake fishing make sure your boat is stealth. Naturally, a small boat painted brown or forest green is much better than one painted red or white. Water is a real conductor of noise, so check the anchor pulleys and oar locks for noiseless operation, replace all noisy parts and worn out parts. Place a piece of out-door carpet in the bottom of the boat to help cut down on any unexpected noise. Use a pyramid anchor(s) or mushroom anchors for quiet and secure anchoring. Avoid chain anchors or small sea anchors that have metal-to-metal contacts, these can make unnatural under water clicking noise. Be sure to tie the anchor rope directly to the anchor. Do not tie it to a metal clevis, which is attached to a metal anchor ring. To keep the boat from swinging back and forth in the wind use two anchors, one anchor tied off the bow and one tied off the stern. Lower your anchors very slowly and try not to alarm resident fish. Turn your depth finder and all electronics off at least 20 yards before arriving at your new location when it is time to move to a new spot, keep everything quiet, and move the boat slowly. You can often move your stealth boat in very close to feeding fish. Keeping a low profile, you can then make shorter, accurate, and more presentable fly casts. This is one reason why float tube fly fishers are so successful, float tubes don’t make any noise; they present a low profile and they don’t cause big ripples on the water surface that will startle feeding fish.

Consideration should also be given to the color of your fly line. For example, when fishing a spring creek or a clear mountain lake, don’t use highly visible florescent orange or white fly lines. You will have much better success using green, olive, or clear fly lines, these won’t spook the fish. Lake fishing in gin clear water requires neutral colors or clear fly lines and long 10 to 14 foot leaders with fine monofilament or fluorocarbon tippet material. Refer to my web site and read the Fly-Fishing Tips article: "Fluorocarbon Leader Material and the Fly Knots to Make It Work". If you are fishing a big, fast- flowing river for steelhead during a cloudy overcast morning, or during low light conditions, a white fly line with a long leader will normally not put the fish down.

To improve your chances of success when fly fishing small streams and rivers for trout and other game fish, you also need to be stealth and blend into the background of the river bank foliage. In the spring, when the streamside foliage colors are turning lush and green, wear clothes with colors that will help you blend into the background. I suggest olive greens, green, or light green-colored shirts and fishing vests. The same is true for summer and fall months, when browns and tans are the background colors. Predators move fast, you need to move slowly. When fishing a small river or creek you need to become one with nature that does not appear to be a threat. I know this all seems like common sense information, but how many times have you seen some guy fishing wearing a red shirt and a white hat.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope these fly-fishing tips help your fly-fishing experiences. Good luck, good fishing and practice catch and release for our future generations.