Methods & Tactics

The simplest idea in fly fishing, and the most satisfying. A floating fly, cast upstream to a rising trout, drifting back as though it belongs there.

Most of the time, trout feed below the surface. This is the fishing that works when nothing is rising — which, if we are honest, is most of the time.

Short-line, leader-to-hand, heavy nymphs fished tight to the bottom. It looks nothing like the pictures, but it catches fish in fast water when nothing else will.

The oldest way to fish a fly, and still among the best. A team of wets on the drift, letting the wind do the work while you attend to the small matter of reading the water.

Big, mobile flies that imitate baitfish or leeches. This is the fishing for days when subtlety feels like a waste of time and the big trout agree.

Double-handed casting for big rivers where a back-cast would end in the trees. The method that salmon fishing was built around.