Trout Flies - the Basics

Wet Trout Flies success is how you fish the fly, & match to a natural specific insect that trout are feeding on. How you fish the fly is the most important skill, but when the fish need that little more encouragement, matching is also key to success.

Wet Trout Flies are presented to the Trout under the surface of the water where it finds most of its food, sometimes finding food on the bottom and in the weeds, then through to mid surface taking nymphs & pupae on the way to the surface; one method of using these flies is to try casting across the water and slightly down current, let the fly sink & let it move naturally in the water, the fly will rise when the line tightens mimicking a natural insect rise in the waters surface. It's on this rise that fish usually strike! Another deadly method is if you spot a trout, cast in front of it then twitch and wait for the Take! Then there’s the traditional sink & retrieve method. You can also fish several different wet flies together which is especially productive to find out which are the most effective on their day.

Nymph Trout Flies - Trout mainly feed below the water surface where they hunt on Nymphs. Insects lay their eggs on to the water surface, these then drops to the bottom where they stay until they hatch, and the newly developed immature aquatic insects (nymphs) are then food for hungry trout! There are hundreds of nymph patterns available such as the Caddis Fly, Damsel Fly and of course the fisherman's favorite, the Mayfly. Natural coloured fly tying materials are often used to create nymphs in order to help fool the fish into believing the fly is natural food. The stage beyond the nymph is the emerger; a fly tied to represent one of the natural insect's most vulnerable stages of life. As these insects hatch, and therefore emerge or suspend from the water, they hang in the water's surface, shedding it's 'shuck' or skin whilst drying its wings before taking flight. Emerger or suspender patterns therefore can be classed as Dry Flies as they sit within the waters surface. Tactics for Nymph flies include fishing the nymph along the bottom, move them slowly, occasionally give it a sharp pull as if the fly is trying to escape from a hungry fish, these movements sometimes induce a following trout to attack. Other tactics include suspending the fly under the water or, on the bottom & using a strike indicator to see the bite, especially effective on large still waters

Finally, the above guide is just a small snapshot giving an outline of the basics. We would recommend that you spend some time studing further as you progress with this absorbing hobby - whatever your learning style theres plenty of information out there! Books,Magazines, millions of youtube articles and so on.

Enjoy.....