by Mike Wilson, July 01, 2004

I just got back from a 5 day cast and blast vacation that found me steelhead fishing on the Methow River and deer hunting up in Okanogan County. I rarely get away by myself these days so having 4 days to sit and contemplate the meaning of life and fly fishing was really a treat. I am still a novice steelhead fisherman but did quite well during this trip and had some important lessons hammered home for the umpteenth time. I discovered that my mistakes that cost me fish weren’t new to me; they were mistakes that I have made for years but were just amplified because of the size and strength of the fish I was pursuing. So sit back and join me while I eat a little humble pie and share with you the lessons I have learned over the years. These lessons are the ones that often make the difference between bringing a fish to hand and wondering about what might have been.

Be Prepared

I don’t know how many times I have walked up to a river or got out in a lake and started tossing my fly out before I was really ready and missed a really nice fish. I get in such a rush to get my fly in the water that I forget to see if my drag is adjusted properly or don’t take time to really look at the water and mentally walk through what I am going to do if I hook fish. I think back to my second cast in the Methow last Christmas break. I was still messing with my fly vest and getting pockets buttoned down when, bang! Fish on! It was also off in less then 30 seconds. I didn’t get another strike the rest of the day. Or how about the time I was fishing a desert creek and hooked what is a large fish for the stream and it ran me down stream and around a bend only to get off in a brush pile because I didn’t think about how I would fight a big fish in that situation. This has been a hard habit for me to break but I try to pause for 30 seconds before I cast and do a mental checklist and gear check to make sure I am ready for a fish if I should hook one right away.

Pay Attention

I don’t care how slow the fishing is, if you lose your focus and look away for a few seconds you will get your only strike of the day. It happens every time and I sometimes swear the fish know when I am not paying attention. Let’s face it, paying attention every cast or every moment while you troll is hard to do. Add in the fact that I have the attention span of a 5 year old and you can see that paying attention is difficult for me. Yet I continue to lose fish because of a momentary let down. I have found that you don’t even have to look away, you just have to lose focus for a second or two and it is too late. To combat this, if I find myself getting fatigued or losing focus I take a break for a bit or change my technique. Maybe I switch from a full sink line to a floating line and start working a weed bed on the lake. It is easy to be focused when you are getting a strike every cast; the real challenge is being alert on a slow day. Mix it up and stay fresh and your catch rate will greatly improve.

Don’t Get Sloppy

During my first day on the river last week, I was getting a lot of strikes but not a lot of hook ups. Half of the fish I did hook were foul hooked. I was getting frustrated by this because nobody likes missing fish or foul hooking them. While deer hunting up in the mountains the next few days I had time to think about what I was doing wrong and I realized that I was getting sloppy with my casts. My line often had a belly in it when I was hooking up. I realized that the times I fairly and solidly hooked a fish was when I took time to properly mend my line and make sure I was getting a good even across stream swing. When I stopped by the Methow on the way home on Sunday, I hooked 4 steelhead and landed 3 which tripled my success rate from the earlier outings. I have had similar situations on lakes where I don’t exercise good line or speed management and loose fish as a result.

Size Does Matter

It has been said that size and general color of a fly pattern is more important then an exact imitation. I couldn’t agree with this statement more. I been fishing during hatches before when I have the exact pattern but in the wrong size and gone fishless. Other times I have been on the water with only a semi close duplication of what was happening but had the right size and color and brought dozens of fish to hand. If you aren’t getting the results you want or are having difficulty hooking fish because of short strikes, don’t be afraid to up or down in size.

Don’t Always Go By the Book

This is probably the most productive lesson I have learned in all my years of fishing. Don’t be afraid to break the rules or mix it up from time to time. You may discover a whole new technique that out fishes the traditional methods. When fishing my favorite river, I have learned that once the dry fly begins to drag to pull it under and strip it in as it swings down and across. This goes totally against the book but it consistently produces some of the largest fish out of the river. By the book, you must use time tested steelhead patterns to catch a fish yet my brother and I have had tremendous success using my old stand by, the wooly bugger. Those who explore and invent are the ones who discover new trends and methods so have some fun while you are out there. If somebody wrinkles up their nose and tells you that you are doing it wrong, just smile and tell them thanks and continue going about your business. When start taking fish you better believe that the nose will quickly unwrinkled and that same person will be asking you to show them the technique you are using.

Wrap Up

These are only a few of the lessons that I seem to have to relearn every time I go out but they are the important ones. I believe that fishing success is a combination of knowledge AND attention to detail. We can all have days when we get lucky but to consistently produce, you have to focus on what you are doing.

Before I wrap up this column, I want to say hello to Jim of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club. I had the pleasure to stand next to this fine gentleman on a crowded river Friday morning. Being a bit anti-social I normally don’t care to fish around other anglers but Jim was the ultimate gentleman and fishing partner for the day. We had a great time.

I also want to let you know that I purchased a W.W. Griggs 8 wt. rod for this trip and it performed quite well. I was throwing a heavy sink tip line with a bead head wooly bugger into what was often a stiff wind. It performed excellent and held up battling some nice fish. It was $50.00 well spent.

Please feel free to email me with comments or questions at frugalflyguy@aol.com.

Mike Wilson
Spangle, WA