A good way to learn fly-fishing is to wade the shallows of a lake while casting a small popper for sunfish and bass, or a streamer for northern pike. Fishing is best in early summer, when sunfish are on their “nests” in water 2 to 4 feet deep. Wade quietly along the shoreline or in the shallows. Cast toward visible fish or their light, circular nests.
1. Casting the Fly
Pull two rod lengths of line from the rod tip and let another 5 feet of line hang from the reel down at your feet. Hold the rod in your right hand and the loose line in your left. Cast back and then forward. During the forward cast, release the line with your left hand. The weight of the line in the air moving forward should pull the line at your feet and extend the cast another 5 feet. This is called shooting line. The more line you pull from the reel and shoot, the farther you can cast.
2. Retrieving the Fly
After you cast, loosely hold the line against the rod handle with the first or middle finger of your casting hand. Then grab the line behind your casting hand with your line hand and quickly jerk the line to make the popper generate a popping sound on the water. This attracts sunfish and bass. If you’re fishing for northern pike, the jerk looks like a swimming fish. Let the line fall in loops at your feet as you continue pulling in line.
* Fishing Trout Lakes
Fishing for trout in lakes can be a lot of fun, especially when the water is cool in spring or fall. Use dry flies, nymphs, and streamers.
* Fishing Streams and Rivers
Trout swim in coldwater streams, while smallmouth bass live in warmwater rivers. Both feed near fast water. Fish for them where choppy, shallow water, called a riffle, dumps into a deep pool. Fish swim below fast water, protected from the current by rocks or logs. They also rest in the “seams” between the fast water and the slow water near a bank until they spot an insect drifting in the water. Below undercut banks and overhanging stumps are other favorite hiding spots for fish because they can dash into the swift water to grab the food.
1. Approaching Fish
When fishing a stream or river, cast upstream. This way you can sneak up on the fish, which face upstream. Move slowly and stay low. If a fish sees you, it will dart away.
2. Surface Fishing
If you see a trout rising to eat insects, cast a dry fly a few feet upstream of where the fish broke the water. Allow the fly to drift over the area where the fish was feeding. This gives the trout a few moments to see your fly as it drifts overhead.
3. Underwater Fishing
If no trout are rising, they are probably feeding underwater on nymphs. Cast a nymph upstream into the fast water and let it drift naturally back toward you. Because it’s hard to see or feel when a trout grabs a nymph, many fly-fishers put a small foam bobber, called a strike indicator, on their tippet. The strike indicator jerks when a trout bites the nymph. Lift the rod to set the hook.
Smallmouth bass feed underwater on small fish and crayfish, so try a streamer or crayfish fly. Streamers work well if cast across a stream and allowed to swing downstream in the current. Be sure to drift your streamer in water where the fish have not been disturbed. You can fish downstream using this technique. Weight a crayfish and jerk it along the bottom.
Stewardship and Courtesy
• Get permission to cross private lands
• Respect other anglers
• Pick up and take trash home
• Recycle monofilament line
• Follow regulations
• Release fish carefully
Adopted From Minessota Fly Fishing Basic
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