Presentation is #1

Posted by rusty on October 15, 2007

     Did you ever find yourself on the stream getting skunked, and wishing you had a specific fly?  Well I’m sure you all have at some point.  Most people know that the way to catch more fish is to match the hatch, but my belief is that presentation is #1. 

     The reason I find this to be true is that so many times my good friend Philip and I would catch fish from daylight til dark on the same fly, while most people switch with the fish activity throughout the day.  We will usually start the day with what is a confident fly of ours, or what we know has worked in the past(keep a journal).  Even as the temperature heats up and the BWO hatch starts, or whatever is coming off that day, you can still catch you share of fish as long as you present the fly to the fish in a natural and enticing way.

     The way that I began to believe this theory we had was when I first realized how to read the water during every drift I would make.  After a while of tossing cast after cast to feeding trout with no luck, you will start to learn.  It’s kind of hard to explain, but I know when you figure it out it is one of the greatest rewards in fly fishing.  It’s almost like your force feeding them but without the force.

     The best way to learn this is to figure out what was different with the cast that caught the fish, and the casts that didn’t.  Fish a nice run or riffle that you know produces trout, with a fly that you wouldn’t think of using any other time, but this time trust it and fish it with confidence and close attention and I’m sure eventually you’ll figure out how to read the water.  Because remember, matching the hatch isn’t everything, presentation is #1.

     And as for now and always “tight lines”

     Rusty Foreman