This week’s picture is brought to you by Ming.
A January brown trout on a dry fly on the Lower Owens River.

Beautiful pic Ming!

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Until I fished in an international rules fishing competition I had no idea that netting fish actually required any thought or practice. However, once I watched some real masters with a net I was convinced. Many fish are lost just before they are landed and a big reason for this is that the angler just doesn’t have a net or doesn’t have the netting part down. Here are a few net things to think about:

1. When placing the net slip it straight into the water, almost with an easy jabbing motion, just under the fish instead of trying to sweep it through the current up to the fish. The resistance of the net bag against the water makes sweeping the net in this manner very slow and inaccurate and will give the fish more time to become unhooked.

2. Carry a net with a large opening and large relatively shallow bag. This will make it hard to miss the net with the fish. The wide shallow bag will also help you to reach in and remove hooks easily and get the fish back to the water safely.

3. In order to release fish unharmed, always use a net with a soft rubber bag or rubberized coating on the netting material. The old green or black fishing nets with knotted netting material are brutal to the protective slime and scales and fish with damaged scales or slime will often contract diseases that can later kill them.

4. Work the fish to the surface and even slide it across the surface into the net. A fish at the water’s surface will become far easier to control than one that is deep and can still use the current to its advantage. Many fish are lost because the angler tries to net them when they are still too deep.

Using a net, if it is the right net used in the right way, will actually help you to land more fish and will help you to release the fish with less stress and potential for harm. Practice netting just as you practice other fishing skills and you’ll be surprised at how much easier landing and releasing fish becomes.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Bobby.
Fresh off a trip to Tasmania sporting his new digs from RiverBum. Here’s on pic of many spent on the water with nice fish on the line.

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One of the very most interesting, rewarding, and potentially frustrating aspects of fly fishing is the problem solving that is required to match mayfly hatches. Sometimes getting into a fish’s head is downright difficult, but, when it all works out it can be sweet. Here are some things to think about when matching mayfly hatches.

1. Remember that most species of mayflies hatch in relative abundance. This means that fish see a lot of them and get really good at identifying them. Match your flies as exactly as possible to the hatching insects according to these 4 factors in this order of importance:

* First match the shape/silhouette of the natural insects.
* Second, match the size of the insects with your fly. This is vital in most situations. In a few hatches with large numbers of naturals, fish will actually key on a fly that is a size larger than the bugs on the water.
* Third, match the movement of the naturals. 95% of the time with mayflies this means a perfectly dead drift in the right current seams. 5% of the time, usually only with large mayflies like drakes, a slight twitch in the feeding zone can draw a strike.
* Fourth, match the color of the insect last. Usually light and dark are enough but very picky fish will key on certain shades.

2. Remember to study the hatch times of the hatches on your river. Different species hatch at different times of the year and different times of the day. It is often very tough fishing just after a hatch. Use a hatch guide book to determine approximate times and try to get there early so you can be ready when it starts.

3. Don’t overlook emergers. Many, if not most, of the visible rises during a mayfly hatch are actually fish feeding on emergers that are stuck just under the surface film.

4. Don’t underestimate cripple patterns. Many hatching mayflies get stuck as they try to shed the exoskeleton or get blown over and partially drowned as they dry their wings. These crippled mayflies are easy pickings and the fish know it.

Don’t miss your local mayfly hatches this season. Get a hatch chart or some local info and get out there and match the mayfly hatch. When it all comes together it can simply make grown men giddy.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Jake.
This great shot was taken somewhere in Colorado. Thanks Jake for throwing something a little different our way!

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Technology creates some interesting and funny situations these days. A few days ago a friend of mine was giving me real-time fishing updates as I sat at the computer. The fishing was “off” at the time so we talked about tactics. There had been a hatch earlier in the day but once it ended the feeding had pretty much stopped. He tried a few different unconventional tactics just short of TNT and luckily found some things that worked. Here’s some things to try when the fish are off.

1. Cover way more water. Even when most of the fish are not feeding a few will be. Increase the pace at which you cover water and you’ll be more likely to get you fly in front of a few fish that are feeding.

2. Go big and bold. Sometimes even fish that seem to be full can’t resist the chance for a big meal. Try big dries, big bright nymphs, or even big streamers.

3. Go small. I know I just said go big but, I’ll admit, it doesn’t always work. Especially on tailwaters and spring creeks, go tiny, very tiny. Size 24 midge larva patterns on 7X tippet are a favorite of mine when the fish get ultra picky.

3. Move your offerings right as they get into the fish zone. A twitch or a lift can entice a strike, even from fish that seem completely satiated.

4. Bump them in the nose. Especially where you can see fish, work on getting the perfect drift so that your nymphs get exactly in the fish’s face. You’ll either scare them or they’ll give in. However, once you get your fly on the fish’s nose once, if it doesn’t take it, revert to number 1 above and cover a lot of water until you find another fish.

Hopefully, the fish are always in a furious feeding mode for you, but if you happen to have an “off” day, at least give these things a try. You don’t have much to lose.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Joseph.
“Took a good 4 hours for anything to hit, but for this fattie, who cares?” - Olcott, New York

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The term Blue Winged Olive refers to small mayflies that generally have an olive body and blue-grey wings in the adult stage. In actuality, there are many many species of mayflies that fall into the BWO category and they can range from dark grey to light green in body and can have dark gray to light gray wings. Most though are olive or medium grey bodied with medium dun wings.

Springtime is known as BWO time on many waters. Hatches are most frequent from March to May and the most common sizes are 18 to 22. Here are a few of my favorite Spring Blue Winged Olive patterns:

1. Parachute blue winged olive - This classic BWO pattern rests low in the water to mimic a hatching insect but offers great visibility to the angler because of the visible parachute post.

2. Blue winged olive sparkle dun - This pattern utilizes a hair wing for good floatation and a z-lon tail to imitate the trailing shuck of a hatching BWO.

3. Blue winged olive bunny dun - The excellent floatation properties of rabbit fur combine with a realistically slim tapered profile to closely imitate adult BWOs.

4. Blue winged olive Barr’s emerger - This nymph and emerger imitates the BWO in mid hatch stage and is perfect to use the morning before a hatch and in the early stages of the hatch, or even as a dropper during the middle of the hatch.

5. The micro mayfly nymph - Both the olive and brown versions of this nymph are excellent imitators of the BWO nymph.

Get out on the water and cast some BWOs this Spring. Even though they are small, they hatch in abundance and get the fish and the fishermen excited.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Scott.
“Niagra Co, NY : 6 degree temp… 25mph wind… ICE!!!! -15 degree windchill!!! MONSTER STEELHEAD”

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Years ago there seemed to be an unwritten code of conduct that went along with outdoor sports like fly fishing. While there’s always been those that were difficult, most simply understood that out on the river you don’t get too close to fellow anglers, don’t jump in and fish in front of someone, and try to be, at least outwardly, very courteous upon meeting. Today, most of us have stories about discourteous encounters on the water; I know that I do. Although fly fishermen are far better than most others at sticking to etiquette, it doesn’t hurt to have a few reminders.

1. Always allow plenty of space. This amount of space will vary according to location. Some busy tailwaters may only require 50 to 100 yards and on some uncrowded streams you may want to allow 1/2 a mile or more. Be mindful to leave plenty of space on small streams where the other angler will have to cover more length of water to find the same number of fish they might find in a short length of a big river. If you’re in a boat, simply keep your distance.

2. Don’t hog holes. If you find a great pool or run it’s certainly OK to fish it hard but if others seem like they’d like to try it then move on. It can be frustrating when drifting a river to encounter someone who continually rows back up river to fish the same spot over and over forcing you to drift by them and not be able to fish the spot at all.

3. Allow the angler fishing upstream the right of way. This is an old notion, but one that we should all stick to. If you’re moving downstream as you fish and encounter someone, allow the angler working up to stay on the water and leap frog around him. This way once you’ve passed each other you’ll create distance faster as you fish away from each other.

4. Be very respectful of the river and it’s surroundings. Clean up, take care of your business in the right place, practice catch and release, and make as little negative impact on the resource as possible.

5. If you fish in a state that allows access on private property then do everything possible to protect fences, livestock, and property. Be respectful of high water marks and landowner wishes. Once again, take care of your business in the right place, not on someones property. It’s better to develop good relationships with landowners even when the law allows you to fish through.

Like it or not, we’re all representing all fly anglers in our conduct on the water. Let’s be cool to each other.