Big fish are the ultimate target of many, if not most, fly fishers. Big fish aren’t necessarily smarter though, they are often just overlooked. A few simple things to remember when targeting big fish is to fish where big fish are and to fish when big fish feed. I know this sounds simple, and maybe even a little “no duh”, but many anglers miss out on the biggest fish by fishing in the wrong spots and at the wrong times. This obviously varies quite a bit by species and location but with trout, being territorial feeders, most big fish occupy the best feeding lies. In good hatches this may be the tailouts of runs, lies closest to the banks in slow water, or the best current seams. At other times it will often be at the heads of runs where they get the first shot at the food. With browns, cuts, and brookies the biggest fish often lie closest to the best cover or deepest water. With rainbows the biggest fish often occupy faster deep water where more food drifts by. If you’re catching a lot of small fish it is likely that you aren’t going to catch the biggest fish in that particular spot. Also, big cutthroats, brook trout, and especially browns are notorious night feeders. Staying late or arriving early or simply fishing all night can result in the biggest fish in the river or lake you like to fish.

This week’s picture is brought to you by John. He pulled this football of a brookie out of the Nantahalia River in North Carolina.

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One often overlooked category of flies are the terrestrials, especially beetles and ants. Most of the time you don’t see them on the banks or in the stream-side vegetation in great numbers so you don’t really think about using beetle and ant patterns. Trout, however, are almost certain to know what they are. Many times when things have been slow I’ve tied on a Foam Ant, a Hi-vis Beetle, or even a Chernobyl Ant and have had them inhaled by hungry day-saving fish. Beetle and Ant patterns seem to work especially well between major hatches when fish aren’t seeing and keying in on any one particular food item. Be sure to have several beetle and ant patterns in your box; you’ll be glad you did; the fish won’t.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Thomas. This picture was taken on December 30th on the Salmon River, NY. Nothing like a monster to make you forget about the cold. Nice catch!

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One of the best ways to cover various depths during a day of fishing is to use a dry fly and dropper rig. This can be done with any number of different patterns. It is good to remember to use a dry fly that is buoyant enough to carry the dropper you’ve chosen.Most of the time this dropper will be a bead head nymph or some other weighted nymph, but unweighted emergers and other flies may also be useful as droppers.Some of my favorite flies to use in this type of set up are PMXs with a bead head JRS nymph, Parachute Adams with a bead head Pheasant Tail or Micro-mayfly, and an BWO Comparadun with a Humpback Emerger during Blue Winged Olive hatches. Be creative with this rig. You can vary the depth of the dropper anywhere from 6 inches to 6 feet and, where legal, you can even use 2 droppers at different depths.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Paul. A beautiful shot on the Provo River. Nothing like a riverbum, his dog and a fish!

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One method of deep nymphing that is very effective and is catching on is the bounce rig. The bounce rig is most easily set up by tying two lengths of tippet to the end of the leader with blood or surgeons knots and leaving two of the tag end of the knots from 6 to 12 inches long. Blood knots are better because the tags are at 90 degree angles to the main leader. The nymphs are then tied to the two tag ends and weight is added at the free end of the tippet where the fly is usually tied. A knot below the weights is necessary to keep them from sliding off the end of the leader. This rig can be fished under an indicator, by feel, or Czech style by actually moving the flies slightly faster than the current. The advantages of this rig are that you can bounce the weights along the bottom and the flies that are tied to the tag ends stay just up above the bottom where fish are feeding and that if you snag the bottom it is often with the weights and not the flies. Play around with the lengths of tippet and tags and the amount of weight to find what works best for you.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Paul. A beautiful shot on the Provo River. Nothing like a riverbum, his dog and a fish!

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