Switch the Setup and NOT the Fly

There have been many occasions were I was fishing an area, seeing the trout, yet failing to hook up on anything significant. The first reaction by most of us is to change out flies and try again. We attempt to focus on matching the hatch or experimenting with various subsurface patterns, but we still ultimately come up short. In reality, the method of presentation is usually the problem, not the fly selection. Try the following few tactics before rifling through your fly box…


1. Add or remove weight to better match the flow rate of the stream. Remember, when nymphing, you will often want to get those patterns as close to the bottom as possible. The faster they reach that area, the more real-estate you will be able to cover per cast.

2. If running a dry-dropper, experiment with various dropper lengths. Sometimes switching a 14 inch dropper for a 18 inch can prove to be the ticket to falling perfectly within a feeding lane

3. Switch from mono line to fluorocarbon. I have found that areas that consist of clear, slow moving water will often produce better using fluorocarbon tippets due the fact that they are harder to see once submerged. It’s a pretty significant difference! Try looking at each type once placed in a glass of water… Which one disappears?