Need tips for rising fish on Bow

[C.wright1]

Hello all,

I only have one summer of fly fishing under my belt so i'm still a beginner and I was hoping someone could give me some tips on how to target rising fish.

I was out on the Bow River today for my first time this winter/spring and surprisingly to me I was surrounded by fish. It appeared to me like they were smashing nymphs rising to the surface. I was drifting nymphs as I usually do, but had no luck and didnt have much time to try different things. I was using generic nymphs such as a prince nymph.

Can anyone give me any advice for what flys to use and how to use them in this situation?

My first thought after going home was that I may have had luck with a small midge pattern and focused on the end of my drift where the fly rises to the surface. Or perhaps a use fly that floats in the surface film?

Any help would be appreciated as it was painful having fish jumping at my feet with no luck catching them.

Thanks!

[Smason]

for fly selection make sure the fly is the right size, personally I think fly size is more important than fly color.
and when presenting the fly to the fish do your best to make sure the fish sees the fly before it sees your leader, they can shut down pretty quick if you leader spook them.

Practice practice, practice, and do so away from the river. over the years I have spent many hours practicing casting on the lawn. IMO it's better to practice away from the river because you are not distracted by trying to catch a fish.

[densa44]

I agree that size counts a lot. Careful wading and even more care presentation (this is my grandfather speaking). When I was just starting out I'd cast for the "ring" the fish made when he broke the surface. After many days like yours, I began to cast well up stream from where the fish was surfacing.

Way more strikes. The fish gets a much better chance to see the fly and line up a strike.

Nymphs, they will catch the most fish for sure, but the take is very subtle, You may have had fish on but failed to give a tug at the right time. Maybe an indicator on the line to see when it stops for a split second as a fish tastes it.

It is a great river and did you notice "Practice" in the first post? Granddad again, "It is not how far you can cast but how well"

Put them back and then you are one of the fly fishing brotherhood.

[C.wright1]

Thanks for the advice guys,

Im going to have another try at the same spot sometime this week and hopefully I have some luck. Im definitely going to do my research on fly choice for this situation and be very careful with my casting. Today the situation was new to me as I had never seen fish rise so frequently. I'm used to just nymphing deep with long drifts which has been more and more rewarding with more practice. Im going to try working the surface film and see how that goes. Hopefully a few good casts will be had.

[DiabeticKripple]

Maybe try a blue wing olive dry fly.

I used that one winter and caught fish, even though I didn't see any BWO's for months.

[goldscud]

I believe you are correct that they were not eating a dry...rather chasing a bug up. It is too early for BWO's and the fish were moving too quickly to be after midge pupae. I would think about another spring bug

[Lornce]

This time of year they are either rising to Midges or Little Black Stones. Way to early for Blue wings. We did will with Back stone dry's last weekend with 3 to net.

[403Bowhunter]

This is all really good advice... When you find a steady riser on the bow excitement kicks in and it can cause a guy to make silly mistakes that make that riser disappear.

A couple things to take note of when you find one:

- I agree with the size comment, although with midges in the spring a guy can get away with using a 16 midge cluster fly instead of a 22 single midge. Your landing % goes way up on a slightly bigger dry
- for the most part, presentation is king! Tread softly and slowly as you approach to within 20-40ft-ish downstream of the fish.. It's a balance between getting close enough to present the fly softly and accurately, but not getting so close as to spook the fish. Each situation is different.
- 99% of the time, a fish will not rise to a fly that has drag on the drift.. (this excludes skating stones and caddis).. That fly needs to be drag free
- If you make an inaccurate cast, let it drift well past where you think the fish is before you pick up and cast again. And pick up softly.. that "blurp" noise when you pick up quick with some drag will spook a fish
- when a fish eats, pick up slowly. This is a rule for bigger fish, and the speed of the pick up depends on the size of fish and the type of water you're in, but generally a lightening fast cutty hookset won't work on the bow. That big ole brown just needs time to turn down and close his mouth on the fly you just presented perfectly!

Overall, practice landing the fly softly, presenting a drag free drift, practice your accuracy, basically just keep at er and practice as others have noted.

Also, casting lessons make a world of difference. Its something people don't do enough, but when your casting stroke is second nature and you have a few different types of casts in your arsenal, you'll find catch %'s go way up. Call up Fishtales and ask for a casting lesson from Dave or Terry. They're the best casters in the shop and more importantly the best instructors of casting. And they'll know the answer to any dry fly related questions you have. Good Luck!