“How can I catch more fish?” “Is there one trick that can help me become a better angler?” “How come guides outfish most other anglers?” These are just a handful of questions that I hear all the time while I am guiding. Most of us want to be better anglers and become more successful on the water. If this wasn’t the case, there would be no demand for magazines, how-to videos, local fishing clinics, or casting lessons. The majority of fly fishers are trying to improve their fishing skills, whether it’s to catch more fish or bigger fish. It’s true that 90 percent of the fish are caught by 10 percent of the anglers. After 14 years of guiding, I have finally realized that the biggest difference between an average angler and a great one is a fairly small margin. As I started pondering what it takes to be great angler, I came up with one simple answer — being analytical.
Being analytical on the water means actually thinking about a strategy before you go fishing and then continuing to think about and revise it while you’re on the water. The best anglers I know all have the same common trait — they analytically think about what is happening, and they do so all the time. These anglers are actually paying attention as they fish. I can’t tell you how often I see anglers out on the water who are just flailing away, hoping that a fish might bite their fly. If you are going to take the time out of your life to go fishing, isn’t the point to feel the tug of a fish? Then isn’t the next goal to feel another tug? Then another one? The saying “The tug is the drug” has always led me to make one more cast in hopes of a reward at the end of my line. Of course, for some, fishing is a way to relax and check out from our stressful world, and that serves an important purpose, even if you get skunked. However, there is nothing quite like feeling a fish’s energy pulsing on the end of a fly rod. I love knowing that I am physically connected to something truly beautiful and mysterious.
Here are my top five ways to help you think more analytically about your fly fishing. These are basic tips that are talked about among the best anglers and guides that I know.
Fish When Fish Are Feeding
This seems obvious, but how many anglers lash the river to a fine froth all day long, but catch fish only when a hatch begins? Being analytical means fishing when fish are likely to be feeding. If you know that the hatch on River X doesn’t come off till 11:00 a.m., going out before then is a waste of energy. Why get there at 8:00 a.m., when the best fishing is still three hours away? For saltwater anglers, if the perfect tide is from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m., plan on being there in that time frame. Don’t show up at 1:00 p.m., when the tide is slack and the fish are not aggressively feeding. Time is a gift in this life, and we need to use it wisely. So rather than wasting three hours of your life waving a stick back and forth hoping a fish will eat your fly, you could be doing something else more productive. Sleep in and get some rest, or go have breakfast with your friend and really connect before getting on the water. And if you know the fish stop biting at 4:00 p.m., why stay out until dark? Sure, you might catch another fish or two by laying outcasts those three extra hours, but think about all the time you are wasting, standing there hoping to get a bite. Guides don’t hope for a bite — we expect one. If you aren’t familiar with the timing of the best fishing in an area, then seek out help from a local fly shop, friend, or do some research on the Internet.
Weather Dictates Strategy
One of the biggest things that you learn as you start guiding is that you have to let the weather conditions dictate how you fish. Many anglers go fishing with preconceived ideas about how they will fish and what flies they will use. For example, most anglers begin with the fly that what worked well last time, a trusty go-to fly, what a friend said to use, or because a new fly looked pretty sitting in the bin at the fly shop. Sometimes this works, but there are times when preconceived strategies don’t pan out. That’s because often, the weather conditions are just as much the factor determining whether we catch fish as what flies we are using. Often we anglers just go out there like robots and mimic our last outing without actually analyzing the difference in the weather conditions between the two days.
Being analytical means examining weather conditions. What is the weather going to be like for the day? Is the weather similar to yesterday? It was sunny this morning when I was catching fish. Now the clouds have rolled in, which may be why I’m not getting any activity. Streamer fishing with overcast skies and rain can be amazing, but not under cold, clear conditions. Egg fishing is great when the light is low in the morning and evening, but not in the middle of a bright, sunny day. If the first day you go fishing it is 75 degrees and the second day it is 65 degrees, expect the hatch to be later in the day. When fishing for bass, don’t expect great top-water angling in the middle of the day unless the conditions are dark and cloudy. If the insects need bright sun to hatch and it is raining, don’t expect much of a hatch. Next time on the water, let the weather conditions dictate how you fish, and I promise you that you will be more successful.
Be Adaptable
Being analytical means weighing choices and considering alternatives. Usually, when heading to the water, we have an exact spot or location picked out where we want to start our day. Unfortunately, so do a lot of other anglers, some of whom may be headed to the same spot. So when you get to your favorite spot — call it “the Fish Factory” — there are three people already there. Do you join the crowd and start fishing the same spot? Do you wait for people to leave and then fish it? Do you turn around and drive home? Or do you say a few choice words and kick some rocks? I have been known to mutter a few choice words under my breath when others are in the way, but that is not being analytical.
If you want to be more successful on the water, then be adaptable about where you fish. If “the Fish Factory” is occupied, then move on to “the Secret Spot.” Or find likely water that you haven’t explored because you always fish in “the Fish Factory.” Often you will be more successful if you can find water where the fish haven’t seen so much pressure. Even if the alternative to “the Fish Factory” holds only half as many fish, the reduced pressure may result in more success. Then if you really want to fish “the Fish Factory,” go back after the people have left and the spot has been rested. Adaptability is just as important as the methods and techniques an angler brings to the game.
Believe You’ll Catch Fish
Successful anglers do not just go through the motions of fishing. They are analyzing every cast, every presentation of the fly. Because they are confident about their analytical skills, they believe that they are going to catch a fish. Once you lose faith in what you’re doing, you don’t pay as much attention, and your analytical skills diminish. So while being analytical helps you catch fish, believing you’ll catch fish puts a fine edge on your analytical skills.
This is such a basic concept that most don’t even think about it, but it is so vital to being successful on the water. When you go fishing, you have to believe in what you are doing. That’s something that divides guides from occasional anglers.
We have all experienced a hard day on the water when nothing is happening. At the start of the fishing day, you were hyped up and fishing hard. However, after hundreds of casts, it seems as if there are no fish anywhere. And something negative happens after hours of not being successful. Once you start “going through the motions,” your body relaxes, and you start noticing the trees, the birds, or whatever else you shouldn’t be looking at when your line is in the water. The best anglers believe in every cast. When you believe in your cast, you fish more analytically, and that results in more hook-ups.
All of the best anglers believe they will catch a fish on every cast. Of course that doesn’t happen, but a full commitment makes you fish harder and more effectively. When you believe and fish harder, you end up catching more fish. Stop going through the motions of fishing and push yourself to believe in every cast.
Think Ahead and Be Prepared
Being analytical means spending time learning about where you’ll be fishing and preparing for what you’ll find there. The main difference between guides and regular anglers is the amount of time guides put into becoming intimate with the water they are fishing. A guide knows the small nuances about timing, what kind of flies to fish, where to fish, and how to fish that particular water effectively. All of those important things have been learned by spending time on the water.
Time alone on the river is not enough, though. When you get out on the water, you need be analytical about what you are looking at. If you are a saltwater angler, look at tide schedules and read reports online to see if you can get an idea of where the fish are holding. If you are a freshwater angler, thinking ahead about basic things such as entomology, river flows, and upcoming weather patterns are all going to make you more successful. The more information that you can collect, the more prepared you are to be analytical on the water.
My biggest advice to become a better fly fisher is to a hire professional to teach you. To become a better caster, take casting lessons. If you want to learn how to tie better flies, rig a rod properly, or learn about bugs, sign up for a class at your local fly shop. And if you want to become more analytical in your fishing, a guide can be your best teacher.
The great thing about fly fishing is that you can never truly conquer the sport. Analyze everything you do, and when it doesn’t go well — and there will be times when it won’t — adjust your methods and analyze again. Constantly evaluate what you are doing, and start thinking of fishing as a skill that you are going to refine over your lifetime. If you take that approach, in the long run, you are going to learn an immense amount that will give you a distinct advantage over the guy fishing next to you. Reflect and analyze — but also don’t forget to smile and have fun.
