Timing Is Everything on Dry-Fly Presentations

Timing Is Everything on Dry-Fly Presentations

My friend Matthew Supinski, a well-known fly-fishing guide/guru from Michigan and the guy who literally wrote the book on brown trout and Atlantic salmon, The Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus, reminds me that the absolute worst time to cast at a rising fish is right after it has eaten off the surface. 

It’s made the effort, it’s looking back down, it’s deciding if that was worthwhile–it’s not immediately going to whack away at another bug in a fraction of a second. But raise your hand if you’ve instinctively seen a fish rise and tried to laser a cast right on top of the trout as quickly as possible.

My hand is raised.

In the trout world, everything is timed. If I know a hatch is happening, and the trout are keyed on certain bugs, as opposed to the opportunistic terrestrial take, I won’t even make a cast until I’ve seen the same fish eat three times. 

I know what the bug is. I know where the fish is. Now I need to determine the feeding rhythm and establish a timing pattern.

Does the fish eat every ten seconds? Thirty seconds? Once you’ve taken the time to establish its pattern, you’re in a position to sync that next cast. 

Careful observation allows the angler to close the timing loop, and when doing so, your dry-fly fishing prowess will improve dramatically.