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10 Tips for Great Trout Fishing
in the Fall
by Christine O Shea
Fall is a wonderful time full of color, with orange,
red, yellow and some green. I also love to see rainbows
and not the weather kind. I am talking about the rainbow
colors in the beautiful, evervescent rainbow trout. With
the cooler temperatures in the air, one must get out on
the waters of a beautiful river full of the pleasant
ruffling sounds of water or the peaceful, glass-like
shine of a reflective lake. I will give you ten tips to
fly-fishing in the fall.
1. Make sure you have an ample supply of flies. By this
I mean nymphs, streamers, caddis dry flies, sink shot,
and a good pair of waders.
2. I recommend stocking-foot waders with separate felt
bottom boots. I have a Simms waders and Patagonia boots,
both of which are guaranteed for life. The stocking-foot
waders make walking around a lot easier. I used to have
the all-in- one waders with the boot and wader all
together but I found these to be hard to walk in. I use
the full overall kind of waders in the cooler weather
with summer months devoted to hip waders which can be
worn over shorts or pants.
3. Make sure you have a wading stick. I can not tell you
how many times it has saved me from taking a plunge and
having waders wet. The times I did fall, I did not have
my wading stick. I believe mine is made by Simms and it
collapses similar to dome tent poles and has a nice
neoprene case that attaches to a wading belt.
4. Speaking of a wading belt, this is a must have. If
you ever do fall in the water when fording the stream or
moving about this belt will save your life. The worse
case scenario if you don't have a wading belt is that
your waders completely fill with water and bring you
down to the bottom. No one wants to drown. Get a wading
belt.
5. A wide brim hat is another essential on hot, sunny
days. It also serves as protection should you accidently
hook yourself in the head on a windy day.
6. You will also need a fly vest or waist pack to hold
all of your flies, and gear. A good fly vest will need
all sorts of attachments for your clippers, caliphers,
fly coatings, etc. You can not have too many pockets
either.
7. A good net is needed for all the big fish you might
catch. I recommend the kind that has soft, black
material and not hard nylon that can damage the fish. I
catch and release my fish to give myself and others a
chance to catch them again. It is also better for the
environment.
8. With the bright sun, another must have is polarized
sunglasses. Another good idea is a eyeglass neck cord in
case they fall off, they will not be lost forever down
current or in the depths of the lake.
9. If you are fishing in a river, you may want a float
or in fly-fisher lingo, a indicator, which works like a
traditional fishing bobber. When you see it sink, you
will need to jerk your line and rod straight up to set
the hook.
10. Last but not least is the time you fish. The most
productive hours seem to be anytime during a productive
hatch or early morning or evening. I often find the
magic hour to be 3:00pm if you must go in the afternoon.
They may be active for a time after this time and go
dormant again till later.
One rule of reason with fly fishing that I have found is
if you definitely want to catch more fish, you must
nymph fish! Fall is a good time for this, although I do
it all year round. Fish eat the most, in the depth of
cover, close to the bottom or emerging from the bottom
as nymphs do in their various stages of development.
Some of my most productive nymphs are bead heads,
mainly, pheasant tail, prince nymph, scuds, and hare's
ear. I know, there is nothing like dry fly fishing,
especially when a fish takes your blue wing olive,
another of my favorites, but you must know that
productivity and nymphing go hand in hand. There is an
art to nymphing and stripping the line and using 1-2
non-lead split shots is usually necessary to get down to
where the fish are. If 1 weights is not working, try
two. I have seen this make a difference. So, get out
there, enjoy the fall season and catch fish.
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