Hi sorry for yet another question:

I fished Selmmuir on Monday and landed 4 fish lost 6 and missed countless. The best technique I found was small fry patterns just under the surface stripped fairly quickly. Now on most casts I seen either a flash of silver or had a bow wave behind the fly as a trout was chasing it.
In this situation is it better to speed my fly up? Keep the speed the same? Or slow it down?

I've had pretty conflicting guidance on this and would love some clarification.

Cheers

Give the fish a chance, during your retrieve introduce a stop / pause in your retrieve. It can be a bit frustrating getting it right, but that's part of the fun.

Just my tuppence worth, I'm sure there will be much more advice coming.

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Eddie
"We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."
Voltaire

Speed up and slow down , speed to attract the trout then pauses to allow the hit, not an easy situation but good fun

I mean specifically if I can see a trout following/chasing it? Is it best to slow down to allow the fish to hit it?

this was happeneing to me the the last time i was out, my mate troutfisher told me to start to figure of 8 when they are bow waving behind the fly. this worked really well for me

i remember doing the same thing out on a boat with Alec at harelaw neilston which was one of the best nights fishing Ive had all thanks to a man who knows his water so very well and to answer the question ,,,it took varied retrieval rates,,like ,, fast,fast,fast then stop with a few tiny jerks of the rod tip to induce the take and if nothing then back to the fast strip then stop and a slow long pull they often took it then ,,,great fun though ,,wish i was on the water having the exact problem right now as i loved it ,,,oh and cheers Alec i did enjoy it.

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dont you just love nature

I'm not a big still water fisherman by any stretch of the imagination. But with moving water and 'skating' flies and you have a 'take' one of the more common techniques here is to drop a few inches of line out the rod tip.

For context, your rod (and tip) is pointed straight down the path of your line. Rod tip may be following/leading the line, but rod is still flat to the water.

Idea behind same is that when a fish (in my/here case, usually a Steelhead) takes a surface fly, as he tries to clamp down fish will actually expel water from his mouth which pushes the fly forward (not much, but enough).

Dropping a couple of inches of line back through the rod tip puts the 'hook' back where you want same.

GAME ON!

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living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

varied answers here, but there is likely no sure fire way of inducing every fish to take, personally if i see a bow wave, i keep the same speed of retrieve going for another 3 or 4 seconds then stop suddenly , it's like the fish has run into the back of a parked car and mostly, ....you're on !

Thanks for the input folks - I was told to ALWAYS speed up as this triggers the trouts predatory nature. In that it's pray is getting away and because of this the trout hits it.

If a fish is chasing your fly,then it says to me you already have the interest of the fish as it is already chasing it.

If you stop it may take, but also it may turn away as it has lost its appeal.

If you already have the attention of the fish just keep doing what you are doing and dont change it.

If the fish wants it ,it will take it.

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Kevin