hi went fishing yesterday at coyle water yesterday, im new to this and not too confident of a caster and not too savi with techniques regarding flies and the retrieval methods. i had a floating line, about 10 ft of leader and a red kinda buzzer on the point and some reflective czech nymph on a dropper, id wait for them to sink and do a slow figure of 8 retrieval and nothing, i also tried a viva lure (which i did hook 1 but lost ), and other things, the weather was raing and and a little windy, could it have just been the weather or am i doing something wrong, other people were catching, soo frustrating not catching anything because it is fun apart from not being a good caster yet ,(get soo many tangles in my leader from casting), anyone with any suggestion or tips in any regards would be great cheers , russell.

Don't worry we've all been there. If others are catching ask them what they are doing,line type, fly, type of retrieve.If you are getting tangles due to the dropper ,don't use a dropper till you are more confident at casting. Pay for some casting lessons it will be about £20-30 for an hour but if you get it right before you pick up any bad habits its money well spent. Good luck.

Yep, happens to all of us sometime! Just because you didn't catch doesn't mean you were doing anything wrong, so don't be discouraged. Best bet is to go again, and if the same thing happens, politely approach one of the others and see what they're doing differently to you. It might be that their flies are a bit higher up in the water, or moving slower, or... well, you get the picture.

My other thought is that Coyle is quite a small place and it could simply be that the disturbance of folks casting near you (or your own casting?) had pushed the fish out beyond your casting range. How is your casting? If you are anything me when I started, the water in front of you is being whipped up into a froth from "indelicate" casting. The fish don't like that! I had to sort that out before I started catching with any kind of consistency. I still remember the day at Snipe, 20 years ago, when an old boy came up and said to me "you'll not catch anything casting like that". The unhelpful old ****** didn't offer any help though!

Neil

Hi Russel,

I started fishing last year and experienced exactly the same sort of problems. Everyone on the Forum advised that a casting lesson would do the trick. I was sceptical at first but then decided that £25/30 actually might not be too horrendous if it gets me catching. I though it might be like the old driving lessons scenario "just one more lesson....... just one more lesson.."

After a lesson with a local instructor, I was set on the right path. The lesson will give you the foundations on which you can then go and practice as little or as often as you can. I used to go down to a field near to where I live on a Sunday morining to try and practice the cast.

Matt

I agree with the others, my advice would be - go down to a single fly. Start with a black buzzer and concentrate on fishing it well. Work the water levels also. Cast allow to sink for 5 seconds, then retrieve. 10 seconds, 15 seconds ect. Retrieve as slow as you can possibly bare. You won't catch a fish with your fly out of the water.

Good luck and tight lines.

cheers for the reply, my casting is very inconsistent, i watch people and try to copy but i just cant do it, i always hit my rod tip and plenty of knots in my leader, it would b great if u can gave me any kinda help cheers, russell.

---------- Post added at 11:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 AM ----------

thats another thing but sub surface flies, its knowing the depths and techniques on retrival ?

Russell,

Don't be disheartened mate. Loads of good info and help on here. Everyone on here will soon will get you catching. When I first started my, catch rate was low and I blanked a lot. Once you become more confident in your ability you will improve.

My advice is be methodical, fan cast at short range then increase the range gradually and fan cast again. Vary the depth by counting to 10 before retreiving then 20 etc, etc. Vary the retrieve, mix it up, slow, fast, jerky, fig 8 etc. If no luck change fly and start again. If still nothing move around and repeat.

As mentioned ask others, in my experience people are really helpful and some have even given me flies to help. I do the same when I am catching and others ask me for help. It's a great feeling to help others.

Ask in the lodge, check the returns book. Local info all helps. Most owners, managers want you to catch fish so you come back for more.

Have a look at this link.

Hywel Morgan On Fishing - Episode 1 | Horse and Country TV

Its a series of 12 programmes that I think were on Sky originally with Hywel Morgan presenting. Each one is about half an hour long and covers loads of good stuff. Scroll down the page and you will see the other episodes. I watch them on my laptop on Sat nights with headphones on when my wife is watching cack X-factor type programmes!! I've learnt loads watching them.

Hope this helps, keep going and let us all know how you get on.

Tight lines!

Nick.

thanks mac , i try to think methodically when people are catching and your not sumtimes its hard but people on here have helped so far and with time and a little more help i hope i get there, because im hooked on it, i stood in the pisssin rain for 6 hrs yesterday , theres not many things that id stand out in the rain for but gotta think of that monster trout lol, cheers , russell .

You have to consider that if you decided to play golf having never picked up a club before, would you just go to the golf course and just hack away at a ball, hoping to make contact with it and send it in the general direction of the green, or would you get a lesson or two so that you could at least hold the club correctly?

Going fly fishing when you can barely cast and watching others catch fish while you struggle is a very expensive and depressing way of learning. As others have pointed out, even one decent lesson with a good instructor is going to enable you to concentrate more on your fishing and less on your casting. Casting should be like breathing - you don't need to think about how you are going to do it. Fishing the flies? THAT you need to think about.

I can appreciate the need of beginners to get out there and catch fish, but catching is the end product of a process that begins with learning how to get those flies out there where a fish can take them. You'll catch a heck of a lot more fish in the end if you take the time to learn to cast.

Rusty, I'm returning to fly fishing after about thirty years of trying it properly. I have always been an angler but fly fishing has not been my "thing" for a long while. I say this because I want you to understand that others are far more qualified in this area than I am but I'm in a closer position to you.

First off I fish a small stillwater, my casting is not good but enough. In a small stillwater as long as you don't create to much disturbance there will be plenty of fish within the length of your rod from the bank. The bank edge and shallower water near it can often have the most natural food.

If you haven't already get yourself some polariod glasses. They don't have to be expensive as long as they have polariod lenses you will be able to see the fish. Just put your rod and bag down a few feet back from the edge and crouch up to the water. I often have a fag or some food and a drink before I begin.

This gives you a chance to be relatively still while looking into the water. If eating sarnies keep your elbows tucked in and move your hands slowly but deliberitly to your mouth. I'm sure the fish are very aware of your outline. Don't just look behind for you back cast but to see if there is any cover behind to break up your figure. Remember this while fish spotting and fishing.The water I fish has sheep but even so I try to tread lightly as the water will also pick up these vibrations.

As for the actual fishing you have fly choice and the retreive. As far as I can tell if you were going to fish any fly any where go for buzzers. They are even present in water butts. However look to see what the fish are doing. If you can't see any thing then the fish are deep etc. Lots of books cover this subject but if you see them taking in the surface film get your fly in this area. With the buzzers you can find different flies that can be fished at lots of different depths.

The fly that I have had lots of joy with is a wooly bug ger. This is usually tied with an underlay of wire to help it sink but you often buy them without this, I assume this is to save on materials and time. It doesn't matter as long as you watch what the fly does in the water you can begin to understand how it works and how you should fish it to get the best results. I fish mine static, slow figure of eight, jerks(long and short, fast and slow) and have also found reeling it in to move to a different spot effective on different occasions.

One thing that is worth bearing in mind is the fact that sometimes dries are absolutely deadly and can out fish other methods including lures. My friend has found a parachute adams to be unstoppable. I think this is because it presents the fly in the surface film rather than on it, this will no doubt change next week but then he'll try a different technique untill it works.

I'm running on so I'll just end with change. Sometimes you can change the colour, size or pattern of your fly and it makes a difference to the trout.The same with depth or the retrieve. Sometimes just moving a few yards can be the difference between succes and failure.

In short keep observing and try and adapt for the conditions.
Good luck, Matthew.