This has probably been asked a hundred times before but here goes.
The last couple of evenings have been really frustrating the fish appear to be going for the fly but whether I strike immediately or with a short or long delay there is no contact its as if they are playing with the fly or splashing around it.This has happened 5 or 6 times each evening,I've gone up and down a few sizes but it seems to make no difference any advice or explanation would be welcome.

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Lang may yer lum reek

This can be very frustrating... as I am sure you've found out. Are you on river or still water?

There can be lots of reasons for it happening. It's worth trying a few tactics.

Often when they are feeding like this, I find it is because they are either taking subsurface food (but right beneath the surface) or very small flies. Sometime small black gnats, or possibly terrestrials (lots of flying ants at the moment!).

You say you've tried different sizes... but which? My suggestion would be to go for smallish pattern that site right in the surface film - with as little foorprint as possible. Try this in a #20 or even a #24: River Fly Box, tying a simple CDC Shuttlcock

May also be worth trying a small spider. Lighlty greased it will lie in the surface and has been a get out of jail for regularly. If it sinks, just wathc the leader - f it draws away or twitches ~ strike.

or conversly... offer them somthing big (perhaps a #14 or #12 Klinhamer). It may not match the hatch, but sometimes stirs them into hitting the fly.

On occasions fish will splash to drown a fly. It happens, but is unusual. My suggestion is this is worth forgetting at the moment and concentrate on the above.

Try looking at what is on the water - if you're on the river, then get in the flow and watch what is flowing past your - look at the water immediately next to / infront of you.

If you're finding this on stillwater, try a large bouyant dry on the point and a spider on the dropper(s). Fish will often take the spider as it is in the top few inches. You'll either see the fish rise between your line and the point fly, or the point fly will drag / disappear.

If this still doesn't work, pack up and grab a beer instead

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Dave Wiltshire

River Fly Box

could try sticking on a very big fly and wait till one eats it properly but it could be lots of different things, sometimes small fish can be very quick,
if your on stillwater make sure the line has no slack, you may be just striking into slack line, there are a thousand other variables.

smae happened to me in the river the other night. Had been out fishing Deer and CDC sedge as they are hatching at the moment. Fish where stricking but not taking.

Switched then to a size 18 klink (15BNX hooks not standard) and hit few but still got a lot of misses.

Last choice was a size 18 olive F-Fly. Worked a treat espeacially at the end of the drift when the drag pulled it under the surface. Hard to tell if it was just subsurface or on the surface during the drift during my entire session as I hit real action just after sun down so kept fishing into the dark. The F-Fly did the trick though and what a simple fly to tie.

Pretty much tried what you suggest Dwiltshire thanks for the reply,tried size 20 midge to size 10 coachman.I'm not getting offers on every fly I try but I am getting them on the darker flies.This is on a loch with only brown trout present and as ohanzee suggests I've checked my cast and know that I am in good contact with the fly.Though its frustrating it is quite exciting to begin with before the realisation sets in that I'm in for another blank.Hope someone can help.

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Lang may yer lum reek

ah, lightening bandy syndrome

try charr fishing with a dry fly, after that you hook trout that even look at the fly, ironically striking very gently sometimes works.

A wild stab in the dark would make me think they are taking the ascending sedge pupa and the rises you see are boils as the fish take sub surface.

I have a few patterns for such situations but dont have the time to post just now (i am tying other bloody flies). There will be piles of patterns on the Internet.

found this on an evening in a lot of places, as said, could be assending sedge pupa, but my way is to have 2/3 size 16/18 pt nymphs unweighted and retrieve at a steady fig8 so they're just under the surface, has been a bit of a god send on more than one occasion, when the last bit of light begins to fade, this is nearly always my last choice of cast unless they are taking visable flies. and it's nearly always small sedges

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When i was a course fisherman i had bag weights to remembernow i'm a fly fisherman i can have bag weights to take home