Ask the Experts: What is the Most Common Fly-Fishing Mistake?

A while ago, we asked you to pose some questions for our panel of experts. Our latest question for them to chew on is: “What is the single most common mistake you see your clients make, and what can I do to avoid it? Their answers are below.

Tim Linehan, Linehan Outfitting Co. (Troy, Montana):
The single most common mistake clients make? Clients make too many false casts.  You can’t refute the fact that fish are caught with flies in the water. If you have an angler in the front of the boat who makes one false cast and puts the fly right back on the water, and the angler in the back of the boat makes two false casts every time, theoretically and all things being equal, the angler in the front of the boat will have his fly on the water twice as much throughout the day. You could reasonably assume that will translate into more strikes.

The remedy for overzealous false casting is simple. As a guide, I keep a Taser gun right next to me. If a guest makes more than one false cast, I let them have it. Generally it only takes a shot or two and the problem is solved. This method is tried and true. But keep in mind if you’re a guide and decide to employ the Taser method, be sure to have your feet planted firmly on the rubber mat each time you let it rip. One time, the bottom of the boat was wet, and I gave the guy in the front of the boat a good jolt. Seems the current traveled the length of the boat and hit me and the guy in the back. Later that day, one of my guides wondered why he saw the three of us slumped over and floating downstream with a fog of smoke surrounding the boat. I told him it was the Hibatchi.

Joe Demalderis, Cross Current Guide Service (Milford, Pennsylvania):
A very common error I see is when a dry-fly angler makes a cast that is close (e.g. short), but not close enough, and then rips the fly off the water to make another cast. Almost always, this results in the fish being spooked. Instead of ripping your fly off the water, let it float by the fish and only then pick it up. Now you can make another cast to the same fish that’s clueless as to what’s going on.

Mike Canady, Ellensburg Angler (Ellensburg, Washington):
I think one of the biggest mistakes that guests make isn’t really a mistake in the way they fish or any technical aspects. Instead, it is the guests not being up-front and honest with their guide. Every morning, I ask my guests what their goals are for the trip, what they believe their skill level is, and if there are any techniques they want to get better at–such as how to mend better, or how to throw tighter loops, or even read water.

Too many times, we hear our guests say that they are very good casters and they just want to put a bunch of fish in the boat. That is a fine goal, and I will definitely try my hardest to accomplish it. However, I think that you can get so much more from your guided trip if you just be honest with your guide in the morning and say, “Hey I have only been fishing for X amount of years, I really want to catch some fish, but I would also like to learn how to do X better during the guide trip.”

The way that I look at it is that you are paying good money and spending your valuable time when hiring a guide, so you might as well get all you can out of the day. I always feel that if I can help a guest become a better angler in some way during their time out with me and they can go out later and put that knowledge to use the next time they go fishing, then I have done my job.

Capt. Chuck Hawkins, Hawkins Outfitters (Traverse City, Michigan):
Streamer fishing: Angler recast to the same area immediately after making a cast that fell a foot short.

Dry-fly fishing: Anglers don’t control the line to eliminate drag and don’t cast to the lane where the fish rose–meaning they don’t properly mark a rising fishes location

Nymphing: Anglers take their eye off the indicator.

Overall: Anglers don’t work to continually improve their casting.

Capt. Dave Pecci, Obsession Charters (Charlotte Harbor, Florida):
The most common thing I run into as a saltwater guide is inadequate casting. Most anglers have trouble casting in windy conditions and achieving the necessary distance.

You can avoid casting issues by working with a casting instructor and practicing prior to your trip. If you don’t have your own equipment, go to a fly shop and try out demo rods with a store associate. If you do that, the responsibility for a fun and successful fishing trip falls on me as your guide.

Capt. Lucas Bissett, Low Tide Fly Fishing Guide (Slidell, Louisiana):
Lack of preparation prior to the trip. Many customers come onto my boat without having picked up a fly rod since their last trip.

Doc Thompson, High Country Anglers (Ute Park, New Mexico):
There are a few reoccurring things I see on the water. One of the biggest is anglers spooking fish.  This comes in many forms, from crashing casts to noisy wading to dragging drifts, etc. Narrowing it down, I would say on the smaller rivers and streams it is spooking fish from noisy or fast wading practices, when the actual wading spooks fish one or two pools up. I often remind people that it doesn’t matter how great a cast or drift you make; if the trout already knows you’re there, it won’t eat. The easiest way to solve this is to slow down and move along or through the water slowly and quietly.

Kip Vieth, Wildwood Float Trips (Monticello, Minnesota):
This is perhaps the easiest question we’ve been asked so far. It’s all about casting, when it really come down to it. We have a big fall get-together called Musky Camp. Fellow guides and friends gather for four or five days of musky fishing. This is one of the rare times that I get to fish each year.

I was in the bow of the boat, my son was in the back, and my good friend Jon was on the sticks.  We drifted down the river throwing chicken flies. I was really struggling with my cast. My son barked at me from the back,  “Dude your casting sucks.” Well, it did. As I sat there pouting, it dawned on me: Hey I don’t fish much anymore, so how can I really be as good at it as I once was? The moral of the story is that no matter how long you’ve been fly fishing, you still need to practice. Let’s be honest: we’re not as good as we think we are. It took a smart-mouth 15-year-old boy to prove the point to me.

Maggie Mae Monaghan, The Tackle Shop Outfitters (Ennis, Montana):
Fly fishing is one of those sports where you are constantly learning each time you’re out.  As a counselor and guide, I find mistakes to be things that will help you to learn and grow. Here are the three most common mistakes that get us learning when out with a novice angler.

Strong knots: I get many clients who want to learn to tie on their own flies, which is so great! We usually start with an improved clinch knot, which can be used for just about any size and type of fly. The angler will learn very quickly if that knot is tied well; the first time you lose a fish to a poorly tied knot, you’ll find yourself becoming a knot tying expert!

Fly Choice: Many clients (especially kiddos) want to dig through my fly boxes and pick their own flies. Most want to put on something pleasing to the eye, like a big flashy streamer.  A quick entomology lesson about what is hatching or how trout are selective feeders usually lets the client know we need to switch up our fly to match the hatch.

Good presentation: My saying in my boat is “You can’t catch fish in the air!” Some novice anglers think you need to be a great caster to catch fish. This is not true. We work on a natural presentation and keeping that fly in or on the water as much as possible. Once they understand that we’re trying to imitate a certain bug and provide the most realistic drift possible, they find themselves getting into fish.

Capt. Tony Biski, Monomoy Fly Fishing (Harwichport, Massachusetts):
Too often, anglers cast to the same spot over and over. I telll them to fan their casts to cover more water.

Stefan Woodruff, , Ellensburg Angler (Ellensburg, Washington):
One of the biggest mistakes I see clients make in my boat is not letting their flies fish. As much fun as casting a fly rod is, most fish are caught in the water, not in the air! Maximizing the amount of time the fly is in the zone–especially when dead-drifting dry flies or nymph rigs–means mending effectively and efficiently to achieve the longest drift possible, which will in turn show your flies to more fish. Unless your only goal is to look like Brad Pitt in “The Movie.” Then, by all means, cast away!