UKC

Does anyone on UKC fish for trout(using flies) I've done a bit over the years but when starting out I just tend to use any suitable looking fly at random.

I've often spent fruitless hours going through every fly in the box with nothing to show except bedraggled looking flies.

Has anyone got any guidance to offer regarding the choice of a suitable fly?

Thanks.

I fly fish though only been once this year.

I'm no expert but tend to get success with wet flies, classic ones such as the Butcher, March Brown have been pretty reliable, dark patterns have worked well for me for brown trout.

When abroad I do a bit of research online and also ask the locals and narrow it down to just a few options. I went fly fishing in the Faroe Islands last year, chatted to a local showed him my collection and he selected the ones I should use.....I didn't catch anything significant but it's a good way of working it all out.

When I retire I intend to spend a lot of my time fly fishing for trout, char, grayling and salmon.

Tight lines

Thanks. I tend to use wet flies and in the past had success with nymphs.

You need to use flies that have the same look and size as whatever the trout are feeding on. It varies from place to place and during the season.

Best thing is to ask someone who is local, even better if they've just caught something.

I'd try to locate a copy of that J. R. Hartley book.

^ ^ This. Although I find that an approximation of size is more important than exact imitation.

But also presentation. Dry flies normally need a fairly drag-free presentation (although a twitch can provide the trigger for a trout to take on occasion). Long leaders and/or the cast being executed from a position in which the fly can drift over the trout drag-free can help in this regard.

Are you fishing river or lakes, reservoirs, stocked or wild fish, brown or rainbow?

On the whole conditions, feeding time, location and fly presentation (especially the latter) are more important than fly pattern, don't get too hung up on fly patterns unless the fish are feeding specifically on a single food source. Most wild fish are opportunist feeders trying to scratch a life and will eat anything if it looks edible.

The all have preferences at times, the wild browns (small fish) in my reservoir gorge on newts in the spring, also found frogs, mice and big lump of fox s**t in their stomachs - anything goes!

Worms work better

It might not be the ‘right fly’ issue but more a case of sticking to one for a little longer and working more of the area.

There is a temptation to chop and change a lot if no action is happening but can be more a case of finding the fish first so avoid too much change. Fish the margins, fish different depths (are you using intermediate, sinking lines etc?) is the place you’re fishing well stocked and everyone except you is catching? If so find out what they’re using. 

I’ve fished waters where it’s taken hours and hours to find the fish so i tend to stick to a couple of patterns but move around and ‘work’ the water until I’ve had a take or got bored!

Buzzers are pretty consistent. Fish several flys on the line with a buzzer on the end. Avoid entering the water and fish the margins before you get balls deep in your waders! 

Years ago I used to get a season ticket on the Bristol Water reservoirs (bank fishing mainly rather than boat), and I used to catch a lot of trout. 3 or so types of fly would take 90% of the fish I'd catch. The simplest, and most productive, was a thin dubbed fur body, silver rib, plus sparse hen hackle on a 16 or 14 size hook. That was in black for early in the year, and brown for later when they were on sedges. Fished on a long leader generally with a very slowly figure of eight retrieve. The small sizes are important and will make a massive difference if there's a lot of angling pressure. You need to make sure the hooks are strong, and be prepared to sharpen them if the points go blunt. I've had several trout around the 10lb mark like that, and hundreds smaller. Having said that, if there are no fish infront of you, you won't catch any. Locating the fish is top priority, they won't be distributed evenly through the water. You might have 100 acres of lake, with most of the trout feeding in just 2 of those.

Used to do a lot of flyfishing, I just used a range of black spiders  (wet or dry), size seemed more important than anything else when trying to match what was on the water. To be honest reading the water, stealth and a quiet cast are more important than the choice of fly. You've zero chance of catching a fish if there's none there

Blimey short question, there have been books, articles, and endless discussions about this very topic. I’m well qualified to answer as I’ve been salmon fishing for the last 15 years ... just one problem - never caught a salmon, spent literally thousands of pounds on licences, beat fees, tackle (Christ I’ve single handidly paid the wages of John Norris staff for a year!) - so my advice is don’t listen to me!

Yes, I have seen people carefully match the fly to whatever is hatching and then stomp into the river to give it a thrashing like Miss Whiplash with a cob on. You can catch trout with pretty much any pattern as long as it is presented properly. If i am fishing a water I don't know I usually try a few different sizes of the same patterns, usually an F Fly or a Grey Wulff for the surface and a Wickhams Fancy or a Butcher for deeper fish. Most of the time it has been the size and presentation that has been more important than finding an exact copy of their natural diet.

fly fishing for trout stocked in a commercial pool - Montana. 

Many thanks for interesting and informative replies

If it helps, I am not very proficient fly fisherman. 

I tend to fish stocked lakes and reservoirs. Grafham tbh more often than others.  

Lures, shrimp, nymphs are the more successful for me. Even though I try others, on the days I get to go, these have worked best.

Tight lines. 

I’ve done OK when I’ve been out this year, but missed out on a lot of fishing compared to normal due to the rather unsporting heatwave. I love to fish small wild rivers & streams (Wye & Usk passport scheme is a godsend), and replicating the hatch normally works well. Failing that, a Parachute Adams or Klinkhammer is worth a flick if desperate. 

Wye and Usk have some good waters up here. I don't fish them but know them well and good fish in some.

Off topic, I fish grayling on Wye at Builth after October 1st, trotting, great sport. Rhayader club have good fly ticket water for grayling as well. 

The (wild) hill lakes of elan valleys are fun, but given most a miss during this summer.

Considering a day’s fishing can cost less than a pint or 2 on most if their waters, it’s a brilliant scheme. The Onny around Craven Arms & the Mynd can provide good sport too. 

I fish the middle stretches of the Teme for grayling in the winter, it’s wonderful sport. 

My club has some water just below Ludlow, fished that a few times and plenty of grayling, fun.

The only danger with that is the absolute fortune that can be spent in Orvis or Sportfish if you’re going past & just happen to stop off...

I have to resist Sportfish, (expensive) Aladdin's cave! I have pretty much everything for fly fishing, much of it hardly used and accumulation of 40 years and I no longer "modernise" my tackle or read the magazines to be sucked in!

Current expenditure is on soft lures etc. for perch drop shotting and jigs - a new method for me - eating up the £££s, but fun.

I used to do a lot of fly-fishing on limestone rivers and small moorland streams.  Not much into lake or reservoir fishing.

I used to find that the "old school" way of choosing flies works well - have a look around in the spiders webs along the banks and try to match - in appearance and/or size whatever has been caught in the webs.  Otherwise - at least for dry fly fishing, learn some basic entomology so you can recognise some of the more common flies.   It often, but not always, works to match whatever is hatching...