9 proven ways to make sure you stay a mediocre fly angler

#3  Let your fly take care of itself

Landing a fly in the right place is satisfying, but to fish it well, that is just the beginning. Sometimes you get lucky, and the fly has a long, unassisted natural drift. However, a river’s flow is complex. More often, there are multiple current speeds between you and your fly, and they quickly affect your line and leader, making the fly move unnaturally.

To ensure your fly moves naturally, you need to mend the line. That is, reposition it with your fly rod. Mending is so useful, that almost every cast—especially with dry flies or nymphs—should be followed by a mend. This ensures or extends the fly’s natural drift. Mending usually involves a simple semi-circular flick of the rod tip. It’s not hard, but it’s best learned on the water, where you can see how the line and fly respond to what you’re doing.

Until you can mend reasonably well, you won’t catch much on dry flies and nymphs. Once mending clicks, however, it becomes second nature. There’s also a workaround, which I used for years: only fish wet flies and streamers. These pattern imitate swimming forage, so they don’t require natural drifts—or mends.