Okay, let’s lay out the setting. You’re excited to start fly fishing. You’ve got your rod set up, your waders on, and are heading down to the river. The first thing you see when you get in the river is someone about 50 feet down from you using a dry fly. Next thing you know, the competitive juices start flowing and you tie on your best Elk Hair Caddis. “I got this!” you tell yourself, “I’ll beat this guy to a nice fish.” After about 30 minutes of casting, you’re coming up empty. Almost. Every. Time. So what should you do?

There are days, or times of the day, where trout aren’t paying attention to what is happening on the surface. That’s when you need to go under.

Trout Feeding Patterns

When you get discouraged with dry flies, there should be zero hesitation of what to do. I have found fishing subsurface to bring me in more trout and bigger trout than I have ever had on the dry.

Because trout do about 90% of their feeding below the surface, you get a lot more working in your favor when you start nymphing. Nymphs are wet flies that are in the larva stage of an insect that trout or other fish like to eat. 

Two Tips to Help You Nymph Effectively

So where should we get started with nymphing? Here’s two key tips you can implement to make your rig perfect for catching awesome trout.

Use an indicator! Some purists aren’t the biggest fan of these, but in reality, they are very effective. They help you gauge where your fly is under the water. You want your fly to be anywhere between 1 to 6 inches above the bottom of the river. To get in that one to six-inch range from the river's bottom, place your indicator on your line between one and a half to two times the depth of the water.

Weight.  Often times, you can find the fly you’re looking for with a tungsten bead head on it. These are very efficient because they get down quick. Without a weighted fly, it will take you a lot longer to get your flies to the bottom where you want to be. At that point, you are banking on fish looking up to find food instead of looking at what is right in front of them. If you find you aren’t sinking very quick, you can put your own weights on. It definitely won't be the end of the world but investing in bead head nymphs isn’t a bad way to go moving forward.
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The End Goal

Dry fly fishing is awesome, and the accomplishment of catching a big trout on a dry fly is one of the best feelings in the world. But if you’re looking to catch a fish before you leave the river, don't forget their eating patterns. No matter how tempting it may be for a trout to come to the surface for a nice meal, they will always look at what’s in front of them first.