Stepping Up To The Water - Part 1 in a Series Brett van Rensburg While we all fish for our own reasons we share a common goal - to catch more fish. In this article I am going to spend time focussing on simple changes you can make to your fishing on a river that will certainly improve your catch rates. A question that I am often asked when arriving at a river that we are about to fish is, what flies should we put on? Ten years ago I would have grabbed my box and started running through various options. Today I am far less inclined to look at flies but rather the water and conditions we will be fishing in. The truth is that a fish is far more likely to eat an average fly that is well presented at a good speed, at the right depth in a good piece of water than a perfect fly that isn’t anywhere near to it. To better your catch rate you want to keep your flies in the fishy “hotspots” for long periods of time. www.saflyfishingmag.co.za
Having said that, let's unpack this idea. The first thing to consider when arriving at the venue you are about to fish is weather conditions. Is it extremely hot or overcast? What is the wind doing? What is the pressure up to? All these factors will contribute to the feeding habits of different species of fish. Let’s look at trout in a river. If the weather is very warm for a period of several days the fish will start looking for deeper pockets and pools where they are able to hide in the cooler water. They will most certainly feed in the early morning and late afternoon when temperatures are lower and their energy levels are higher. This is a common rule understood by most competent fisherman, however how does this change if you were ishing the same river for yellowfish? Interestingly enough, the way that these fish feed in the heat is completely different to trout. 47
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