Want to step up your fly fishing game? One of the most important things to learn is how to find a good fly fishing spot. Check out our article for some helpful tips.
Whether you are successful or not at fly fishing depends on two things, whether to not you have the right fly fishing gear and where you cast your fly.
Sometimes it’s tempting to fish where you feel most comfortable, i.e. in spots that are good for humans, but if you’re serious about fishing, you’re going to have to think more like one of the fish you’re trying to catch.
When you go fishing, you have to make a lot of decisions. Where are you going to go? When are you going? What gear will you take? What fish will you target?
The more informed your decisions are, the more likely it is that you’ll go home after having caught a big one!
Maybe the first question you should ask yourself is where will you be fishing? Once you’ve figured that out, you can start making more decisions.
I’ve put together some of the most helpful tips I’ve been given and figured out on my own when it comes to picking a fishing spot.
Hopefully, once you learn these tips on how to find a good fly fishing spot, they’ll help you bring in bigger, better fish.
Conditions, Food & Protection
There are three main factors you want to keep in mind when choosing how to find a good fly fishing spot. They are: the water conditions, food availability and protection.
If you think about it, a fish wants to eat without being eaten while exerting as little energy as possible. It serves to bear this in mind when choosing where to cast.
For water conditions, think about oxygen levels, temperature and the strength of current, all of which have sweet spots where fish like to live.
Fish can’t live in stagnant water where there’s no oxygen. If the water’s too warm, fish will retreat to cooler, often deeper, water.
When it comes to a current, if it’s too fast, it will require too much energy for a fish to stay there, so fast flowing water isn’t the best place to cast a fly.
Time of Day
The season and time of day can also have an effect on water conditions, so think about when you’ll be fishing as well as where. Check out our article on the best times of day to catch for the most popular species of fish.
When you’re fly fishing, you’re using an artificial fly to mimic the food a fish naturally eats.
Be it a mosquito larvae or a crab or a frog, the fly has to look like food for your targeted fish, or a fly might pass within inches of a fish without it taking a bite.
Even big fish get eaten, and every fish out there is constantly on the look out for dangers from above and below. Over-zealous casting, shadows and splashing can all send fish darting for the nearest protection under a rock or in the shadows of low hanging branches.
Ledges, holes, shadows all make great protection for wary fish, so keep this in mind when casting a fly.
Streams and Rivers
If you’re wondering how to find a good fly fishing spot in a stream or river, remember the three keys to success: conditions, food and protection.
There are three areas in rivers where you find fish, the riffles or rapids, the run or glide, and the pool.
The rapids are where the water is fast flowing and choppy. You’ll often see rocks which provide shelter from the current for fish.
The run is the water at the foot of the rocks. The water will be a bit deeper and the surface will be calmer, though not flat.
The pool will have even less current. It will be deep and have a calmer, flat surface.
Sometimes the individual sections of a river can be miles long, so it’s worth walking the bank to find your perfect spot. You can fly fish rivers by wading or from the shore.
If you do go wading, make sure you take a good pair of waders with you. Having the correct gear makes all the difference to your trip.
Evening and night tend to be best times to hit rivers, and trout and salmon are the best river fish to target, though bass, carp and pike are good to go after as well.
Lakes
In lakes, where there’s no current, fish tend to use deep water as protection, as well as weeds, and obstacles like logs and rocks.
Shaded areas under tree branches are good spots to aim for in the daytime when the sun is shining on the lake’s surface. Fly fishing lakes at night is a great way to improve your chances of catching fish.
When fly fishing lakes, it’s generally a good idea to aim your cast close to shore. This is because most of the fish in lakes eat insects and insects tend to live in the vegetation on or close to the shore.
Lakes can be fished from the shore or from the surface in float tubes and boats.
Some more common species of fish you can target in lakes are bass, bluegill, walleye, trout, pike and muskies.
Ocean / Saltwater
There are some notable differences between freshwater and saltwater fly fishing that should be considered if you want to be successful. We have an article going into more detail here.
Fly fishing in the ocean opens the doors to targeting trophy fish like marlin and sailfish. To deal with the bigger fish, you can find in saltwater, you’ll want a nice thick line that will also help cast greater distances.
Some other great species to go for if you’re fly fishing the ocean are barracuda, dorado, bonefish, tarpon and striped bass.
Again, thinking about their food sources, think about where their prey will be hiding. It’s a good idea to check out rocky shorelines, rocky outcrops, docks, and jetties if you’re fishing from the shoreline.
Time also plays a big factor in fly fishing a coastline, so definitely check out the local tide tables. The best time to hit the surf is during tide shifts where nutrients floating around in the current are eaten by little fish which are, in turn, eaten by the predatory fish that you’re going after with your fly.
If you’re saltwater fly fishing from a boat, use nature as your guide and watch for fish feeding at the surface as well as seabirds diving to catch shallow fish.
You can also use a fish finder to easily locate the best areas to go after the bigger trophy fish.
Bait fish, i.e. little fish like sardines and mullet are perfect for attracting the bigger predators that you’ll be targeting. Estuaries are also great spots to hit where rivers bring nutrients into the sea. Migratory species will gather at the mouths of estuaries at spawning season as well.
Ask at Local Bait Shop
One of the best ways to find a good fishing spot is by talking to the locals. Asking at your local bait shop is a surefire way to get ideas of what fish live nearby as well as the best places to catch them.
Most people who work there will fish these locations themselves and are more than happy to talk about what they love doing.
While they might not tell you their exact spots, they are sure to give you a few pointers to get you started.
Technology
Living as we do in the 21st century, forums and social media are great resources to use when you’re looking for a good fishing spot.
Again, people might not give away their exact personal favorites, but everyone loves bragging about their local fishing spot, so make sure you do some reading on websites and blogs before heading out.
Google Maps is a great way to check out the possible fishing spots before actually heading out onto the water.
I always check out a river using a satellite view before heading out. This gives me a good idea of where the pools are, as well how I’m going to access the river.
Technology can be a great way to find new fishing spots, and you might as well use every tool at your disposal. If you’re fishing offshore from a boat or even in a big lake, then you can really benefit from using a good fish finder.
Get a Guide
Lastly, if you want to splash out a little, hiring a local guide is a great way to be personally shown to the best fishing spots.
Not only that, but guides are great at helping you work on improving your cast as well as reading the water, and they’re normally more than happy to share their wealth of knowledge with an interested client.
Get Out There
However you choose to do it, be it wading a river or from a lake shore or in a boat in the open ocean, fly fishing is an awesome way to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors.
Learning how to read the signs is an important part of your success in fishing, and the more you can deduce from what you see the more likely it is that there will be a big fish on the end of your line soon!
If you see it as part of the process, learning how to find a good fly fishing spot can be a fun way to understand more about fish and their habitat as well as improving your chances of catching a big one.
Hopefully, these tips will help you get to the best spots near you.
Before you go, make sure you read my fly fishing gear checklist to make for all my gear recommendations and tips.
Good luck out there. Happy fishing!