I believe there are more fish lost before an angler makes his first cast than at any other time when fly fishing small stream. Picture this; you've spent some time hiking into a small stream in back country.

It's early morning, mist is rising and midges that have been swarming around you are breakfast for small browns you have come to catch. You quietly walk up to stream, watching swirls of rising fish. You tie a nymph onto your leader and step into water.

A trout skids away from under your feet, its flight sending out warning signals as bright as any neon light. The feeding fish flee in response and you are left with a section of river devoid of all but midges. Welcome to fly fishing small stream.

Stop and look before fly fishing small stream

Before you get into water stop and look at what is in front of you. This is especially true when approaching small stream. Trout are well camouflaged, especially when you are looking down into water. (A good pair of Polaroid glasses helps here.)

I like to make my first cast well back from waters edge. If there is little cover then I tend to use a long leader and lay line on riverbank, allowing only leader to enter water, as close to near bank as possible. That way, if there are any fish lying close under bank, I will have given them first look at my fly.

Reading water of small stream

I know from experience that without one you will never become that quality player you dream of being. Take my advice; it will make a world of difference in your confidence and your scores. So let’s jump into it and get you that powerful pre shot routine you’ve always wanted.

Step #1 The first thing you should do is take a step back and line yourself up behind ball looking towards hole. Then we need you to take a deep breath and focus. You have to try and envision shot you want to play from that position. Give yourself a mental picture of what you want to happen. This is critical to success of any shot. If you don’t know what to do in your mind you can’t physically execute what you want.

Step #2 Now that you know type of shot to hit, you have to figure out what club to hit it with. This is known as picking your club. Since you can attain same result many different ways, always play to your strengths. If you prefer to hit a hard aggressive 7 iron instead of a laid off light 6 iron, then that’s shot you should hit.