Fly Fishing: The Best Dry Fly Action I had ever had!!!! Usually on a lake, I spend the majority of my time slinging an Intermediate line, or if I use an floating line, I am still presenting subsurface with emergers. Recently, we were on a lake and trout were rising in porpoise like slashes, suggesting feeding right below the surface.

I’d had success with smaller Caddis dries and some Chironomid patterns. But, I decided to try a larger fly pattern and chose an old traditional pattern, The Renegade. Not a realistic pattern but it is often productive on lakes and rivers.

Renegade tattered SB
This tattered Renegade is the culprit in this lesson learned. It was mauled dozens and dozens of times.

The responses to this fly were phenomenal. Yet, I had the darndest time hooking up. Repeatedly, I missed the set and the fish would come back on the fly and I would still miss the set (hook up). What the heck was I doing wrong? Was my timing that off? I mean this was getting frustrating and that is not suppose to creep into the enjoyment of the outing.

Of course, if your eye is trained you will notice a missing component to the fly: the bend/hook point!!! At some point, the hook point had snapped off and I was fishing with the “fly” and enjoying the hits but not hookup!

I snipped off the fly, saved it for this informative post and fished on with a smaller Caddis pattern.

Now for the second lesson. As you fish with a two piece or four piece rod and cast a lot, you should occasionally check the ferrules, where the rod pieces join together. Because perhaps you will suddenly notice your rod tip is missing, have a fish hit and hook up and notice your rod tip has slid down the fly line/leader up against the trout’s nose. If it is a small trout, no biggy, but a big fish may break your tippet and there will go the rod tip to the depths!!!

Trout Rod Tip
The rod tip has slid down against the fish’s snout.
Rod Pieces
I gently reeled the fish toward me with minimal pressure. The fish ran and the tippet held. Here I had the rod tip back and try to seat the two pieces together with the fish still hooked up.
Tip Bent
The fish pulled down ward as I fumbled around to connect the two pieces without damaging the rod’s ferrule.
Trout Caddis SB
The fish was glad to have the rod tip removed from its snout. Caught/Released

Basics: Make sure your fly has a hook point, if you actually want to hook a fish and periodically check your rod ferrules to be certain each piece is snugly seated. Photos by Bucky.