Being generally unimpressed with the “classics” in literature, I do however happen to find that a copy of my daughter’s book Pride and Prejudice to be quite relevant to fly fishing on the Yakima River in March.  If you’ve read the novel, you’re familiar with a Mr. Bennett- who, in a flash of insight, turns his wit on himself during a crisis with characters Wickham and Lydia — “let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enough.”  I know the feeling, Sir, and you’ve inspired me to write about one of the critical aspects of catching fish on a fly – presentation.  It has also been said, and I paraphrase, that it is worse to know “where the fish are, but not able to present properly to them, than to be able to present properly, but not know where the fish are.”  Either way, your pride is going to be challenged and you may find fly fishing more intimidating than it has to be – so let’s focus on presentation in this month’s update.

Most of what a trout eats is under the surface of the water.  On a recent float trip through the upper river canyon, East of Cle Elum, I used my bug seine to collect samples of the food that was available to the fish.  There was an abundance of very small chironomids, or midges, present in the water.  Midges are a year-round food source on the river, as these insects are less susceptible to variations in water temperature.  Therefore, you’ll find that trout have food available to them when they’re hungry, so they’ve seen a lot of natural insects coming their way – enter the sure-footed and strong willed fly angler who is trying to imitate those insects – black, green, gold, and other colors all contained in a bug about the diameter of a #2 pencil lead, and about one-quarter inch long.  So, picture yourself standing on a drift boat watching the river course by, swirling and gurgling underneath you, or knee-deep in the cold water trying to balance your fly rod, your lunch, and scratching your head thinking “what are these fish eating, and how do I catch them?

Most fish on rivers that receive any degree of fishing pressure are wary to us and can be spooked easily.  That’s what makes presentation so important – you’re replicating a very small insect in swiftly moving water, trying to achieve the right depth and angle, and have that fly look as natural as possible.  When using the nymph form of the insect, you’ll need to be familiar with the term “dead drift” – meaning, casting your line and flies in the feeding zone and avoiding drag on the flies.  Drag affects the way the fly looks to the fish – and they’ll easily determine the natural from the imitation.

Don’t let the small food sources drag you down – warmer weather and more active fish are coming soon, and that means casting big, buggy dry flies.  You can’t blame the fish for not taking your midge pattern in March, but you can improve your presentation and save your pride at the same time.