1) Combine black Strike Out yarn with any other color for a strike indicator that’s visible in nearly all lighting conditions.

2) Indicators aren’t just for nymphs, they also work great when you’re casting tiny dry flies. An indicator can serve a marker so you don’t lose track of your fly’s position on the water.

3) To fish most effectively with an indicator set-up in deep waters or waters of varying depth, use two or more indicators of different colors and space them evenly along the body and butt of your leader. If one indicator sinks, just watch the next in line, and so on.

4) Biostrike is particularly well-suited to fishing small flies that imitate emerging mayfly nymphs, midge pupae, and the like. Just work a tiny amount of Biostrike into a couple of knots in your leader and you’ll have a near-weightless indicator system that won’t affect your presentation.

5) When you need to suspend small flies just under the film in smooth waters, grease your leader with Aquel or Payette Paste. The floating monofilament will hold small flies at the desired depth and provide you with a lengthy, easy-to-see indicator.

6) Want to make your leader life easier? Here’s one of my tricks: Use a needle knot to attach a 12-inch-long piece of monofilament leader material (in the appropriate size) to the end of your fly line, and then make a 1/2-to 1-inch-long perfection loop in the end of that mono (loop length depends on mono diameter). Coat both the needle knot and the perfection loop knot with Knot Sense. Now, every time you want to change leaders, just loop them on and off. It saves time and prevents multiple leader changes from eating away at your fly line’s front taper.

7) When looking for fish, don’t just stare at the surface of the water. Rather, look INTO the water, allowing your eye to scan and roam both vertically and horizontally through the water column.

8 ) Need a quick bead-head? Just use some Brass Head Soft Weight molded around the front of the fly to give you the extra depth and much of the flash afforded by a tied-in bead-head.

9) Emergers are often the key to a hatch, especially hatches of mayflies and midges. When fish are spotted rising, it’s all too easy to immediately tie on a full-blown dun imitation–only to be frustrated 50 casts later. So, start with an emerger, and switch over to the dun only when you see fish actually taking them.

10) Deep-Soft Weight isn’t just for getting a big fly to the bottom. Rubbed into the knots of your leader (like tip four above), it can help smaller flies sink slowly, or just break through the surface film.

How to Cast a Fly Fishing Reel Accurately

Selecting the Right Fly Fishing Line & Reel

Sinking fly lines are good for deep water fishing, but floating fly lines are best for most other fly fishing situations. Learn how to select the right basic fly line plus get tips on leader loops and how to tie a clinch knot.

1001 Fly Fishing Tips: Expert Advice, Hints and Shortcuts From the World’s Leading Fly Fishers

Reading this one-of-a-kind collection of practical advice is like taking a fising trip across the country with over twenty-five of the world’s fly-fishing experts. cover essentials from trout to tarpon, such as: casting with Lefty Kreh, matching the hatch with Charlie Meck, taking great fish photos with Barry and Cathy Beck, mastering mayflies with John Barr, catching selective trout with Mike Lawson, West Coast stripers with Dan Blanton, steelhead secrets with Lani Waller, and Spey casting with Simon Gawesworth. This book gives a lot of great tips and a good overview of fly fishing from how to remove a hook to how to restore an old dead fly. This book even goes in to saltwater tips, traveling and many other specialty concepts that help to shed light on the many intricacies in fly fishing. With all this said this book is clear concise and has many tips sprinkled in for good measure.