I recently went trout fishing in one of the streams here in Missouri. Guys all around me were catching many of trout (12-18 trout each). I caught 2 in about 7 hours of fishing using the same flies they were. I tried dead drifting a few flies as there was a hatch of caddis on this day. I even used an egg fly, got a few looks, but not even so much as a hit. I eventually put my fly rod away and switched to my spinning reel combo and caught a couple on maribou jigs. Any tips for a beginner as a sure way to catch a fish or two?

 

Try soft hackles. They catch fish, big time. Add split shot to get your flies ON the bottom. If you don't get hung on rocks from time to time you aren't getting deep enough, especially in really cold or hot water. 

Dead drifting the soft hackle?

I'll give it a try and do some experimenting.

Take a kid fishing

try a may fly i got a few with those

90 percent of the time the trout eat under the water. now that means wet flys for the most part. nymphs, emergers, streamers .
there are lots of reasons as to why the others are catching and you may not be.
your clothing, dress so you blend into your surroundings fish can see you .
your approach if your noisy it will scare the fish same as casting shadows .
perhaps they are casting a lighter weight line .  less of a splash when the fly lands.

your presentation . are you fishing at the correct depth. are you fishing the proper lane. perhaps a lighter tippet. or longer tippet .
if fishing wets are you using a strike indicator.

perhaps talking with the other fisherman (respect there fishing zone ) as to what there hitting on . if you don't have that perhaps you can break it down into what class it falls in . wet , dry ,nymph, streamer midge extra.  most folks who fly fish are decent folks .
but remember they are trying to  enjoy them self s too ,so don't ask a billion questions.
Let them control the conversation .

Posted By HQPTLP on 03 Feb 2009 09:19 PM

I recently went trout fishing in one of the streams here in Missouri. Guys all around me were catching many of trout (12-18 trout each). I caught 2 in about 7 hours of fishing using the same flies they were. I tried dead drifting a few flies as there was a hatch of caddis on this day. I even used an egg fly, got a few looks, but not even so much as a hit. I eventually put my fly rod away and switched to my spinning reel combo and caught a couple on maribou jigs. Any tips for a beginner as a sure way to catch a fish or two?

 

Welcome to a life long addiction! I don't think your problem is fly selection so much as technique. From your post, you said the fish would look but not take your offerings. Sometimes this is the fly pattern or size that just doesn't seem right to the fish, but since others were catching on the same fly, I think the problem was with your drift. If your leader is too stiff, your fly will be pulled in all sorts of directions that the natural food supply is not. You want the last foot or two of your leader to fall in nice gentle loops. If there is a straight line from your fly line to you fly, any current that pulls on you fly line will impart an unnatural movement to your fly and could have been what was turning off the strike. Try adding another piece of finer tippet. Also, keep your rod tip up, and as much of the fly line out of the water as you can (always start with short casts close to you) Good Luck, I hope this helps. As far as a sure way to catch fish? Try Dynamite and a net, not very sporting though.