For the past few years I've learned how to fly fish in trout parks and lakes where the water has been reatively
calm/still. Recently I've been fortunate to move right down the street from a small river that is regularly stocked with trout. Last year I attempted to fish this river with no success at all. The river is somewhat fast moving, which is somthing I'm not accustomed to fishing in. I've tried fishing some nymphs and buggers by casting diagonally into the current and allowing the fly to sink and float with the current while keeping an eye on my strike indicator the whole time. This technique produces nothing for me. Now, I know theres fish in this river because I watch those baitcasters guys plucking some nice ones out. I would very much like to join them.
My colleage at the office who was a fly fisher back in the day says that I'm doing it all wrong. He told me to cast downstream and let the fly hang in the water and slowly retrieve and twitch, similar to how you would cast a nymph in still waters.
I was wondering if this is a viable way to fish a nymph or bugger in a river. Personally I would think that the current would pull the fly close to the surface, but since I'm a mere student I figured I would ask the experts.
Any advice for a newbie?