How many casts B4 you Chang flies?

[mantis]

I get to a favorite pool on one of my favorite river. First thing I do is check any insect activity with a pair of low power field glasses. I see several different flies on the water but only an occasional rise.
I get down to the river, wade out to where I want to start fishing, check the insects on the water again and try to catch one being taken. I think I know. I attach a fly, make a dozen casts, bring it in and tie on the same fly but a size smaller. Still no luck. I watch the surface again. A few spinners on the water but don't see any clouds of them when I look up. I try one anyway. Another dozen casts..No luck. I try an emerger and get one smallish fish. Cast it over and over and get no further action. I'll often wait 5 or 10 minutes to give the surface a break. Still not many rises even though I know there are many fish here and they should be looking up.. I try a different may fly that I see on the water. No luck. I try an ant...get another 10 inch fish...can't raise another. I go under water. Wet fly and a soft hackle, Then a bead head tiny pheasant tail. Nothing. I see a few more rises and switch back to dries. This requires some leader building and helps rests the water. They are rising like crazy now...Still several dif caddis and mayflies on the surface. I watch again to see which they are taking. There seems to be no rhyme of reason. They seem to switch every few minutes...
OKAY, now it is you in the same circumstances... hardly any rises at first... later, a few, and finally quite afew rises..but the trout are not concentrating for any length of time on any particular insect... How long to you fish one pattern with out success or with minimum success B4 changing flies...OR do you continue to beat the water with the same fly hoping that they will come back to what it is supposed to represent again...

[rriver]

For me, It depends.

If nothing is hatching, and I am fishing a generic nymph, I'll just keep at it. Especially, if its is one I know works. I will more likely move than change flies in this condition. The problem is more likely the location of the fish.

If something is hatching, like mayflies, and I think I have the right fly, I'll go bigger first, then smaller. Often with hatches it is the movement not the fly. I learned this by having a bad habit of forgetting my fly box. A fly that seems to not work will, once you figure out how they expect it to move. When you are fishing one fly, you have to do something, when it is not working, unless you want to go home.

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- rriver

[Mike.K]

ive cast to the same trout, with the same fly for 2.5 hours....think he took it out of anger ?

[eponymous]

depends on how close the tree is.

[Marco]

Probably because of the difficulty I have in retying midstream, I tend to practice a rather stubborn policy. I consider my fishing waters NOT like a restaurant where the fish pick and choose what they want to eat but rather like a military chow line where they WILL eat what I serve.
Needless to say there are some obvious drawbacks to this practice but what the heck. I'm there for the fishing.
I will allow that I have fished with guys that change flys after probably 5 casts over a rising fish. They will continue changing flys till they hook up. I envy their patience and their eyesight because in these situations it's usually a #20 or smaller they're changing.
As a matter of fact, I've discovered , fish that are taking small are MUCH more finicky than those which are taking #10s.

Mark

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I'd rather be in Wyoming!

[teasels]

Hup 2 3 4 you will eat my nymph somemore.

I like the chow hall idea.that gave me a chuckle.All the little fishies lined up at attention waiting their turn to get caught.
I will try almost anything (electric shock is still illegal)even got so mad one day threw the tip of the rod off.thats when I got a strike.I'll go 25 -30 cast but I don't sit and count. I don't get scientific I just fish.

[mantis]

Mark...U always can make me laugh...!

[RexW]

Uh... you mean we're supposed to change flies on purpose? I thought you just did that when you loss the one you were using.

Actually, I don't change often enough. I don't change flies very often.

Rex

[ohiotuber]

Usually, I stick with a fly for quite awhile, but 1 day earlier this year, trout were rising EVERYWHERE around me, so I wanted to see how many flies they would hit. Foam beetle, hopper, BWO, parachute ant, parachute adams, McGinty. They hit 'em all & that made for a lot of fun....and I didn't hook a darned one!!
Mike

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This site's about sharing!

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

I had a couple days like Ohio tuber , it was the first time I tried several of the flies I always carry but never had the confidence to use . As a result I have a few more
go-to flies than before . Mostly I am so stubborn I fish till the fly no longer qualifies as a fly due to lack of feathers , thread etc only then will I quit . I fish stillwaters and my go-to s usually work after a while .