Diversify!

[Hunter Hoffler]

I have been watching alot of people fish for a long time in the comp scene and one "issue" to me comes up frequently. People get the mindset that trout eat nymphs more than any other food source or stage of a bugs life. I couldn't tell you how many times switching to a streamer (amongst other things) fishing for a pod o rising trout has proven successful in competition and either got the necessary one more fish or saved a blank. Every beat of any river has fish in it and if you aren't catching them than YOU are doing something wrong. I constantly try to encourage myself to get out of the nymphing rut and try something else.

  What are yalls thoughts? is it better to stick in your comfort zone or with one technique and ride it out?

[Dejon Hamann]

It's a great topic Hunter.  Being versatile can really set an angler apart from the field.  Nymphing obviously accounts for most of the fish caught in rivers... but not all. 

The time to really test out "diversification" in my opinion is in practice.  Developing A,B,C,etc executable and effective game plans gives you "back up" plans to try when it's actual comp time.

There's a difference between executing effective game plans and just flip flopping through techniques though. 

On the upside, we really put our time in "not catching" fish in practice at the last America Cup developing multiple plans. And that paid dividends in my sessions - i executed 3 completely different deliveries in 30minutes to catch fish: culy nymphing, swinging wets, and straight single dry. 

On the downside, we stuck to nymphing too long at the last Rumble and were ejected in the 1st round when switching over to the streamer setup probably would have saved our session. 

[Mason Sims]

Actually i was curious about this when i got done with the stonefly classic just yesterday. I was wondering if mabye i should of fished dry droppers or pulled streamers. I did streamers in my first session and nymphs and still blanked. Oh well can`t wait for the next competition i can go to!

[Paul Bourcq]

I read this and "fishyness" comes up.  I dont think there is any concrete answer as to when you should switch.  I think that fishyness switch kicks in and you listen to your gut.

  If I see fish rising I tend to try to catch them since I know where they are and they are eating.  With Streamers I try to look at how much fish are moving for a fly or where they are at in the column to decide if they will eat. Or this weekend at the Stonefly Comp I threw a streamer right off the get go to try to see if fish were hot on it (they werent but turned on later).  I personally never want to think as fishing the dry fly or streamer or swinging wets as "outside the box".  At the end of the day its all fishing and you either execute or you dont. 


As far as every beat having fish i think you are right.  I look at the totality of the circumstances to determine what it is about a piece of marginal water that has made it tough.  Typically its because its shallow or flat.  I think that stealth and depth control will remedy both of those situations.

If a venue is particularly tough i normally take a hard look at the nymph it and go strategy and try to downsize and slow down.

[Michael Sprouse]

I think this is a great topic as well.  I have spent a lot of time getting ready for the Stonefly Classic as well as the regional.  The four venues we fished are all very different in the approach that is needed and like Paul said my gut instinct kicked in at each one of them.  I can't tell you everything I did until after the regional but I will tell you that I fished each one different. 
I walked up to what I thought would be one of my more challenging venues with 2 rods rigged not knowing what I should do until it was time for me to start.  I put one rod down down started fishing and scored the first fish 2 minutes in and had 5 within the first 20 minutes.  All of this was done fishing a technique I had only tried 2 weeks earlier and had great success then.
I think anglers should not be afraid to try new things and just go for it when they think it is right.  It may not work everytime but you never know if you don't try.

[Hunter Hoffler]

Good insight guys, I will second that. When it feels right switch up. Another technique i frequent is jigging, like paul said, if im sticking fish on the jig i will sometimes switch to a streamer. A think with every technique you can narrow whats on the fishes mind. Jigging nymphs =streamers, swinging or lifting nymphs = wetflys/emergers, and so on most of this could probably be accomplished with a nymph rig. This might be a quicker way to narrow your options inside the 3 hours

[Eugene Shuler]

In this circumstance a closer look at Einstien's definition on insanity comes to mind...

There comes a time to change tactics, flies, rigs, depth, what have you. Knowing when comes from time spent on the water, knowing why takes even longer.

[Mark Ferringer]

Repitition of the same behavior with the expectation of a different outcome... I feel like that sometimes! Sometimes it works!