What to do When you Encounter Lousy Fishing Conditions, with James Spica

It happens to all of us, and sometimes it seems like every time we take a fishing trip, conditions are less than ideal. Water too high, water too low, water temperature too warm or too cold. Dirty water. You know the litany. James Spica [34:18], writer and fishing manager of the Orvis store in Royal Oak, Michigan, has some great tips on what to do when you encounter these situations—where to fish, how to fish your fly, and some patterns he would never go anywhere in the world without that help him deal with adverse fishing conditions. James gives us tips for both freshwater and saltwater trips and I took a lot of my own notes on this one!

 

In the Fly Box this week, we have some great tips and interesting questions, including:

• Are all fly lines today one size heavy? Can I use my 5-weight line on my new 6-weight rod?
• A tip from a listener on the best way to carry multiple fly rigs to the river after constructing them at home.
• How can I start my roll cast to get a decent amount of line out when I have no back cast room?
• Can you skip a tippet size when adding a new tippet to a leader?
• Do you think adding a small piece of orange or white yarn to a standard dry fly for visibility impacts fishing?
• A tip from a listener on adding a lightly weighted nymph to his streamer rig when swinging flies.
• A tip from a listener on how to seal the thread when finishing small flies.
• I had trouble getting beads on some nymph hooks until I pinched the barb first.  Does everybody do this?
• I recently saw some freshly stocked trout chasing each other in circles in a pool. Is this spawning behavior or something else?
• Do juvenile trout eat the same thing as adults? If I am only catching small fish should I try a different fly?
• What is your favorite flotant for keeping a dry fly on top?