Make your first cast the best cast. This is true whether you are fly fishing, spin fishing, or chucking bait. Placement into the right spot will produce more hook ups. 

Not everyone goes fishing to catch a fish. Some Fly anglers are concerned about making a perfect loop, or casting extended Double Hauled distances. It may take them several false casts to get the line going before they can accomplish their “Perfect Cast”. 

Spin fishermen often use way too much muscle to make a cast. This results in a slappy and sloppy cast that just scares the fish away. Several casts, or false casts will also disturb the water and scare off the fish.

The one most important skill, for a caster, is Presentation. If your bait, fly, or lure looks natural, is in the right spot, and at the right time, you will get a bite. The perfect fly/lure, from the best rod, in the best place will only produce with a quality presentation. 

You may only get one shot at a smart fish. After that, the fish will spook or shut down. One year I was targeting the Letort Run in Pennsylvania. This clear water limestone spring creek is TOUGH to fish. Back in the day, there were huge browns living in the grasses. Occasionally, they would come out to feed on cress bugs. To present these size 18 nymphs, you needed a light tippet, no weight, and a perfectly timed and placed cast.

I had located a hefty brown that was in the same place, several times. Each trip, I attempted to tackle this beast. After a cast or two, the fish would just slip back into the weeds. I noticed a pattern in the way the trout fed. A small channel between the weeds directed the flow into the fish’s mouth. The trout would nose into the weeds, then feed in the same spot, on the cress bugs that were dislodged. Only after nudging the weeds did the trout feed. 

I watched the feeding pattern and readied my cast. I could see my fly in the clear water. It only needed to be a few inches below the surface. I had to place the fly a few feet upstream, in the flow channel, to allow it to sink to the right depth at the right time, when the trout was eating. It took a few trips, but the pattern never changed. Finally, I made, lucked, the perfect cast. The Big Brown sipped in my homemade cress bug and the fight was on. 

I probably took hundreds of casts over that targeted fish without even a nibble. On this day, the One, Perfect, Cast rewarded me with a perfect trophy trout. The brown was several pounds and almost 24 inches long. The fine tippet held, my rod and reels drag worked fine, and my net was just big enough. The Catch and Release stream rules allowed me to release this grand fish.

I saw that big trout several more times over the years. He was in the same weeds, by the same currents, feeding the same way. I had already made the perfect cast and catch, so I left the great fish alone. 

Catching the Best fish needs to only happen once!

Montana Grant