Anglers who are skilled in the use of the wet fly have an advantage in the early weeks of the trout season, since the fish at this time of the year are doing most of their feeding beneath the surface of the water. But the wet fly angler also faces his problems in early season.
Often, for example, he is forced to fish in water which is not only high -- as the result of melting snow or early spring showers -- but which also is off color. Then it is necessary to use lures which in both size and pattern are more easily seen by the trout.
Sizes 8 and 10 are good to remember when dusting off your early season fishing tips. Not until the water drops nearer its normal level and is clearer are the smaller sizes of flies consistently effective.
By the same token such easily distinguished flies as the Coachman and the Royal Coachman are recommended for the opening weeks of the trout season.
Trout are inclined to be loggy and indifferent in early spring, but the fisherman who uses flies that are big enough and colorful enough can be pretty sure of enjoying some action.
When your favorite trout stream is milky or muddy, the following advice will fit in any sack of brown, brook or rainbow trout fishing tips:
Remember that the stream is carrying water from all its tributaries; that it winds its way through a long course -- and you'll realize that somewhere in its length there is likely to be an area that is fishable.
Sometimes a tributary itself will be carrying the discolored water into the main stream and the water will be clear above the point where the branch joins. At other times while the main stream may be in poor fishing condition, its tributaries will be fishable.
Again, even in a muddy stream there may be a small area of comparatively clear water at the mouth of a tributary.
These are all excellent places to fish, for trout by instinct seek water as clear as can be found, and by instinct they also know that in rainy seasons tributaries carry natural food into trout streams.
