By Kent Klewein
Sometimes you just have to lay the smack down on the water with your terrestrial fly patterns during the summer months to entice fish to eat.
This trophy rainbow trout turned on our flies repeated times only to veer off at the last second. I changed flies and rigs multiple times and then this trout completely shut down on us. It wouldn’t budge even when the fly drifted the perfect line over the fish.
I was about to give up when I told my client to scoot up a few feet closer and smack his dry fly down hard on the water right on the trout’s nose. He did so, and this big hen came up with no hesitation and inhaled his fly. It was a really cool fly fishing experience and my client was thrilled. Next time this summer you spot a trout and a regular drift doesn’t get the job done, try laying the smack down with your fly to imitate a bug flying into the water. Often it’s like ringing the dinner bell for trout.
Check out this video link below of some epic terrestrial fishing on my home water, shot by Bent Rod Media. The giant fish at the end required a “Smack Down” to entice it to eat.
Keep it Reel,
Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
Experimenting with different presentations is just another thing that makes fly fishing challenging and fun. It’s like a riddle sometimes and you just have to think a little outside of the box to figure it out.
I always did like this video of Kent at NCF. It’s a unique place for sure, and a helluva lot of fun.
Hey Justin, Jeff from OR here.
I am a lifetime fan of the “try it and see if it might work” mode of presentation, especially with terrestrials.
I have a vivid memory of a long ago event where I laid out a “smack down” presentation (not on purpose) with a big hopper fly. I immediately hoped that (a) I didn’t scare away every fish within 50′ and (b) that no one was watching such a botched cast. Even before those thoughts could clear my mind a big lunker came out from under a cut bank and smashed the fly and it was my biggest fish of the day.
I have found that I most often get “smart” totally by accident. 🙂
Sooooo…….Hank was right after all?