Fly Fishing Lessons: What Is Presentation and How It Helps You Catch More Fish?

Some fly anglers will argue that "presentation" is the most important skill in fly fishing if you want to catch more fish...they are not wrong.

A good drift along a subtle seam leads to a hookup. | Photo by Nick Penoncello

Learning to fly fish can seem daunting because there is so much to learn. The truth is, it's a lifetime of learning, so don't look at it as a mountain in front of you; instead, learn each lesson as it comes, like adding bricks to a wall. Build it one piece at a time, and enjoy catching fish along the way.

A Key Brick in the Wall

"Presentation is everything." No wiser words were told to me early in my fly fishing learning curve. It's a fact, the fly angler who is skilled in the presentation of his fly will catch more fish.

Dialing in on a big fish. | Photo by Mason Cochran

A Skill Worth Learning

Presentation is a valuable skill that requires practice and involves numerous complex variables. The principle is simple, the execution of its application is anything but.

What is Presentation?

Presentation in fly fishing refers to the way a fly is delivered and behaves on or in the water. Get this right, and you'll catch fish. You do every other part of fly fishing correctly, but your presentation is poor; you won't catch fish.

Fly Fishing Yellowstone Park

Recently, I fished Yellowstone Park on foot with Montana Outfitter Nick Penoncello, of Sage Lodge. At the end of our second day, we were walking past a nice stretch of water that had just been fished by an angler who was ahead of us. He occupied this hole for a good hour and fished it hard. We didn't see him hook one fish. It's a popular hole, and I'm sure it had been pressured all day.

Unlocking Pressured Waters

Nick and I decided to bypass the pool and look for some unpressured water further upstream.
As we hiked past the hole, I caught sight of a large Yellowstone Cutthroat holding just a few feet off the bank.

Make The Cast

Nick had the better casting angle, so I told him to go ahead and make the cast. He placed his fly right in a seam, and the fish slowly rose and ate. I know Nick was just as surprised as I was, but that was enough to tell us to stay and make a few more casts. In the next hour, I hooked seven fish, landed six, and counted four more that took a swing at my fly.

A Yellowstone Cutthroat all colored up. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

A Difference Maker

What was going on? Why did I catch fish when I knew this stretch of river had been fished thoroughly, and I never saw one fish taken?

Proper Presentation Catches Fish

Since there wasn't a hatch, we decided to fish terrestrials. I fished a Chernobyl Ant, and Nick had on a hopper. Sometimes Nick fished a black ant. All of our choices caught fish. What I think led us to success, more than the choice of fly was a good presentation.

A Chernobyl Ant and good presentation led to a number of big Yellowstone Cutthroats. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Cont. in Part 2 - Is "Presentation" the most important skill in fly fishing?

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"The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover