How to Fly Fish: Pay Attention - Success Is Found in Awareness

A few months ago, I wrote two articles on Presentation—the skill of putting a fly in front of a fish in a way that makes it eat. This article sits in the same wheelhouse, but from a different angle. This time, I’m writing about the exact circumstances at the moment the fish ate—and how those clues can reveal a pattern that leads to more strikes.

What Is a Fishing Pattern?

Bass anglers—especially on the tournament scene—talk constantly about “finding the pattern.” But what is a pattern? And once you find one, what do you actually do with it?

A pattern is simply a repeatable set of clues that leads to more bites. It’s not limited to where fish hold or what fly you are using. Most patterns come from small adjustments anglers make that trigger a fish to strike.

A rainbow trout caught on a streamer pattern, the streamer still in its mouth, photographed underwater. — This Alaskan Rainbow hit a black streamer at the end of the swing during the pause. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Patterns Are Found in All Fishing

Sometimes the pattern is brown trout preferring a fast, erratic streamer instead of a dead drift. Other days, it’s redfish sliding off baitfish and switching to crabs, or stripers pinning sand eels tight to the beach at last light.

Patterns can come from how you present the fly—the depth you're fishing, the speed of the retrieve, the color and size of the fly, or even the cadence you’re using. Current, structure, cover, and weather all factor in, too.

A fly angler is fishing a small, misty lake with stick-ups, trying to put together a pattern that will catch him fish. — What's the pattern? Are the fish relating to the submerged trees? Down deep? Just below the surface? Wanting a fast retrieve? Wanting something crawled along the bottom? The pleasure is in finding the pieces of the puzzle. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

The Clues to Look For is Endless

A pattern can be as broad as “fish are on grass edges” or as specific as “two quick strips, then a pause.” There’s no limit to what can qualify as a pattern. For this article, I’m focusing on one thing—the details of what was happening the moment the fish ate.

Why Attention Beats Luck

Fishing on autopilot is a sure way to miss opportunities. Let’s say you’re stripping a streamer for brown trout. A fish eats, gives you a good fight, you admire it, and send it on its way. Great moment—but were you actually mentally present when the fish hit? Were you paying attention?

Here's the test. Can you replay all the details that led to the strike? Or were you just casting and stripping and hoping something grabbed your fly?

Fly fishing guide Chase McCoy, fishing a small stream for native brook trout. He's fishing the edges using a pattern method. — WV fly-fishing guide Chase McCoy, fishing the edges for wild native brook trout. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

The Questions You Should Ask After a Fish Strikes

These apply to streamer fishing, but the concept can be applied to all variations of fly fishing.

• Was the fly moving or paused when it ate?
• How was it moving—fast, slow, erratic, or accelerating out of a pause?
• If it ate on a pause, was that pause long or short?
• How deep was the fly?
• Did the fly land with a loud splat or soft entry?
• Was it moving with or against the current?
• Were your strips long, short, or mixed?
• What color were you using
• What was the size of the fly?

So Many Pieces of the Puzzle, but You Don’t Need All of Them

You don’t have to ask all of these questions every time. You can come up with some different ones. It is the questioning and observation that matters. Noticing specific details when the strike happens will turn luck into intention.

Two flies are positioned next to a small baitfish. They are all the same size, the two flies patterned after the baitfish. — Size matters. Striped bass and bluefish can be surprisingly picky when zeroed in on certain bait. It’s common to watch feeding fish reject a pattern that matches the type of bait they are feeding on, because it does not match the size. If the bait is two inches long and you’re throwing a three-inch streamer, that one-inch difference can be enough to turn them off. Tie on the same pattern in a two-inch version - fish on! | Photo by Ken Baldwin

The Key To Success

The key and most important part of this technique is: Were you paying attention? Were you present and aware? Can you replicate what led to success?

A Real Pattern in Action (Lower Niagara Smallmouth)

Last spring, I joined a crew of product reps and writers for a week of fishing on the Lower Niagara. I was the only "fly fishing" guy in the group. In fact, that is what they called me - "Oh, you're the fly fishing guy." Until the group got to know me, I could feel the side-eye when the fishing began—they weren’t used to a fly guy fishing ten feet down for smallmouth.

A fisherman holding a smallmouth bass he caught with a St. Croix fishing rod and the Spro Mcstick 110+1 jerkbait. — St. Croix rep, Jesse Simpkins, with a thick smallmouth bass caught on a St. Croix Legend X2 casting rod, and the Spro Mcstick 110+1 jerkbait. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Paid Attention and Looked for Patterns

I let the conventional guys do the heavy lifting on day one. The other angler in my boat was fishing with a baitcaster, smashing fish on a chartreuse Spro jerkbait while ripping it back hard. Most of his hits came between 6–12 feet deep. I caught some fish on a Clouser, but not in his numbers or size class.

With a Little Help From My Friends

That night at dinner, I talked with Joe Cermele – media guy, podcaster, Outdoor Life fishing editor – about what I’d observed. He walked me out to his truck, popped open a fly box, and handed me a couple of big chartreuse and brown-orange streamers. “Drunk and Disorderly,” he said. “They move like jerkbaits—take ’em.” Joe's a mensch.

Two "Drunk and Disorderly" streamers positioned on a fly rod and an Orvis Mirage fly reel. — Two "Drunk and Disorderly" streamers that Joe Cermele tied up and generously gave me to use. They were the ticket to some big smallmouth bass. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Following a Pattern Leads to Success

The next morning, my fly reel was spooled with an SA full sinking line, and a D&D tied on. On my first cast, I let the fly sink to about eight feet. I made three big, aggressive strips, then paused. A smallmouth crushed it on the first strip after the pause. After the excitement and fist bumps, I took note –

• Chartreuse
• Jerkbait action
• Roughly eight feet down
• Big, erratic strips
• Hit after the pause

A fly angler having success with patterned fishing, showing off the smallmouth bass he just caught. — A Drunk and Disorderly streamer worked like a "Jerkbait" at 8 feet down was the ticket for some big smallmouth. Fly rod: St. Croix Evos, 8-weight. Fly reel: Orvis Mirage III. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

The Fish Will Tell You What They Like If You Know What to Look For

One fish doesn’t make a pattern, but it’s a starting point. During the week, I paid attention, made adjustments, and was as productive, and sometimes more, than the conventional tackle guys. Not because I was lucky, but because I kept looking for a pattern.

Bring It All Together

Every fish that eats gives you data. Stack enough of those details—depth, speed, cadence, color, timing—and you end up with a pattern. Presentation gets the fly in front of a fish. Paying attention to the eat is what turns one bite into a repeatable pattern. KB – For more fly fishing content and photos, follow me on my Fishing On SI Facebook page.

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!"–Flip Pallot