Tip of the Week: Skate Mend

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Skate Mend Your Fly

Skating your trout flies across the surface is an effective and versatile technique that can significantly boost your success on the water. This method achieves three key objectives that are crucial for hooking trout, especially in challenging conditions.

1. Enhanced Visibility:
In oxygenated, choppy water where keeping track of your fly can be difficult, skating your fly across the surface allows you to maintain visual contact. The movement of the fly as it skitters across the water makes it easier to see, even in turbulent conditions, ensuring you stay connected with your fly at all times.

2. Mimicking Struggling Insects:
The skittering motion of your fly closely mimics the behavior of struggling insects on the water’s surface. This realistic movement can be irresistible to hungry trout, triggering their predatory instincts and enticing them to strike. The lifelike action of a skating fly often outperforms a stationary one, especially when fish are feeding actively on the surface.

3. Natural Line Management:
Skating your fly also aids in naturally mending your line, reducing drag and ensuring a more natural presentation. By keeping the line off the water and in motion, this technique helps maintain a direct connection to your fly, minimizing the chances of unnatural drag that can spook wary trout.

How to Execute the Skating Technique

To effectively skate your trout flies, follow these steps:

• Cast Slightly Downstream: Start by casting slightly downstream and over the seam you intend to fish. This angle allows the current to work in your favor, helping you control the fly’s movement.

• Skate the Fly: Once your fly hits the water, raise your rod tip high and shake your wrist gently to skate the fly up and towards you. The goal is to create a subtle, lifelike movement that mimics an insect struggling on the water’s surface.

• Dead Drift to Finish: After skating the fly to the desired seam, quickly drop your rod tip and point it directly at the fly. This allows the fly to dead drift naturally in the seam, mimicking an insect that has become exhausted after struggling. The dead drift is often the final touch that convinces trout to strike, as it mimics a vulnerable insect that’s easy prey.

By mastering the skating technique, you can improve your fly’s visibility, create a more enticing presentation, and manage your line more effectively—all of which increase your chances of a successful catch. This approach is especially valuable in fast, choppy waters where traditional techniques might fall short. So, next time you’re on the water, give skating your trout flies a try and get ready for some crazy eats.

We teach these techniques and more through our casting courses in our University of Fly Fishing.

UPCOMING COURSES TO HIGHLIGHT 

With temps on the Yakima remaining warm after noon, we are concentrating much of our work on our Tributaries!  These are the greens and the blues of the fishing slopes.  Check available dates out HERE. 

ENTIRE COURSE CALENDAR HERE 

Our University of Fly Fishing is the most unique, comprehensive fly fishing education available.    

With summertime flows currently happening on the Yakima, we have been concentrating on our tributaries as the classroom for most of our classes.  Euro, Trout Spey and all walk and wade Fishalongs can happen up on one of our Tributaries.

• August 16th       Tributary Fishalong
• August 17th       Fly Fishing 101/201
• August 18th       Fly Fishing 301
• August 18th       Women's Intro
• August 23rd       Tributary Fishalong (Morning/Afternoon)