What do you guys do when absolutely NOTHING is catching fish?

[poopdeck]

Fish deeper holes where you can’t see them and add more split shot.

 

[dryflyguy]

Even if I don't find greener pastures by moving around, and it turns out to be just one of those days, I'll start checking out places that I haven't fished before.
Good time to explore a little.
What have you got to lose?

 

[BruceC2C]

Have not taken the time yet to read replies here. Likely some repeats.Maybe something new.
#1...Spend time developing your delivery skills.
#2...Do something new
#3...Do something extreme
#4...Do the EXTREME opposite of what u ARE doing
#5...Lose/ snag some nymphs on the bottom to confirm u r DEFINITELY covering the bottom third of the water column.
#6...Experiment with a drop shot,/ tandem rig.
#7...Fish the edges, close to the bank
#8...Fish the soft water & lengthen your leader.
#9...Try some VERY fast retrieves
#10...,Fish BOTH vertical & horizontal in the water column.
#11...Fish LARGER bugs
#12...Learn to fish midges
#13...Fish bright ,dark , and hi visibility colors
#14...Downsize & Lengthen your tippet
#15...Add another split shot, or 3
#16...Fish both upstream & downstream
#17..Nymph WITHOUT an indicator
#17....INSIDE/PRO TIP....
............drink good beer when u get home 🍺

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Depends if I'm confident with the stream or not.

 

[CRB]

Move on to new water is last. Sometimes the hatches are different on other streams with a different water temp.

 

[Tigereye]

Usually not so much the fly you are using but, leader or presentation. OR THE FISH SEE YOU TOO

 

[kbobb]

What was the water temp that day? Maybe it was just too cold. If it's an all tackle area stick on a Berkley Power worm and let it lay in front of them - you'll find out if they're hungry or not.

Maybe play golf or go bowhunting or something on that kind of day.

 

[Letort]

Sometimes its not you, its them.

I try to remember that I have no idea what went on 5 minutes before I got there.

 

[moodyblues]

Head to the nearest bar.

And drown your sorrows in a few Yuenglings or a couple of shots of bourbon.

 

[moodyblues]

Not that I want to recommend littering on purpose, but you can try dropping a fly upstream to see if anything tries it on without a leader tied to it. (I'm recalling a story from Marinaro's Modern Dry Fly Code when an unsuccessful fisherman spilled his fly box onto the water, only to see trout taking flies he had been trying with no success.) Would that be considered as chumming?

Only if they are corn, or pellet, flies.

 

[just_jon]

And drown your sorrows in a few Yuenglings or a couple of shots of bourbon.

One can only be outsmarted by creatures with pea sized brains for so long.

 

[moodyblues]

One can only be outsmarted by creatures with pea sized brains for so long.

Alas...................the struggle is real.

 

[vern]

Fantastic info and just the kind of ideas I was looking for. I appreciate the detailed reply! Tightlining is definitely something I need to learn. I get it in theory, but don't quite get it, even after way too many hours listening to the Troutbitten podcast haha. But I'll get there eventually.

Tightlining isn't as difficult as it may seem. If you've ever fished a jig-and-bobber that's pretty much exactly what you got.
Cast upstream enough so that the trout don't see it falling down. Keep as much of a George Harvey "tuck cast" as possible. Harvey taught Humphreys and many others the tuck cast. It is an essential technique, IMO.

 

[vern]

Also, consider this: Step back from the stream with very light feet, as though trying to sneak up on a deer lying down in the rhododendron. And sit down, or stand still behind a tree, and wait.

The stockies are fish that have been behavior-selected and bred based on the ability to adapt to raceways.

The initial trout the state tried to breed were wild fish. It was unsuccessful. Wild trout need to hide in the shadows. Wild trout won't stay put if they can "feel" the walking of a human, the shadow of a bird in flight, etc.

Already domesticated selectively bred rainbow trout were purchased and brought into Pennsylvania for stocking.

Sucker spawn is always a good fly for these.

As long as the weighting of the fly is good, the leader is built right, and the cast is made and fished in a tuck-cast style. The stockies should be catchable.

There is one major consideration that I have come across as being much more significant than I previously considered.

SMELL!

The smell of your flies and line.

Not kidding.

Be careful when you apply different materials to yourself - hands, sleeves, vest - and what you use to protect your fly tying materials.

I have witnessed multiple species approach the same fly, one after another - almost like a line of customers - and get ridiculously close and then reject.

It was chemical rejection.

I am contemplating using goldfish as a canary in the mine so as to determine which insecticides and other wipe on or spray on materials are repugnant to fish.

I am now convinced that it is a VERY important concern!

(As with many things, the smells are what sells!)

 

[Silent Ocelot]

(As with many things, the smells are what sells!)

That's why I always coat my flies in WD40.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I will say back to my sentence in post #24 the level of confidence I have in the body of water I am fishing will dictate whether or not I wish to stay there. Once I have made that decision I will either play it our or move. This type of mentality is highly important on places such as Penns when Penns gives you some pointers on when it's time to leave and seek out willing fish elsewhere.

I've always believed that confidence is key in this hobby and that it will subconsciously help you fish better. I need to be in my A-game to fish effectively. When it's not panning out for me and I wish to say I will go through the usual assortment of confidence patterns varying in weight in size. Once I have found a rig that I suspect should work I'll probably just fish it for the rest of the day (I'm also lazy). If I bring two rods to the creek that gives me four different nymph presentations so a fish should theoretically be attracted to one of them. If the environmental factors are what I want such as overcast and off-colored water I will most likely stay. Bright and sunny says will clear water will make me more in the mood to try someplace else. Only exception to the rule is a brookie trickle because those fish are going to take flies regardless.

 

[Old Town]

You mentioned fresh stocker fish, These fish are usually not afraid of humans. If anything they become more agressive seing you. The reason for this is they are used to being fed by people and when they see you they assume there dinner is being rung. However wild or even hold over fish can be the exact oposite.
Most trout are willing to eat reguraly. Fresh stocked fish can be even easier to catch do to they not being hand fed on a scedule.However it can take some time for many to catch on to natural food ( insect inatations). However small to medium size bead head nymphs usualy catch the majority of them. Next I try flys imating man made bait as my second choice. Last is a trout magnet. Fresh stocked rainbows in deeper water must think they are candy as they usually gobble them up. Yes they are not a fly but still a good catch and release tool in my book.
I usually start out fishing a wolly bugger or silver white streamer to locate where the majority of fish were stocked then switch to drifting flys.
Last there can be many reasons why fresh stocked fish are not bitting. One is they were just caught and released. I remember about 30 years ago they stocked Boilingsprings lake. I caught and released about 30 or 40 fish. These fish stayed near the bank where I releaased them in a school. When I walked away a guy came up and tried to catch them. A few minutes later he said I can not understand why I can not catch any of these ones. I replied I jsut caught them. He asked whick one. I replied all of them.

 

[rancid waders]

What do I do when nothing is working? Small and sparse, like a 22 with single wrap of peacock on a black thread body

 

[tjsingle]

Focus more on presentation, fish varying water columns and water types. Slow or quicken fishing pace. Switch to streamers is usually my go to because nymphing gets boring after a while.

And most importantly fish until dark, I rather be on the water than anywhere else. Some of the most rewarding days I have had, were days where the fishing was hard and persistence (or stubbornness) was the main factor.

 

[Tigereye]

Sit back and watch. Alot to be learned by obvserving. May not find the key to solving today's puzzle, but, you may find the key for another day.

I recall struggling on rising trout on the Lehigh one day. They were readily taking light Cahill duns. I had a cahill pattern on that had always worked , but not this time. Lengthened leader... nope. Downsized leader, nope. Subtle twitch nope.

Sat on the bank and watched for 1/2 hour grinding and gnashing my teeth. What was happening?

I put my focus on one fish and watched. What it would do was to rise for a fly, drift back with current, take fly. Okay nothing new here. BUT it did not return to original lie. It just dropped to bottom and stayed put. It would repeat this process 3 or 4 times till it got to bottom of the run, then swim back upstream to its original lie. So, what looked like 3 or 4 fish rising was only one.

I watched 2 other fish do the same thing. Basically I was fishing over empty water. The fish had moved and there weren't as many fish as I had originally thought.

I went back to fish #1, and waited for it to take a natural at his last downstream location. Gave him a minute or 2 to swim back upstream, and waded into position. Then watched as he took 2 naturals above me. Let him drop to lie #3 then 1st cast -bang. Fish on.
Landed him and managed to catch the other 2 fish on first cast doing the same thing.

Haven't seen that happen since, but I think of it often when fish don't cooperate. I look for it.

Would never have learned that had I not got up on bank and watched. Don't ever recall seeing in print other than cruising fish in lakes.