Skip Morris

I wrote a book titled 365 Fly-Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish but, in fact, if you include the short extra tips the book calls “bonus tips,” there are 399 tips altogether. It’s fortunate, at least in this one regard, that I’m now an old fly fisher: no one under, say, 55, is likely to have had time to collect so many genuinely useful tips...

In the low, clear flows of summer rivers, smallmouth bass can turn difficult. This is especially true if the water is clear and smooth, as in a pool. Under these conditions I try a series of tactics. Sometimes one or more of them work, sometimes none of them work. One that can work is going small. A fly tied on a size 12, 1X long hook is small for...

Question: Sometimes my fly drifts are too short, and when my fly starts sliding across the current a trout won’t take it. What can I do to get longer fly drifts without drag? —Brian L Answer: Your question, Brian—a classic! Drag has plagued dry-fly enthusiasts since, well, probably ever since there have been dry flies and anglers enthused about...

Question: “When a trout takes a large, say size 8, dry fly, do you set the hook that same as you’d set it for a much smaller size, say 20 or 22, dry fly?” - Will J Answer: Before I address you and your fine question, Will (and I mean “fine” in both the sense of “excellent,” and the sense of “discriminate” as in “a fine distinction”)...

Question: When you’re fishing a pool, pocket, or riffle, how many unproductive casts should you make before you decide to move on to the next spot? And if you catch a fish in one place, should you assume that it has spooked the other fish in the area and move on? —Mort S. If deciding whether to abandon a chunk of water or stay and keep working it...

Question: I fish for trout sometimes in lakes by trolling with a sinking line. When fly fishers talk about lakes it’s always about trolling or fishing a chironomid down deep with a strike indicator—is there ever any dry fly fishing for trout in lakes? - Irene L. Answer: Yes, Irene, there absolutely is dry-fly fishing on trout lakes. On the whole, I...

Shakespeare died at age 52. From that point on he wrote not one new play, at least none has been discovered. St. Joan of Arc had a very short run as a military commander. She dropped the profession after a bad end in the early 1400s. Bosch gave up doing what he loved—painting brilliant paintings, some depicting his grotesque (and sort of comical) visions...

Question: I fly fish steep-gradient creeks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in California. Many of these streams are not fishable except in the pools averaging four to seven feet deep. What is the best method to fish this type of water? And would one fish nymphs or streamers in such pools? —Dave B Answer: Best method? I’ll get to that. Let’s start with...

Question: It seems between print and online magazines, vendor sites, fishing blogs, and YouTube there are new trout flies coming out all the time—but do I really need to be always adding new patterns? — Walt B Answer: Yes, of course you do, Walt. Since the first fly was tied and named, trout have been continuously and rapidly evolving. Today’s brown...

Question: “Looking at my assortment of flies collected through the years, I cannot tell which are emergers and which are dry flies. Is there a way to tell the difference?” —Matt J Answer: Funny you should ask, Matt, I mean that you should ask now—I’m just finishing up a new class on fishing emergers (and soft-hackles and wet flies) for a...