| When you first start fly fishing, one of the first | | | | over grown foliage. Other optimal areas can be |
| lessons you will learn is the rules related to light. | | | | under trees, rocks or banks along the shore. If |
| Simply put, fish stay away from the light. | | | | you take the time to look around, you will start |
| Fly Fishing - Stay Away From The Light! | | | | to see unique spots that offer excellent |
| Fly fishing a stream is unique in that there are | | | | prospects. As you might guess, early morning and |
| many factors that go into success. Water | | | | late afternoon are also excellent times to cast |
| conditions, temperatures, fly choice and so on all | | | | given the fact the light tends to dim. |
| come to mind. One of the more basic issues is | | | | Regardless of the above, there is one area where |
| the contrast of dark and light on the water. | | | | you should always avoid shadows when casting. |
| Specifically, fish have a thing about the light from | | | | No, you will not see them when sizing up the |
| above. | | | | shoreline. Instead, you need to look at your feet. |
| In general, fish avoid areas of water exposed to | | | | Yep, your own shadow. When on the shoreline or |
| the sun. Yes, you can find them in a sunny part | | | | water, you need to control the direction of your |
| of a stream or river, but they prefer to swim in | | | | shadow. If you are fishing in overgrown |
| the shadows. The simple reason is they are more | | | | vegetation off the shore, your shadow cannot fall |
| visible in the areas of water exposed to the sun. | | | | across it. If this occurs, the fish are going to |
| Since most fish predators are coming from | | | | associate it with a moving predator such as a |
| above, evolution has taught the fish that the | | | | bear or, in the case of smarter fish, humans! |
| sunny areas are dangerous areas. When the fish | | | | When you head out for a bit of fly fishing, take |
| do stray into the sun, they tend to stay deep | | | | note of the light. Understand it and you will do |
| since birds have difficulty diving deep. | | | | well. Misunderstand it and, ironically, you will end up |
| When looking for fishing spots, try to stick to the | | | | in the dark. |
| shadows. This is typically along the shore with | | | | |