With the early start this year, trout season is well underway, but with the erratic weather conditions we have seen the past few weeks getting on the water may have been a bit of a challenge. Rain, snow, high, murky water, and strong winds have all added up to some difficult fishing conditions. Of course, we diehard fishermen won’t let a little bad weather keep us off our favorite stream searching for trout. Certainly, even with the less than favorable conditions, some good trout action is still available, and I’ve done my best to grab a couple of hours here and there.

While any number of tactics will take trout, I’m hooked on using a flyrod; and like most of the fly fishermen I know, taking trout on the surface with a dry fly is the ultimate high when it comes to fly fishing.

In case you are not familiar with fly fishing, a dry fly is simply an artificial fly tied with various feathers and other materials that are made to resemble a natural fly that is hatching from the water. When these hatches occur, trout will often feed heavily from the surface as it rides the water until it flies off into nearby vegetation.

Admittedly, there is more surface activity as the season progresses and water temperatures warm some, but there can still be some great surface action even in April.

Trust me; I’m on the water whether there’s a hatch coming off or not, but the first time I spot a trout taking a surface fly, I’m quick to change over to a dry fly. I actually picked up my first trout on a dry fly on a special regulated stretch in late March, but since then, I’ve had some great dry fly fishing on several other outings. On a couple of mornings, I happened to hit a good hatch of caddis flies coming off, and the action was steady. A good pattern, a least for me that day, was a number 14 deer hair caddis, but a 14 Adams also produced well.

This month also offers up one of the best early-season hatches — the Quill Gordon; this is usually a midday hatch, and the trout often feed heavily. As we move into May, there are a number of other good hatches that provide great surface action. If you are just getting into fly fishing, all the “hatching activity” can be a little overwhelming, so I won’t get too detailed here but don’t get discouraged either. If you want to get into fly fishing, and I’m finding more and more people who want to, get with somebody who is experienced and can work with you.

I’m a great believer in adding to my fishing arsenal, and adding fly fishing, especially with dry flies, definitely added more fish to my seasonal numbers. Speaking of taking fish on top, the dry fly presentation for trout isn’t the only way to enjoy catching fish at the surface; you can also take a variety of panfish and smallmouth and largemouth bass as well. You increase the size of your outfit, and instead of little dry flies, you switch to poppers; they are larger, more sturdy flies often tied with deer hair or made with cork bodies. In fact, a good way to learn how to present a fly or lure on the surface with a fly rod is when fishing small poppers in a farm pond for bluegills. It’s not just a learning exercise; it’s downright fun even for experienced fishermen. Another little secret is that a popper of some kind can also be deadly for bass, and that goes for largemouths on lakes and ponds and for river smallmouths.