Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 12 April 2025
There are a set of “rules” for seatrout fishing. But combining them is rarely possible—they soon become contradictions. My favourite “rule” is to use a dropper so you can more effectively figure out what the fish are eating that day. A pretty good recommendation. The problem is that another rule often gets dropped in the same sentence: if you find the fish, it doesn’t matter what you present to them—you’ll catch them. That’s true on some days. But then, why use two different flies if it supposedly doesn’t matter?
It’s also said that if the trout are there, they’ll let you know—and if they don’t commit, then it’s time to change the fly. While some seasoned fishermen would never fish just one fly, there are just as many equally skilled ones who would never fish two at the same time. Their reasoning is that big seatrout often hunt in pairs, and if you hook both, you’ll be in a lot of trouble and probably lose the fight completely.
One thing that is certain, though, is that it’s good to move around to find the fish. You have to put in the time and learn what makes a good spot for seatrout. And you have to create your own set of rules and learn to trust your gut feeling. I’ve spent a bit too much time listening to other people’s truths. I’m not the most experienced seatrout hunter, but I have spent quite a bit of time on the coast and developed a bit of a feel for whether a spot holds fish or not. My recent outings have shown that I should trust my gut a bit more.
This Sunday, when I was out fishing with a friend, we fished a spot that looked really good. But to me, it felt empty—no indication of fish being there. Then my friend makes a cast and gets a follower. I change bait and catch three seatrout in three casts.
One weeknight, when I was out fishing, I found a new location that looked really promising. I was almost surprised that I didn’t get any action right away as soon as I started casting. So I moved on a bit. Still looked really good, but no sign of fish. Then I switched flies, and on the very next cast, I got a strike.
I’ve spent quite a few sessions fishing by other people’s rules over the past year and probably missed a fair number of fish because of that.
This weekend, I was supposed to host a casting competition. But it got cancelled because no one signed up. That’s quite sad. But I’ll keep trying—hopefully, people will show up.
Cheers, Rickard