Spring Edition

Spring Edition
Spring Edition

Friday, January 10, 2020

Fly Fishing Pro Tips ~ Foam Lines


We’ve all heard the saying “Foam is Home” when fly fishing our favorite waters in reference to making presentations among the foam and bubble lines that flow downstream with the currents. Natural floating foam on the surface of the water is the accumulation of leaves, twigs or other organic substances that make their way into the water and begin decaying. 


They release compounds known as surfacants. This interaction breaks the surface tension, which in turn allows air to more easily mix with water and creates bubbles. These bubbles congregate to form a fly angler’s friend – foam lines within the feeding lanes.

Yuba River Pink Albert - Two Tail Identification

As with most liquids, water molecules are normally attracted to each other. This attraction creates tension at the surface of the water, often referred to as the meniscus, or a thin "skin," which allows most aquatic adult insects to glide across it.


What’s really cool about foam lines next to the bank is it allows an angler to be able to sit and observe and see exactly what bug (or bugs, think masking hatch here) are floating in the drift and what the trout are keying on, in real time.


Merry-Go-Rounds: Swirling patches of foam that collect both live and spent aquatic insects, plus providing cover for shy trout. Think of a Dorado lying under a carpet of kelp in the Pacific Ocean. In this scenario you may often see a trout’s nose poke through while eating trapped forms of food within the foam. Making presentations in the foam patch and giving your fly slight twitches will most often induce a strike.


It does not matter the time of year, or what river or lake you’re fishing. Probing the foam lines is essential to your success whether you are fishing dry flies, emergers, or nymphs. Cast less, observe more, and seek out the foam. 


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