I'm gonna take a guess: You cast the fly just behind the trout and let the current carry it to the trout. The rig you use is a dropper rig and the flys you use on the rig are a caddis larva and a hydropsyche fly. Hope I'm right!

Id use the first technique, a simple two fly nymph rig with a nuetral colored YARN indicator (makes less of a splash) also id make sure to be using 6x. The fact that you say it is still a bit cold, id probably have a darker, less attractive, but still visible midge pattern. Id make it fairly large (like 18-20 for midges..thats large) so it attracts the fish to at least come take a look. Dropped off that I'd have an olive or grey RS2 or beatis emerger...as small as possible. Hopefully after refusing the point fly the fish would see this tiny little nothing emerger, which you could also swing at the end of your drift, and eat it!! Let me know how it works!!

no indicator, that's for sure. if you can see the fish, why use an indicator? longer leader (I assume, anyway, you didn't give a length), maybe 10-12 feet, a single nymph rig, across and down presentation, and a small (~18) stonefly imitation. no weight. looking to reach the fish just as the whole thing comes tight, right before the swing starts.

yrs-
Evan!

While my gut wants to say a small streamer on a long leader, cast away from the fish and stripped into position, I'm guessing the proposal of a streamer won't sit well with many. So I'll say a nymph on a long leader cast far enough upstream to not spook him, but close enough you can twitch the rod and keep it bouncing along until the slow current presents it to the fish.

I would probaly be tempted to go with a long, light leader and soft hackle. Get upstream from the fish staying low and quiet and cast a few feet up fromt he fish and let some extra drift down while keeping a fairly tight line, trying to keep just under the surface. With it being cold probaly go with a size 14 or 16, short hackle, with no thorax, let that hackle wave in the slight current. Go to a beadhead if I need to get a bit deeper

No need for an indicator. Fish could be spooking from the indicator, line, or unnatural action from the nymph. They sound educated. Dynamite is the best bet - actually, that sounds like a good name for a fly for this exact scenario. A long 5X flouro leader. Big fish so stick with a 5X tippet.

As for a fly, I'd use a small net to figure out what they were eating and match the hatch. If it is cold then the bugs might be nymphs rising and falling. If unknown I'd downsize to an unweighted waterlogged hare's ear the same color as the bottom. A Prince would be my second choice.

May only have one chance - best bet is to get the fly to the fish before the line. I'd get out of the water, stay out of sight and walk upstream about 30 yards or so. Survey the area and figure if it is better to cast from shore or water. If in the water proceed quietly and stay low and way off to the side. Get a comfortable distance from the fish.

No false casting toward the fish. Sidearm cast across and down with an open loop, mending early allowing time for the fly to drop down to the fish. If it doesn't take and doesn't spook let the line go off toward the bank before gently bringing it back in and trying again.

try to trigger a reaction strike by tying on a long leader, casting upstream and letting it float downstream. the fly I'd use would be a small brown wooly bugger.

No mayflies... and it's cold. Midges. I go with a Black Beauty.

No indicator, no dry fly... I go weightless, no indicator, and drop the nymph in the film on 6X. Then hope.

March? Cold? I say your weapon of choice is an #18 BWO Emerger. 5x tippet. (yes it pays to be a regular). 30 feet is to long of a cast on a spring creek. Short accurate cast are your best bet. I'm not even gonna justify the strike indicator with a response. Geesh! Obviously these clear flat water fish are spooky so I say at least a 9 foot leader/tippet combo. Attack the fish at an angle so the line landing in the water does not spook the fish.

Cast high above the water. Let the line float down in the air and follow it with your rod tip.

In Ohio you don't find fish very easily so I say back out to about 15 feet behind the first fish, an a slight angle where your line will not land on top of the fish. Wait and observe until the rear fish rise again and start picking them off.

If none of this works go with what Outsider said except they do not sell Yuengling beer in Ohio. Can you believe that?

I'm sure one of the above posts are correct, but I'd throw a size 24 midge(take your pick) at them, I prefer a mercury midge in the case of it being a gin clear piece of water. Long leader, no indicator.

No comment here on your casting, it doesn't seem to be the cast that spooked the first two fish. It was either the indicator, flies, or leader. The solution is almost always to start small and work your way up. Go to the other end of the spectrum. Lose the indicator, put on a 6x leader and tie 7x tippet to it and put a size 22 midge pattern on(CDC transitional midge or Gary's black midge pupa), 7x dropper with zebra midge or a miracle nymph behind it, these should be even smaller (24-26). Float it the way you would any other nymph rig. The key here is that while we hope this is the winning solution, if it is not, it is hopefully small enough that it does not spook the fish out of there. The fact that fish #2 spooked when you had a hopper as an indicator points to the size of your rig and line being the problem. Go smaller, don't put anything on the surface, and go midge.

I know what one Alaska Miner used and it works fantastic. It’s chrome about a 1 ¼ inches long and a ¼ inch in diameter and taps a Grouse feather to it and lowers it gently into the water. As the trout swims up, he touches a 12 volt battery from his ATV and Breakfast is ready!

But I don’t think Blasting Caps is the answer you’re looking for and definitely illegal!

Use a sinker that is fit to get stuck (not snagged) on a rock 2 feet above you're presentation, which should be you're smallest minnow pattern, perhaps a sculpin. Let the sculpin fly drift about 10 inches in front of his face. It will partially obstruct his view and could trigger an aggression strike. If not he's hungry anyway.