Fly Fishing

westbranchfisher · Location: Indian Island, Maine

How do you make that drift so perfect that it fools even the oldest, most experienced, and biggest salmonid in that pool?

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

11:49pm - was just about to close the laptop lid and go to bed. Then I saw this post and had to give my .02 cents and eager to see how it evolves - because I know for sure there are some world class dry fly fisherman on this site. Let's cut through all the BullS*** and get right to it! Can't wait to see other peoples approaches.

1. I see 1 big fish rising.
2. I want to catch THAT fish.
3. I watch and see his rhythm, exactly which way the current is feeding him and all of the micro currents around his "lane"
4. I extend my leader - usually to 13-15 feet
5. Usually, the tough big wild fish are not taking the obvious easy stuff to fish .. they are "always" on emergers.
6. I will usually tie a dry to dry dropper right with the lead fly being something I can see and a bit bigger than the emerger or smaller dry fly.
7. Positioning is key for me. I will try to get ABOVE the fish as much as possible. I fish for wild rainbows here in Maine in crystal clear water and they are super selective and spooky. It could be "wrong" - but a DOWN stream presentation (fly first) is the only way that works for me. So, I will either be directly upstream of the fish or in a position where I can quarter across to the fish. Ideally, directly upstream
8. I will keep A LOT of distance between me and fish
9. I strip off a ton of line .. almost all of the fly line
10. I make a cast about 1/2 the distance between me and the fish
11. I then pull the fly back towards me to ensure a STRAIGHT line
12. I then stack mend my line and feed it out .. trying to keep a tight line and stay tight to it as much as possible
13. I keep my eye on the bigger lead fly as it drifts towards the fish
14. I try to maintain a perfect, dead, drag free drift
15. The fly approaches the fishes feeding lane
16. He either vanishes (for whatever reason and did not like the fly), comes up and wacks it violently (which usually means he REFUSED it) or a tiny little snout (indicative of big fish) ever so subtly takes the emerger
17. I usually set the hook so hard out of excitement, that I snap him off on the hook set Very Happy

- but if I don't do that and I can get a good hook in the fish and control his blistering runs with that much line out and gain back line while staying tight to the line .. I sometimes land the fish.

Curious of how others approach it.

waterwhippa · Location: Upstate, NY

ditto for me on the presentation. long leaders and downstream, quartering casts are paramount. like jeremy, we fish large wild brown trout in crystal clear water here in the catskills and if you don't bring your "A" game you might as well just watch the birds pick off mayflies all day. another thing to be cognizent of is line slap, you really want your loop to turn over fully and float down to the surface of the water like a feather...this is where the importance of a tapered leader comes into play. your line and leader are a system, they really need to function properly to get you in the game for big, wild, weary trout. great topic.

FlyBill · Location: Western WA

Long leaders and light tippet, when called for, but the main thing is to throw a reach cast and then just small mends w/o moving the flies or fly.

I sometimes target very short drifts, maybe two or three feet, if I have to and just try to make accurate casts to the "zone"!!

Definitely my favorite way to fish! At least for trout! Cool

Boz · Location: Portland

Great topic

"How do you make that drift so perfect that it fools even the oldest, most experienced, and biggest salmonid in that pool?"

Seneca,
I have a feeling I know the pool and salmon you are referring to. Smile

All the advise you have been given above is very good. Long tapered leaders, a downstream presentation and "flawless" dead drift will definately get you in the game. I find the profile of the fly can make a huge difference in these situations. If you don't know the reach cast yet, you should definately learn it.

If you are refering to BE pool on the WB there is a brief window during very late evening where the Big Boys in the pool "drop their guard" and feed with dorsal fins out of the water moving side to side eating everything that comes through their window. This is one of the few times I do cast upstream as I can actually see my fly while facing up river, and the fish aren't as leader shy at dusk. On that piece of water...the night time is the right time.

lunchbox · Location: Utah

Ah, one of my favorite topics in all of fly fishing. I could talk for hours and hours but Jeremy covered a good deal of good info so I wil try to keep it brieff...

-First, a big part of success somes in the casting. Practice casting as much as possible when NOT fishing and really try and work on loop formation and accuracy, both on calm and windy days. Although most trout are caught at relatively short distances, if you are able to cast accuratly and form nice tight loops at long distances, normal fishing distances will seem pretty easy.

-How you set up your leader also plays a factor. If it is windy or you need lots of tippet, made sure to choose (or build) a leader with long, stiff butt and midsections to aide in turnover. Many of the lines nowadays have welded loops on the end. Loop a piece of 12-16 inch butt section (.021 or .022) to the welded loop and blood knot your leaders to the butt. THis will make a big difference in turnover. The welded loop will keep the end of the line floating high, which is important in line control throughout the drift

-As Jeremy stated, position is very important. Unless conditions don't allow for it, I almost always try to gett above the fish and throw down and across to them. Make sure to cast above him and not right at him.

-Try contolling your mend BEFORE your fly and line hit the water. Most are familiar with a reach cast. But each situation in different. If the current is relatively consistent across, a small reach will work. If you are fishing across faster water to an outside seam, a very strong reach cast with a big upstream loop is needed. Once it is on the water, try and disturb the fly as little as possible.

-make sure you have plenty of slack in your line. As long as you keep your fly away from the end of the line, the more slack you can add, the longer and better the drift. When casting to rising fish, I like to get as close as possible without spooking them.

-before you cast, try ang figure out the rythm the fish is feeding and try to get your fly in his face at that time. If you se a fish rise, watch him for a while before launching a cast right at him the moment he sticks his nose up.

-choose a good representation of the natural insect and stick with it. Most of the time the fish will be rejecting the drift of the fly, not the fly itself. When throwing to risers, I VERY RARELY throw more than one fly. The surface surrents are always at differents speeds from bank to bank, even if you cannot notice it. The two flies will fight each other along the entire drift, making it impossible to get that "perfect" drift. A lot of times the fish will still eat dries off of a two fly rig, but the most selective fish will rarely fall to a two fly setup.

Sorry to ramble but I hope this makes some senseto ya West

-Lunchbox

DSFlyman · Posted: Wed 03/11/09 11:40 pm Post subject:

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

I agree with most everything said here. This is by far my preferred method of trout fishing. I love to "hunt heads" especially on very technical water. Everything about this kind of trout fishing is the maximum challenge. I absolutely agree with lunchbox about the two flies as well and almost never fish two flies in this situation...because as he said...