Fly Fishing

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

In a recent post, someone wrote about fishing a caddis dry fly as a nymph and it got me thinking about how often this works. How many times have you been fishing a dry and it goes under the surface and then a fish takes it? Happens a lot. Why are certain flies even categorized as one or the other? I used to have a guide that worked for me back in Utah that would regularly deep nymph a pmd cripple pattern. A lot of other guides made fun of him and gave him grief for it, but he consistently caught fish that way. Another guide friend of mine used to deep nymph cicadas on the green and slaughter them especially if the water had recently come up. When I was very young, before I got proficient with a fly rod, I used to fish a fly behind a bubble on a spinning rod. I used a royal trude dry fly a lot as it was very effective. Many times the fly would sink and the fish would hammer it under the surface. I started trying to fish it super deep and they loved it that way too. As time went on, I would use the royal trude as a streamer frequently on rivers and lakes on my fly rod and would do very well. I forget about this a lot these days but am sure it would still work. There are many times where it probably would work when you don't even think about it. Have you guys had any unique situations where you used a dry fly as a nymph or streamer and had success?

joey · Location: Colorado

I use dry flies as nymphs quite often. I like to drown a roys special midge emerger. For some reason it really does well just under the surface and real deep. I have sunk caddis flie before with similar results but never tried going real deep with them. I will have to give it a shot. I have also had luck trimming the wing off of a patriot and used it as a nymph. It worked. I like trying new techniques like this. Good topic.

AvidDavid · Location: Long Island, NY

Fly fishing is so steeped in tradition. It is definitely an interesting thought to be the heretic and question some of our most sacred traditions. And yet, it really seems quite logical to me! The emerging insect (adult) generally starts submerged and rises to the surface before it sits on the surface and then flies away. We like to think that we imitate the flying insect lighting on the surface, BUT, the fish may have an easier time slurping insects as they emerge (when they really can't fly away so well. I believe that the emerger is quite similar in size and shape to the adult, although the wings may be folded. Hence it seems quite logical (to me) that a clipped wing adult, fished under the surface, would be a reasonable approach, even fished deep! (doesn't the emerger start from the bottom up?) Cool idea... Shake it up!

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

Fly fishing is based in tradition, but the modern rendition is constantly in evolution. Nymphs and nymphing are just one example. Historically wet flies were used to imitate emerging insects and subsurface foods and it evolved into what we call nymphs and nymphing today. Joey, cool that you commonly do that with those patterns. Caddis and midges are great candidates since they both have a pupa stage which has the wing case partially formed like dave mentioned so a dry can be effective in this scenario. I never did it when i used to guide on the green, but i wanted to try all sorts of terrestrials deep nymphed. Like I mentioned a friend did it with cicadas. I have caught countless fish or had clients catch them on hoppers after they sunk, but never tried it deep. I bet under the right circumstance it would slay. I have also caught a ton of fish on royal wullfs after they sunk, but again never deep nymphed them. I need to try some of this stuff out.

flytyinfreak · Location: Idaho Falls ID

I do remember a couple of years ago being up at a retreat in Greagle CA and going down to the mill pond in town after dinner. i had never fished this water and decided on a small cadis and a midge dropper. Well needless to say i was getting skunked. I looked across the pond and noticed this gent, standing next to a small 12 inch inlet pipe hookin fish left and right! ( they had just planted the pond for a youth bait dunkin derby) Being curious just a bit i sauntered over and after introducing myself asked what he was doing that was so successful. He advised me that he had a skinny fly with no "mane" and a bead on the head and off the curve he tied on a fuzzy fly with a grey "mane" and a greenish body. LMAO. I was like huh? he pulled up his rig with the next catch and showed me. A beadhead PT and about 12 inches off of that was a sz 16 BWO catskill style dry. Those fish weren't touchin that PT but they were going crazy for that BWO. He would drop his rig without a strike indicator right at the mouth of the pipe which was aboout 2 feet under and 3 feet out into the pond. He'd let it drift between 6 and 12 feet and then start over. He was putting the fish all back but was havin a ton of fun catchin those little stockers. Not being one to rain on anybodies parade I threw on a black whoolley bugger and went fishin at another section of that their pond. To this day I have no qualms about thrown a mangled up dry fly as a dropper off of a heavy nymph.