Drag is a Drag “Drag” is the number one problem in most presentations of flies to trout, whether fishing with dry flies, emergers or nymphs. Before changing flies, consider whether you are making drag-free presentations.
Ideas for Drag-Free Presentations Having trouble with drag? Changing to a lighter or more supple tippet material, lengthening your leader and tippet, and tying your fly on with a loop knot can all help reduce drag. And sometimes tying on a fly that is more visible helps you to see drag that you might otherwise not notice.
Leader Length Nine-foot leaders are the standard for both fresh- and saltwater fly fishing. But some situations — for example when fishing small dry flies on still water and spring creeks, or when casting to tailing bonefish — 12-foot and even 15-foot leaders are needed. Fishing streamers often requires no more than 7-8 feet of leader material, and shorter leaders make casting heavy flies easier.
Watch Fish Behavior When you spot a feeding trout, don’t immediately start casting. Watch the fish’s behavior to determine what it may be feeding on and the timing of its rises, so that you can put the right fly on the water and have it arrive as the fish begins to look upward again. In saltwater, learning fish behavior — especially the speed at which your target fish takes a fly — is often critical to success.
How Far From the Rise Ring? When casting to a rising fish, don’t target the rise rings. Put your fly at least 3-4 feet in front of where you saw the fish last rise, remembering to give yourself time to thrown an upstream mend into the line if needed. Difficult currents that quickly create drag may require you to throw close to the
fish, however, so that the fish sees the fly before it begins to look unnatural.
Read the Water Speed “CFS” stands for “Cubic Feet per Second,” a measurement that matters greatly in the fishability of most freestone and tailwater rivers. While a large river like the Yellowstone might average 10,000 cfs, a mountain stream might average only 10 cfs. Trout feed in currents that are running at 2-6 cfs — usually in the transition areas between faster and slower water, like the tails of pools and the transitional edges between deep and shallow water.
Effective Nymphing Effective nymphing requires two ingredients: drag-free drifts and staying in touch with your fly. Oftentimes this is best achieved by extending your rod and keeping as much line as possible out of the current, or even “high-sticking” with only the leader touching the water.
Get Down with Nymphs When nymph fishing, be sure your fly is getting down to the fish. One or two split-shot may be needed, and keeping your nymph drifting downstream of your leader and fly line help it sink.
Turn Your Nymph into an Emerger If you notice trout taking flies just beneath or in the surface film and don’t have an emerger pattern handy, floatant can be applied to lighter-weight nymph patterns to keep them at or near the surface.
Indicators: Striking Too Late When fishing with indicators, the tiniest pause or movement of the indicator may mean a fish has eaten your nymph. Beginners often make the mistake of waiting for the indicator to “bob” and therefore miss many takes.
Learn to “Read the Rise” Fast current and flies that emerge quickly — like caddisflies — or skitter along the surface cause trout to make loud, splashy rises. Classic rises make dimples in the water and leave behind a few bubbles, indicating feeding on mayfly duns and other flies riding above the surface film. Small dimples that leave no bubbles but sometimes include the dorsal and tail appearing usually indicate emergers or small flies dangling in the surface film. Bulges or swirls are the hardest to see and often indicate a fish feeding just beneath the surface.
“He Missed It!” Trout rarely “miss” a fly. A rise followed by a disturbance in the surface usually means a refusal.
Swing and Lift When swinging wet flies, master the art presenting the fly so that it starts to rise just as it reaches a good lie — a technique known as the “Leisenring lift.”
Straight Lines for Stillwater When casting to trout in the still or very slowly moving water of a lake, pond or large run, make as straight a cast as you can and finish with little slack in your line or leader. As long as no current is causing drag, this will improve your hook-up percentage.
Going Downstream Although classic presentations are typically made upstream to trout, sometimes complicated currents can make good presentations with upstream casts impossible. In those cases, try getting well above the fish and making an S-cast with plenty of slack directly downstream. If done right, your line will straighten (but not your leader) just before the fly reaches the target.
Saltwater Casting Distances Most saltwater fly fishing requires casts of no more than 50 or 60 feet and many fish are hooked when they are 30 feet away. Equally, if not more, important than the distance you can cast: the speed at which you can deliver the fly, your “situational awareness” about the fly line at your feet, and your ability to pick up and make additional casts to the fish if your first cast is off the mark.
Saltwater Stripping When fishing in saltwater, always strip with the rod tip at or near the water’s surface. This guarantees that your retrieve imparts action to the fly, and it ensures that when a fish takes your fly the line will come tight immediately. And remember that if a particular strip is not working, a change in tempo or strip length can work magic, especially if you notice a fish following but not committing.
The “Season” Never Ends Cold weather doesn’t mean an end to trout fishing, only smaller bugs and fewer hatches. But warm afternoons in winter can produce spectacular midge and baetis hatches, and nymphs that match these bugs can be very effective when no fish are rising.
Keep It Sharp Occasionally check your hooks for sharpness while fishing and carry a diamond hone or stone to touch up points that might have struck a rock, the side of the boat or other objects during your casts.
No comments:
Post a Comment