Skitter ?????

[yea-who]

I have noticed in many threads "skitter" the fly has been mentioned. So i would like to learn how or know how.
I advance searched "skitter" from the beginning that word is mentioned more often than i have thought. Threw "poke and hope" at misc. threads that appeared i have found two threads that i book market, for later reference, on other reasons (uses of the 3 style wings on drys and grannom ID.)
So how do you skitter a fly ? or create the illusion of a hatch ?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I skitter caddis all the time. Often throwing the dry, directly down stream of me and then lift the rod tip slowly as i move it from left to right.

The fly will sway slowly side to side. I have had wild browns leap out of the water by a few feet to take these flies.
Another way is to throw it upstream and let it drift past you and then do the above tactic.

Caddis "skittered" is deadly

 

[Fishidiot]

To "skitter" a fly just means to pull it along the surface. Skittering is only done with dry flies. Normally, one would fish dry flies dead drift meaning that the fly drifts at the same speed as the current. It's done this way simply because most natural bugs in the surface drift this way. However, some insects, especially caddisflies and small stoneflies are quite active on the surface and they sort of dance around on the surface by wingbeats, sometimes lifting off the surface here and there. Imagine a flock of geese taking flight off a lake - in effect, they "skitter" before getting airborne. So skittering a fly merely means to impart some action so your dry fly moves across the surface like an active insect. This is usally done by stripping line or perhaps just twitching your rod tip a few inches.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Least i wasent to far off

Dave,
I like the geese analogy. Great stuff!

 

[albatross]

My experience with the little black stoneflies that hatch this time of year is that you have to skitter the imitation. The fish will completely ignore a dead drift.

 

[afishinado]

Some good methods mentioned above. Skittering your dry fly is one of the ways to get fish to come up to your flies when they are active on the water. Egg laying caddis are notorious for this. First of all, it's best to tie on a dry fly that floats high on the water, generally with the hook point not penetrating the surface. Flies that allow the hook point to penetrate the surface throw a wake like a mercury outboard, and should be avoided. Heavily hackled or palmered flies are usually best used for this purpose. Flies the the Elk Hair Caddis, heavily hackled Catskill style flies, and Bivisibles work great. Also, a sinking leader and/or tippet will pull your fly under the surface so using paste floatant on your leader and tippet helps you to stay on top and allow movement.

This short video may give you a better idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9DlozYKS4

 

[PaulG]

Tom

Good vid, I never thought about greasing the leader, will do that from now on. Love the way those trout hit the fly when you skitter it, they dont mess around!

PaulG

 

[afishinado]

PaulG wrote:
Tom

Good vid, I never thought about greasing the leader, will do that from now on. Love the way those trout hit the fly when you skitter it, they dont mess around!

PaulG

Yeah Paul. also one of the things I like about using furled leaders is you can grease it up when you start fishing, and it float most of the day. The paste gets between the twisted segments and lasts a long time. I use Muscilin green right now, but just bought Loon Payette Paste to try out. Lube up and have a ball!

 

[PaulG]

afishinado wrote:

PaulG wrote:
Tom

Good vid, I never thought about greasing the leader, will do that from now on. Love the way those trout hit the fly when you skitter it, they dont mess around!

PaulG

Yeah Paul. also one of the things I like about using furled leaders is you can grease it up when you start fishing, and it float most of the day. The paste gets between the twisted segments and lasts a long time. I use Muscilin green right now, but just bought Loon Payette Paste to try out. Lube up and have a ball!

Tom

Already have my new furled leader on, thanks to you! I've never used one so Im eager to try it out!

PaulG

 

[DaveKile]

Sometimes the term skating is used as well. In addition to skating a caddis I often will do the same with mayflies, but really like to skate a spinner. Seems to take the action of egg laying.

 

[afishinado]

dkile wrote:
Sometimes the term skating is used as well. In addition to skating a caddis I often will do the same with mayflies, but really like to skate a spinner. Seems to take the action of egg laying.

LOL....not that it matters, but I believe "skating" a fly is more allowing the current to move the fly on a tight line, while "skittering" is skating as above, but animating the tip of your rod to achieve a jerking motion like some of the insects do on the water. Either way it works at times.

One of my secrets that I discovered long ago on the stream, is skating March Brown dries (I always carry some Catskill ties for this purpose) is deadly when a dead-drifted dries are ignored. In fact, rather than changing flies when the fish ignore my dries, I sometimes animate my fly to coax the fish to hit. That includes all types of hatches - caddis, mayfly or stonefly.

 

[David]

I will often blind fish using a skittering caddis. Use your mend to skitter it, get longer drifts, position your fly where you want it, and attracting attention all at the same time.
Drift...
Mend / skitter...
Drift....
Mend / skitter...


Its a great technique on wet days, too, when bugs are trying to take flight, but can't until they dry their wings.

 

[osprey]

A good read on this subject is "Fishing th Dry Fly as a Living Insect" Leonard M. Wright , he speaks about the "Induced" take or strike , this book opened up a whole other world for me when i was just learnin' the ropes of fly fishing , there is a chapter called "The sudden Inch" which points out that control of the fly , the line , and the rod is critical when skittering and i think that is one of the most important points , you have to maintain control of the whole mess in order for it to work , but adding motion to floating flies rather than a drag free float all the time can really open things up. GOOD LUCK.

 

[afishinado]

osprey wrote:
A good read on this subject is "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect" Leonard M. Wright , he speaks about the "Induced" take or strike , this book opened up a whole other world for me when i was just learnin' the ropes of fly fishing , there is a chapter called "The sudden Inch" which points out that control of the fly , the line , and the rod is critical when skittering and i think that is one of the most important points , you have to maintain control of the whole mess in order for it to work , but adding motion to floating flies rather than a drag free float all the time can really open things up. GOOD LUCK.

Good stuff Osprey! Great book, that adds a whole new dimension to dry fly presentation. Try "the sudden inch" a few feet above a rising trout just when the fly just reaches the trout's sight window........and hang on!

 

[pcray1231]

One of my secrets that I discovered long ago on the stream, is skating March Brown dries

Interesting. I am aware of, but rarely use the skate/skitter method. I do occasionally give a twitch in some situations, especially with brookies.

But last year during a MB spinner fall on Oil Creek, after dark, the guy I was with was having trouble with a steadily rising fish. It was directly below him. He'd drift it over perfectly many times, no take, but on his pick up for the next cast it kept hitting as the fly came over top (and he'd miss it). I told him to just lift slower, and then drop, repeatedly skating it over top. Sure enough, he was into a good fish in short order.

 

[yea-who]

How would I/we keep a hook on a spinner from penetrating the surface ?

 

[Festus]

Another great way to skitter dries is through a downstream and across approach while employing a leader with a dropper about 36" from the lead fly. I usually use a Henryville on the dropper, and a wet fly on the point. After making the cast, hold the rod high so that the dropper fly bounces on the surface while the point fly creates tension. Many times when a trout misses the dropper fly, you can nab 'em on the point fly if you have enough patience to hold back on the first strike.

 

[Fishidiot]

yea-who wrote:
How would I/we keep a hook on a spinner from penetrating the surface ?

It's okay if the hook on a fly being skittered penetrates the surface a little bit. Usually flies that are skittered have fairly dense hackle and ride pretty high up on the surface tension.

 

[afishinado]

Festus wrote:
Another great way to skitter dries is through a downstream and across approach while employing a leader with a dropper about 36" from the lead fly. I usually use a Henryville on the dropper, and a wet fly on the point. After making the cast, hold the rod high so that the dropper fly bounces on the surface while the point fly creates tension. Many times when a trout misses the dropper fly, you can nab 'em on the point fly if you have enough patience to hold back on the first strike.

That's cheatin! ;-) Sounds like fun, I'm gunna give that a try next chance I get.

 

[Festus]

That's cheatin!

All's fair pertaining to the Angle Of Thee Flye.:lol: