Fishing tactics

[mute]

Hey, i have a situation here, if you wanted to fish a bugger to a fish, by stripping it down stream past the fish, how would you approach it. Everytime i try to i spook the fish with the line hitting the water. I usually stand behind/next to the fish and toss the lien over its head or next to it to strip it down. I dont know of any other way to do it.

 

[Padraic]

Have you tried a curve cast, so the line lands further from the trout?

You could also try a pile cast, so the line doesn't hit the water as hard.

Really though, there is no substitute for having the line straighten in the air and settle to the water, instead of slapping. And that takes practice, so you'll just have to go fishing some more! :-D

 

[mute]

How the hell would you cast so it lands in a curve like that.

 

[Padraic]

http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/jrcurvecast/

 

[MKern]

To add to what Pad said, I would actually throw a left curve cast, with the line on the far side of the fish. The reason I would do this it because of the where you are standing on on the close bank, and the probable brush on this bank. This left curve cast also keep you casting on the right side of your body and not csting over your left shoulder.

 

[AdamM]

i would probaly just dead drift it to the fish and just cast it far enough a head of the fish that it wont spook it.

 

[Maurice]

First off if I could see the fish in the center of the current, I wouldn't use a wolly bugger. If you are casting over its head you are lining them just like with a dry fly.

For a downstream WB presentation, try this. I call it a power strip. See the pic below.

1. Cast across current or quarter upstream. Throw a mend real quick over to the fly.
2. Wriggle the tip to feed 15-20 ft of line into the current ti the rod pointing downstream.
3. Let the current maneuver the line into a giant "U" shape. The fly shouldnt have moved much by now. And begin stripping. Even small strips are magnified by the current speed so you ussally only have to twitch it.

This works better when the fish are on the other bank or in an undercut or eddie that you don't want to cast directly to for fear of spooking them.

Maurice

 

[beeber2]

Cast upstream at about a 45 degree angle, as far across as you can, and let the bugger sink. When it gets down near the fish, start stripping it across. Let the bugger swing at the end.

 

[MattBoyer]

Maurice wrote:
First off if I could see the fish in the center of the current, I wouldn't use a wolly bugger. If you are casting over its head you are lining them just like with a dry fly.

For a downstream WB presentation, try this. I call it a power strip. See the pic below.

1. Cast across current or quarter upstream. Throw a mend real quick over to the fly.
2. Wriggle the tip to feed 15-20 ft of line into the current ti the rod pointing downstream.
3. Let the current maneuver the line into a giant "U" shape. The fly shouldnt have moved much by now. And begin stripping. Even small strips are magnified by the current speed so you ussally only have to twitch it.

This works better when the fish are on the other bank or in an undercut or eddie that you don't want to cast directly to for fear of spooking them.

Maurice

What Mo said!

Boyer

PS, sorry, I was too lazy to draw the picture, but I knew somebody would sooner or later. :-D

 

[littlejuniata]

Pretty easy to do a curve like that with a golf club and ball

 

[jayL]

You could always try a longer leader too.

But like they said above, work on your casting and you probably won't spook them as much. Also, the upstream approach is way better in this spot.

 

[JeffK]

I would go simple. Curve casts are a great part of ones arsenal, but are tough and it is usually better to do a more accurate straight cast. The curve comes from doing a side arm cast and either over or underpowering it. Over power it and it will curve in as it goes past straight. Under power it and it not quite go straighten leaving a curve. A cool trick, but takes a whole lot of pratice.

I would cast the bugger across the stream about 20 feet or more upstream of the trout and to the far side. Cast so far away from the trout that it doesn't spook the trout. Then pay out line so the bugger both drifts downstream and sinks. You may have to shake your rod to pay out slack line. As you get close strip the line so that the bugger lines up with the trout and your line gets taut so you can strike - you cast past the fish at first so you can adjust the drift to pull the bugger in front of the trout. Try different retrieves once it is near the trout starting with stripping fast like it is trying to get away. Sometimes just letting a streamer hang in front of a fishes face for a few minutes will draw a strike.

That power strip was one of the favorite tricks of the bucktail fishermen when I was a kid. It is especially useful getting down along a cut bank. Another old time trick was to stand at the head of a run or pool and make a quartering cast down and across. Let the streamer swim across back towards you. After the first pass let out a few feet of line and mend so that the streamer goes to the far side without casting again. Keep going back and forth until you cover a whole pool in one cast by just letting out line and mending. Take care to works rocks, logs, ledges and any other fish holding cover. This is very useful in getting a streamer back to downed trees in tight channels.

 

[MKern]

Don't be so sure that it is the line that is spooking the fish, but the fly landing on the water with a thuddddd!

 

[Red_headed_Stranger]

I wish I was as good of an artist as many of you, but unfortunately I can't put a visual to my explanation. In those circumstances if there was no other possible way to present to this fish, I would make a wiggle cast upstream on the near bank possibly 20/30 feet ahead of this fish. While the wiggle is working itself out in the current, I would get out as much line as I could on the water and make a very large downstream mend behind the fish hopefully getting enough line that the mend extends past the fish towards the opposite bank. As the current begins to work out my mend, it should drag the bugger on an angle towards the far bank and hopefully somewhat near that fishes mouth. That being said, it all depends on how wide the stream to be able to make that downstream mend past the fish. Also, I would suspect the water conditions are a little tricky, so you have to be careful not to slap your mends on the water as well. Just my suggestion, but as suggested from the different responses, there is more than one way to skin a cat...or if you are creative as some on here there is more than one way to use your cat's fur for dubbing.

 

[tomgamber]

I might just find another fish to chase and come back later...

 

[jayL]

Well all of that is great. But what happens when you get me... the lefty!?!

I do most everything but throw and fly cast right handed. Hell, I spin fish right handed. Though, I throw darts right handed too. I need to write all of this down somewhere. This is what happens when you're born pretty much ambidextrous and your dad is standing there with you at the baseball shop, the fishing shop, or whatever saying "JUST PICK ONE ALREADY".

That leads me to another point. When I fish the same waters as people here, I always forget to mention... look for the only lefty on the water. It's usually me.

 

[tomgamber]

You have it easy...you can throw out in front of him and your lines stays further away from him...now if he were downstream, the righty would have the advantage...just look at Pads drawing...and put the rod in the other hand...big advantage...

 

[jayL]

Yeah, in this case it would be good. What can you do for me during the drakes at the Jam though? I was on the wrong damn side of everything that day.

 

[Chaz]

I fish upstream with streamers all the time and on some fairly small streams. The key is to not let the fly hit the water hard. Stop your cast before the line straightens out, when you do this it forms a big loop and as the fly opens the loop it is forced down into the water and will sink faster and will not hit the water hard.
Cast well above the fish and across the stream from the fish, use at least a 12 foot leader and tippet with enough weight to get the fly down fast.
Strip the fly at the same speed as the current. You want the fly to swim in front of the fish, so as soon as the fly drops in the water start stripping.