what the heck man

daman1277

daman1277

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Nov 27, 2011
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302
Been trying my hands at dry fly fishing. Well about to admit defeat on that one. 2 days of trying it. Sulphurs everywhere and rises as fast as you can blink and not one for my fly
 
Are you sure you are getting a good presentation? By this I mean no drag, you aren't lining the fish, you are on target, and it's the right size and pattern. Don't get frustrated. It'll come. Take a step back and analyze what you're doing and how you're doing it. Change little pieces of the puzzle until it all fits together the way it should.
 
90% of the time I nymph. Dries really only make sense in very limited situations, so don't get discouraged. Fishing dries is fun, but can be infuriating.

First, you might want to build some confidence on brook trout water. They'll rise to just about anything.

Second, really big hatches can be tricky. If you were on very glassy water and the fish had lots of options odds are your fly wasn't particularly appealing. Finding a fish that is feeding in moving water can be easier. The longer they have to inspect it the less likely they'll take it.
 
I was fishing Bushkill Creek up by Palmer Park Mall
 
Work on your drift first, then other factors second, like fly patterns. Try lengthening your tippet another foot. It may be harder to get a perfect cast, but it will help a bit with your drift. take fly floatant and put it on your fly as well as at least a foot or so of your leader too. Keep at it. When it all works, I'd rather catch 10 fish on dries than 100 on nymphs.
 
" I'd rather catch 10 fish on dries than 100 on nymphs

^^^^^^^^^
THIS!!!!!
 
Never give up. Tonight I caught 3 Brown Trout on dries. This brings my lifetime total to 38 trout, 7 bass, and 1 catfish on dry flies.
 
I'm still learning as well daman. I totally agree with ryguyfi, it is a lot of fun catching them on a dry. When it happens you will be addicted. Don't get discouraged, you are in the midst of some great dryfly fishing.
 
I fish dries 95% of the time once the water warms up enough where fish are rising.

Make sure your drift is right, as said before, but also-try going a size bigger than what's hatching. Give them fish a reason to eat your fly over all the naturals on the water.
 
Daman give me a shout on your availability. Preferably in the evening during the week. I will get ya a fish on top.
 

Second, really big hatches can be tricky. If you were on very glassy water and the fish had lots of options odds are your fly wasn't particularly appealing. Finding a fish that is feeding in moving water can be easier. The longer they have to inspect it the less likely they'll take it.
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Going on the same lines with the above. I have found that if I get my nippers out and cripple the dry fly I'm using a bit sometimes can make a difference. Be the fish... Think about what they are seeing. All the same stuff just fly'n on past. Sometimes something that is the same but has something wrong with it triggers them. Or at least some of the time.

There have been times during a sulpher hatch that I couldn't buy a thrill, tied an adams on and nailed the slop outta um. Once you start catch'n on dries... Well, it's a rush for me. Can't speak for everyone. Good luck. Keep at it.
 
vince marinaros IN THE RING OF THE RISE has an enlightening section on riseforms. if you see lips, faces theyre sipping duns. splashing, porpoising, visible fins and tails its below the film, emergers. i stood in a halacious sulphur hatch on valley 20 years ago casting and skunking on lovely hand tied duns. i let a guy relieve me. he caught three fish, thanked me and handed me a fran betters phillips usual. i caught a fish. your on the journey. now.....what the he** are they taking at Buckingham in the twilight???
 
I like super long drifts, in order to pull this off you need to leave a lot of line on the water to let the current take the fly where it will with no drag.

By practicing this I've managed to develop some rod skills, shaking line off the rod (I use a right/left motion, as if you're sewing seeds), mending constantly and leaving wiggled S shaped fly line in areas that I know the current is going to straighten it out.

Practice doing this and I know it will improve your drag free drift and give you a better understanding of what the current will do with your line.

Now to set the hook, lol, if you drift long like this don't lift the rod to set the hook, rather take the rod parallel to the water and turn your whole body to the bank opposite of your fly and take the rod back as far as you can to get all that slack line, and reel like h3LL
 
I going to mention accuracy - it's the issue I see most. When there are bugs all over and the fish are near the surface they don't need to move far and if they are shallow can't see far. Try to get the fly within 6" (+/ 3") of the fish down the feeding lane. To do this you really need to mark the fish well. Closely notice bubble lines, branches, rocks, etc in order to have a good target.
 
Timing matters too. If the fish comes up dont cast there right away. Give him a minute to eat what he just came up for than cast. I always believe the fish is eating and not looking up yet.
 
You haven't said what kind of fly you are using, what size, length of leader or tippet size.
 
Tried a light cahill and a Sulphur both on 18 inches of 6x tippet on a 9ft 5x leader
 
One thing I noticed this weekend that was killing my drift was that the end of my fly line was sinking, that will kill your drift, I applied some floatant to the fly line and that made a world of difference.

 
daman1277 wrote:
Both flies a size 14

The size 14 sulphurs are over for the year.

Try a size 16 sulphur dun when you see the sulphurs hatching.

Then near dusk, you will often see clouds of the spinners hovering over the water and you can see their orange egg sacs. They come down to the water to lay their eggs. Then switch to a size 16 sulphur spinner to finish out the evening.

The leader and tippet sound fine.

If you've been fishing a very slow smooth stretch of water, find a place where the water is moving a little faster and with a little bit of a broken surface. The trout will not be as finicky there.
 
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