Floating flies with weight

JackM

JackM

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
17,310
Does anyone ever take a floating fly pattern and put split shots above it to sink it? Or, do you tie flies that look like underwater prey, but float for the purpose of having it trail ABOVE the splitshot as it slides along the streambed? I have occasionally weighted foam emergers and caddis patterns and fished it that way. Can't say is it is any more effective than other methods, but you can catch fish this way and when you are bored, you'll try anything. Thoughts?
 
Don't do the split shot thing. Have not fished this type much and when I did it only raised my level of frustration.

Think some people used sink pastes to get some flyes to sink- put it on there lines too.

Guess I have fished emergers in the film but probably my least successful method of fishing. I have little doubt fish are taking the emergers but they sure can make it difficult for me. Especially if they are in the eddies doing this- crossing a couple of currents drives me nuts. I have used some pile casts to but a bunch of line down on the water so it will hold off the drag for a second or two but it always seems I am a second or two too short.

My favorite way to fish emerger types is with wet flys.
 
My favorite way for emergers is to just swing the nymphs.

I'm usually nymphing before I think a hatch is going to come off. When I see some fish hitting the top I'll cast above, let it sink, then swing with the nymph in front of them. Best to be upstream of the fish.

I've done very well swinging drake duns at night, but I've never put splitshot on to achieve this. I din't try to get it super deep, just a couple inches under the surface.
 
Jack,

When olives are diving on spring creek, try this method with a cdc dun. I've also done it with cdc caddis.
 
I will put spit on my dry fly to get it to sink just below the surface film. I do this on a two-fly set up, the trailer is the one I want to sink.
 
Does anyone ever take a floating fly pattern and put split shots above it to sink it?

YES! try with with caddis and you will be very surprised. Most caddis that trout eat are subsurface. The adults will die and fall into the riffles and sink. On a good caddis stream sometimes the streambed is loaded with dead drown adults.

Caddis make up a huge percentage of a trouts diet. Most of which they eat on the bottom of the stream.
 
yeah, I've fished sunken dries with caddis, mostly out of laziness and not wanting to tie on an actual wet fly.
 
I've sunk ausable wolfs with split shot before and had good fishing. Its one of my techniques for fall trout, if I throw everything and get little response I try a sunken wulf. Sometimes it works.

I also tie zonkers with foam underbodies for smallmouth fishing, and I've had a lot of success with them.
 
I do it with hoppers, crickets, beetles and ants.
 
I often fish emergers tied with CDC on my nymphing rigs. Works great! I probably fish any given emerger pattern in this manner about half the time. If I see surface activity or near surface activity, I let them float on or near the surface. If I see active fish down deep, I use them like nyphs and let them swing at the end of the drift.

Kev
 
sunken tricos work too


jeff
 
Back
Top