Beginner's Dry Flies?

[a23fish]

Although I've been using a fly rod for 2 years, I've done very little with dry flies. But today I had a chance to fish a couple when I found a group of fish eating on top. Long story short, I had 2 fish eat each of the 2 dry flies I used, and missed hooking all 4. I'm sure my lack of success was due to very little experience, substandard drifts, and slow reactions. However, the one thing that gave me the most difficulty was seeing the flies throughout the drift. I could track them most of the time but not all the time.

The 2 flies I had were a #14 tan elk hair caddis the another angler generously gave me, plus a small #16? blackish-brownish something that someone else gave me. Despite my results, I would like to keep a few dries with me for future attempts. So, what are 3 basic dry flies to carry? What size? And I really need something easy to see. I could easily track the #10 or 12 Chubby Chernobyl I was using earlier with a nymph underneath, and even had a trout hit that. Missed that one too. Basically shocked anything hit it.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Are you trying to tie them? If so, a good beginner dry is any comparadun pattern. if you want 3, dub them in white, black, and olive. Hold off on extra wings and palmering until you've had some practice.

If you're simply asking what to buy, then go to the shop and get some more of those elk hair caddis, some BWOs and sulfurs (light Hendrickson or light Cahill work) in about 14, some ants from small to large, and some stimulators.

That closer to 6 than 3, but that's a solid dry fly foundation. If you want to splurge for another $2, add an Adams

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Adams, BWO, Light Cahill, Caddis. I don't know how old you are but parachute patterns on the Adams and BWO will help you see them. Have a few sizes of each and then approximate color and size to what you see floating by. When the fly sinks at the end of the drift, twitch it a couple times before picking it up.

 

[tomgamber]

Adams, elk hair, royal wulff. those three should keep you busy.

 

[JimNovo]

Any parachute style pattern can be made more visible by using orange or pink in the post. If you are interested in some flies like this PM me and let’s talk.

 

[Bamboozle]

...However, the one thing that gave me the most difficulty was seeing the flies throughout the drift. I could track them most of the time but not all the time...

Seeing your fly is not as important as knowing where it landed and determining the flow of the moving water...

Did you ever see a golfer throw grass in the air to figure out the wind direction? You need to do sort of the same thing when fishing a dry fly you can't see very well.

Look for anything upstream that is floating on the surface like a stick; on in the water like bubbles or leaves. Follow your "marker" as it moves past you and develop a guesstimate how fast the water is moving. If you lose sight of it, imagine where it WOULD be IF you could see it. If need be, do it a couple of times.

Then do the same thing with your dry fly. Cast, make sure you know WHERE it landed and knowing how fast the water is moving, imagine where your fly would be IF you lose sight and never take your eyes off the water. If you see ANY fish rise in the vicinity of where you THINK your fly is, set the hook.

I fish in total darkness a lot, use flies tied on hooks all the way down to 32 and don't tie or buy anything with a bright post or marker with eyes that need magnification to tie them on my tippet...

If I had to see my fly I'd be sunk... 😉

Good luck!!

 

[a23fish]

Thanks for all the input folks. Gives me much to think about. Another trip to ye olde fly shoppe.....

Look forward to more thoughts on the subject. Any one use a double dry rig? One bigger & more visible, a second one more subtle & smaller a short distance away?

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Seeing your fly is not as important as knowing where it landed and determining the flow of the moving water...

Did you ever see a golfer throw grass in the air to figure out the wind direction? You need to do sort of the same thing when fishing a dry fly you can't see very well.

Look for anything upstream that is floating on the surface like a stick; on in the water like bubbles or leaves. Follow your "marker" as it moves past you and develop a guesstimate how fast the water is moving. If you lose sight of it, imagine where it WOULD be IF you could see it. If need be, do it a couple of times.

Then do the same thing with your dry fly. Cast, make sure you know WHERE it landed and knowing how fast the water is moving, imagine where your fly would be IF you lose sight and never take your eyes off the water. If you see ANY fish rise in the vicinity of where you THINK your fly is, set the hook.

I fish in total darkness a lot, use flies tied on hooks all the way down to 32 and don't tie or buy anything with a bright post or marker with eyes that need magnification to tie them on my tippet...

If I had to see my fly I'd be sunk... 😉

Good luck!!

^Solid advice here, I second what is said.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I do. If I'm fishing extremely small stuff size 20+ (which is rare for me) I will tie on a fly to use as an indicator. I will connect the smaller fly to the the larger dry with very fine tippet, or at least tippet that has a lower breaking point to the tippet or leader that is connected to the larger fly. The tippet will be tied to the hook shank of the larger fly.

I also have a leader that was given to me buy a tier that has some fluorescent orange floats built into it every few feet. This could also benefit you. I have not tried the leader out yet and I don't know if I'll even use it. I think the floats are there to show you where the current is moving.

Overall what @Bamboozle has said is the best way to approach dry fly fishing.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Dries are also seasonal so for now I'd be thinking small, like size 20. Griffith's gnats and BWO's would be my go-to.

If you want a "beginner" dry fly for warmer weather I recommend the humpy. It represents a lot of insects and floats like cork. I fished humpies a lot during my first year of fly fishing.

 

[Bamboozle]

I also have a leader that was given to me buy a tier that has some fluorescent orange floats built into it every few feet. This could also benefit you. I have not tried the leader out yet and I don't know if I'll even use it. I think the floats are there to show you where the current is moving...

This stuff is hard to find since it is used almost exclusively by Japanese tanago & keiryu fisherman (and me for Micro Fishing 😉) to mark their lines to see the sideways movement when a tiny fish takes the bait:

However it is essentially just really thin florescent colored polypropylene yarn that you tie on like this to your line and trim as small as you want:

Something similar can probably be found in a craft store or you could use a mall amount of fibers from egg yarn to "mark" a leader.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

^Ingenious! @a23fish, do this instead if you wish to modify a leader to better track your dry fly. Thank you @Bamboozle.

 

[Bamboozle]

When we do it for micro-fishing we (me and the Japanese 😉) put 3-4 markers of different colors on our lines spaced about 3/4" to 1" apart. These markers are BELOW a tiny float (or not) and submerged.

However there is no reason you couldn't leave them a bit longer, grease them and fish them with dry flies on a leader.

 

[salmo]

Probably the easiest dry that I tie is the CDC caddis. Lots easier to tie than elk hair or dear hair caddis of comparadun

 

[JimNovo]

Probably the easiest dry that I tie is the CDC caddis. Lots easier to tie than elk hair or dear hair caddis of comparadun

Agree 100%
It’s my go to fly for tough trout.
But at size 18/20 it could be hard to see.

 

[salmo]

That’s why I use a white or pale grey CDC wing.

 

[falcon]

CDC is remarkably visible even with small flies.

 

[Tigereye]

Adams, elk hair, royal wulff. those three should keep you busy.

H

Adams, elk hair, royal wulff. those three should keep you busy.

Hard to argue with those 3. I fish some pretty small stuff and these are pretty ez to see.

Reasons i have found for not seeing flies are first and foremost glare. Polaroid or crizal lense sunglasses are a must. Also try to keep sun at your back when possible

You can always go with bigger flies especially with attractor type flies. Size 12 and 14 are pretty big when on the water.

If you tie your own or can get custom tied, dont be afraid to use brightly colored wings or posts. Hot pink, orange chartreuse are good. The white wings on wullf stand out well too. Ray Charles could see it. Sometimes a black wing helps add contrast.

 

[KeviR]

A word of encouragement - you will get better at spotting your fly with practice. You eyes improve and you also gain a sense of where your fly should land based on your cast. (After a while, you "know" how long your leader is by eye. And based on how you cast and how you saw the line land, you begin to be able to find the spot where the fly should land.) A larger fly used as an indicator is a good way to solve this problem until you get the hang of it. And remember, generally speaking, hook sets are free - if you can't see your fly with certainty and a fish rises anywhere in the vicinity, set the hook. Worst case scenario is a re-cast. And you're not driving a 2/0 hook through a senko worm into a bass' jaw. Just a regular line pickup will hook you up if the fish was eating your fly.
Polarized glasses help enormously in most conditions.
I fish nymphs most of the time and after years of doing it and knowing the mechanics, even in roiling water I can usually see the tiny splash made by the nymph(s) when they hit. My eyesight is not great, I just know pretty much exactly where they will land based on where I was aiming and how the cast unfolded. So my eyes are already on that spot when they hit. It comes from the experience of a multitude of casts.
Another option for marking your leader is strike indicator putty. I used to use it for nymphing and I would frequently put several small dots of putty along the leader. It floats, so it works well on a dry fly leader. Same idea as above with the fluorescent yarn. But it is quick and easy to add and subtract the putty. I never used yarn, so I can't say for sure how easy that is to use, but it seems like it would be more fiddly than a little gob of putty. And the putty stays where you put it. I would imagine that the yarn would slide down until it gets to a knot.

 

[wbranch]

I don't have the patience to read all the prior comments. I can see small flies quite well. However if I'm using a #22 Baetis it is hard to see. Here is what I do. I first tie on a #14 or #16 light colored fly. This is my indicator fly. Then I tie on a piece of tippet about 2' long to the indicator fly and then attach the money fly. This is especially good so you don't strike to soon. When the indicator fly gets pulled under a fish ate the bottom fly. Sometimes a fish will eat the indicator fly which is also good.