Dry Fly Fishing Basics 
Cold
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/05 12:55:32
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ORIGINAL: duncsdad
Blind Squirrel.
Just kidding. You have improved.
It is fall and that winter urgency, without expending a bunch of fish energy has kicked in.
 The blind squirrel theory is probably more plausible than anything else! Seriously, though, the more I fish up top, the more I'm convinced that there aren't as many of those random 'good days' or 'bad days' as most people think. Yes, there are good and bad days, but they're very rarely random. Alot has to be right (weather, hatches, time of day, water level and temp, fly, presentation, position of angler relative to fish, etc) to have a real banner day, but any one single factor, that is "off" by a large enough margin, can turn that same day into a skunk. The trick is realizing that the existing conditions are rarely 'off' (severe drought or flood-stage rainfall being two exceptions), and that 90% of the game is suiting your fishing to not be "off" from what you're given in terms of conditions.
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Loomis
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/05 13:26:16
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Trout will take any fly if drifted in a drag free manner. They begin to feed more actively in the fall, so they will take more risks if presented with an offering that even looks somewhat good to them. Enticing them to come to the surface is a def. a bonus, unless a ridiculous hatch is going on, but it's not out the norm in the fall. And with the weather being conducive to trout fishing in the past week or so, they are starting to come around.
My take on it is you need to relax and let yourself learn how you fish, from your posts about your fishing you seem to critique and over analyze way too much. If you are catching fish, keep doing what you are doing and don't over-think it. If your into books and want to read some oldies but goodies about dry fly fishing, I would suggest "in the ring of the rise" or the "modern dry fly code" by Vince Marinaro, being from PA im sure you have heard of him. They are a little technical and hard to understand at some points being they were written in the bamboo, tweeds, wicker creel and cat-gut days, but it gives you a complete breakdown of what the trout sees, and how he sees your fly, remarkable for the time period and really helped me understand.
Congratulations on your success and keep the ball rollin, fresh truckies are comin soon!!
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Cold
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/05 13:33:54
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from your posts about your fishing you seem to critique and over analyze way too much Guilty. That's my affliction. I do that with everything. Its just my personality, can't help it. When I'm on the water though, it's alot like you're saying, I keep doing what's working...but I can't help but think about it. I'm currently reading LaFontaine's Caddisflies, and I really am enjoying it. He gets somewhat verbose, but I do too. Marinaro is even more dry than most, but I might take a stab at it. The part where most of these authors lose me is when they find something out and assume for the fish that that is the feature keyed upon. Like you said, unless there's a very distinctive hatch going on, many trout arent too fussy. I've seen times though that they got picky. Also, yesterday, I watched a big white moth (big = between the size of a quarter and a 50 cent piece) fuss and flutter as it drifed on the water for a good half hour, unmolested by trout taking other surface bugs inches away. Preference of dumb trout or biological triggering? Who knows?
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Loomis
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/05 14:09:59
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Moths powdery wings make them a last ditch meal, but that is from the mouth of a Poe Valley old timer....
Marinaro's book will show you riseforms in complete sequential detail, and also show you the refraction effect that your fly has on the water, I highly suggest it.
He also went out on a limb at this time by fishing minuscule patterns and says that no dry fly should be over a size 14....he caught hell for it
Besides the fact hes from the same Dago village as some of my kin, I really think his work keeps your attention.
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dano
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/05 18:16:04
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ORIGINAL: Cold
I'm currently reading LaFontaine's Caddisflies, and I really am enjoying it.
If you're enyoying that book....You have officially gone off the deep end.
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Cold
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2009/10/06 07:16:55
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ORIGINAL: dano
ORIGINAL: Cold
I'm currently reading LaFontaine's Caddisflies, and I really am enjoying it.
If you're enyoying that book....You have officially gone off the deep end.
Really?! Aw man...I mean, I know its kinda dorky...but I think its pretty interesting.
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Cold
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2010/05/28 13:24:47
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Dredging up a thread from the past here...but its been just about exactly 1 year to the day since I took my first fish on a dry. In that year, I've learned so much, and also started to realize just how much that there is still left to learn. I've gone from cobbled together elk hair clumps to parachutes I'm proud of. From generally matching color and size to knowing which species should be coming off when...and sometimes even where. From hoping to see a fish rise to my fly to a measure of confidence that, if I do my part, I should be able to manage catching a fish.
I even noticed that the drifting techniques I worked on to learn to fish dries helped me in the fall and winter, translating into drifting eggs for steelies.
In any event, I decided to bump this thread for a few reasons. First and foremost, to thank everyone that posted here, helping me to make the progress that I have this year. Second, it's the beginning of Prime Time on most local water, and if there's any beginners around that could use some help learning to fish dries, this is a great collection of knowledge. And third, to get more into the tying end of things. Any favorite patterns, etc, and how to tie them (if its not a big secret!).
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PeteM
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RE: Dry Fly Fishing Basics
2010/05/28 13:52:16
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My favorite is a simple caddis parachute. Size 14-16, green thread, 2 strands of crystal flash and a piece of peacock hearl wrapped on the hook, with a parachute hackle. I either goop it up and fish it dry, or forget the goop and let it drift in the film as an emerger depending on what the fish are doing. I tie the parachute with a mono-loop as illustrated here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIIntyuuYFg On drifting- Drifting in the seam will usually require a forward mend. A light quick toss will form a bow in the line that opens up-stream. This helps to keep the line drifting at the same speed as the fly. (hence the term "drag free drift"). If you are standing in the seam (or bubbles), GET OUT OF There! Thats where the fish are!
post edited by PeteM - 2010/05/28 14:01:01
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