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Success on the Dries

By Al Owen

 The tackle, tactics, methods and flies used in the pursuit of Stillwater trout have evolved at such a speed over the last decade that it is at times impossible to keep up. Many of us are involved in competition fishing, where the emphasis seems to be on speed fishing and gaining that elusive time bonus. Indeed often, unless this line of attack is followed, progression in competitions can come to an abrupt end. Many newcomers to the sport, especially the younger generation, know little, other than how to pull that now famous ‘ BLOB’ in a variety of colours on various densities of sinking line. What many find hard to accept is that given the right conditions, employing the use of nymph, dry fly, or a combination of both can catch more fish, generally of better quality and frequently as quick. Sadly, these more subtle techniques, especially that of fishing the ‘dry’ are rarely seen in today’s modern sport.

Over the years, I have had many a memorable day afloat when the dry fly has out fished other methods.

One particular dull but windy day at Grafham Water springs to mind, my boat partner had started on a DI3 with lures; I was on a floater with nymphs. When these tactics failed, my partner changed to a faster sinker, I to an intermediate. The result stayed much the same save for the odd halfhearted pull. I can remember saying to my boat partner ‘I can not believe these fish are not playing the game, we must be doing something wrong’. How right I was, on changing to dry fly success was instant despite no sign of fish in the surface. My boat partner changed to pulling his lures through the surface to no avail; dry fly was indeed the tactic to be used that day and landed me eight good fish for 25lb.

In order to achieve success in fishing the dry fly one needs to understand fully why there are times when the fish prefer this tactic. The most obvious sign that fish are surface feeding is visual, not many anglers miss that one! The most difficult times are when few to no fish are showing. There are however certain conditions when use of the dry fly should always be considered. These are:

Dull, overcast days.

Wind lanes.

Shallow water.

I have always maintained that the depth at which a fly is fished is far more important than the type of fly used. Let us also consider the main food source of our quarry; I consider this to be either ‘buzzer’ or ‘daphnia’. Both of these food items will be found at various depths depending on the day’s conditions. As a general rule of thumb, the duller the day the higher these food items will be in the water. As the fish come higher in the water to feed, they’re visual field of view reduces dramatically to the point where unless a fly is cast on the nose of our unsuspecting trout little success will be achieved. Under such circumstances, fishing the dry fly can bring instant results.

There are many dry fly patterns available on the market today but only three, tied on a variety of hooks from kamasan B400 to B170 have a permanent place in my fly box. These are: ‘Hoppers’, ‘Bob’s Bits’ and ‘ CDC’s’. I tie these patterns in a variety of colours and hook sizes (14 – 10) to cover varying situations.

When fishing the Dry, presentation is of the utmost importance. It is essential that the fly is fished in the surface rather than on it hence the use of differing density hooks. A B400 will fish on the surface during a flat calm, a B170 will fish in the surface film giving correct presentation. Given a small wave, a B400 will fish in the surface film whereas the B170 will sink. The choice of hook density in order to achieve correct presentation comes with trial and error on the day. The colour of fly again will come through trial and error, if takes do not come on a particular colour after 20 minutes, change colour.

Choice of leader material is another important factor; I use ‘Orvis Mirage’ fluorocarbon of 6lb breaking strain. This is not only a clear leader material but also has a specific gravity less than that of water so it will sink and hence aid presentation. When fishing dries, I use a two fly set up on a 10ft leader with a 5ft fly spacing.

When fishing dries from a boat, it is inadvisable to cast great distances unless casting to a specific fish. When a take to the dry comes, it is more often than not a very gentle and confident affair. Takes are often hard to spot, when fishing the ‘CDC’ or ‘Bob’s Bit’s’, it is not uncommon for the artificial to just drop in the water as the trout’s mouth opens below the fly. If cast more than 10 yards, this type of take is all but impossible to detect as visual contact with the fly is lost. Just as the take is a gentle and confident affair, so should be the response. A gentle lift of the rod will either produce a solid lock up or will often induce a take to a first initial offer. Having hooked the fish, patience in bringing it to the net is vital, as the hooks used will easily straighten. This type of dry fly fishing is often referred to as ‘fishing blind’ i.e. waiting for the fish to find the fly.

If fish are showing on the surface, then a dry cast in front of the target will more often than not result in a take providing the fly is sitting correctly in the surface film. This is where choice of wire gauge is essential and where many anglers experience a refusal as opposed to a confident take. Providing presentation is correct, 85% of all offers to the dry should result in positive lock ups.

As an aid to dry fly flotation, ‘Gink’ or an alternative is often used. This should be rubbed extremely sparingly onto either the body (Hopper’s & Bob’s Bit’s) or CDC shuttle or wing of the CDC fly. A common mistake is to use too much of these artificial floatants resulting in the fly sinking on contact with the water. Having caught a fish on a dry, the fly should be washed to remove the fish slime and re ginked to provide correct presentation. Personally, I always remove a taken fly from the cast and tie on a fresh one, allowing the used one to dry naturally before re use. This I find to be far less time consuming and far more efficient especially when competition fishing.

The dry fly can also be used to great effect as the top dropper on a buzzer cast although the type of dry used is somewhat different from those previously mentioned. In this situation, the dry should be a fairly high floatation pattern utilizing either palmered hackles or foam to prevent the buzzers from sinking the dry. This set up not only presents a possibility of a take to the dry but also acts as a sight indicator to a take to the buzzer. This tactic was used to great affect by Ian Barr at this seasons Lexus International Final at Grafham Water. Ian took fish to the dry as well as the buzzer.

Hopefully, these few words will inspire you to have a go with the dry next time you are out on the water and conditions are right. Never forget though, many an angler has had a good result with the dry when conditions have been tough. Give them a go, when all is said and done you have little to loose but much to gain from this fascinating method of fishing.

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