Hi just a quick one, When dry fly fishing ive always thought that its better to have the leader submerged right up to the fly, Ive read twice now that its better to have the leader sitting on top of the water ? is this correct ? I use flurocarbon leader which is invisable to fish underwater so it makes sense to have it under not on the surface or am i in the worng ?
Also what is the best tippet for dry fly fishing flouro-carbon or copolymer , Ive read people dont like fluro because it pulls the fly under, I use 4lb fluro and dry flies down to size 18 and have never had this problem ? if the fluro doesn't pull the fly under is this better to use than copolymer or is there other reasons why people prefer copolymer ? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Regards Ryan

I always feel more confident with as little of the leader showing as possible and it reduces the chance of any wake on the surface which could put a fish of at the last minute.

As I don't have any Co-polymer (only flouro), I rub some banking mud (clay) on the leader before tying my dropper/s, this takes the shine off and allows it to sit sub surface.

Gary

I think its a matter of personal preference. I always use flurocarbon and prefer to have my leader sunk, feeling that the fish do not see it, I never have any problems with my drys being pulled under.

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I wish I knew how you guys manage to keep the dries afloat using fluoro,I can only imagine you dont leave them on the water as long or yer flies are dressed heavier....

Some fish will still take even though the leader is floating but it usually spooks the **** out of them when they see it move on the surface(herringbone) a split second after they take the fly.They will hook themselves in the process sometimes but more often they will spit the fly out before we can react.I like to keep the leader under at all times especially in calms.

I made the mistake of using a Frog's Hair tapered fluorocarbon leader when stillwater dry fly fishing & the taper with a 4.4lb point not only dragged the fly under but also about the first 3 yards of my greased #5 line!

My suggestion is always use copolymer or good old-fashioned bog standard mono, but yes, do make sure it's sunk right up to the fly as the floating (or greased!?) tippet looks terribly obvious. Just grab a copy of Clarke & Goddard's The Trout & The Fly & see for yourself...
A quick wipe down with some mud, then cleaning the tippet is the simplest way.

Fishing a small stream on Friday evening for wild brownies. I waded in and stood in the middle of the stream, chucking a Griffith's Gnat upstream under some overhanging branches. As the fly came back downstream to me, I could see that the tippet was floating all the way to the fly. Patting my fly vest pockets for sinkant, I muttered to myself "nothing's going to take that", when inevitably something did. It pricked itself and was on for a couple of seconds - it felt like a good fish for the stream. I fished the rest of the evening with my tippet well sunk but didn't get another rise. Eventually had one on a nymph, but felt robbed of my first dry fly trout of the season.

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By the way, if anyone believes the marketing claims about the invisibility of fluorocarbon, I suggest the find an aquarium and find out for themselves.

Thanks for the replys guys, I use mud degreaser to sink my leader and seems to do the job, One problem i am having tho is when i have caught a fish on a dry fly i cnt get the slime off the fly and it just sinks, even with floatant and one got any ideas or tips to get around this ?






Steve im supprised 4lb fluro pulls ur fly line under, I use i cortland floating line and i can cast out a tungston bead nymph and leave it there and it wont pull any of the fly line under. If you have this problem when dry fly fishing try rubbing some gink floatant into the braided loop this should help stop it getting pulled under. Or maybe your fly line is at fault ? perhaps its cracked and water is getting into the core and sinking it did you super glue your braided loop on ? this sometimes can crack the fly line, Or maybe it just needs a good clean a light coat of some gink.

Regards Ryan

I have an aqurium but unfortunatley my fish dont speak so cant ask them he he - jokes aside i thought it was make up fluro makes it invisable looking at in water so looking at it from outside an aqurium would not tell you if fish can see it or not, I could be wrong tho i usually am.

Regards Ryan

The line is perfectly ok with anything other than the Frog Hair fluorocarbon.
It's a #5 Greys Platinum & I'm very happy with the condition of it. Trust me - there was absolutely no way of keeping it from sinking. The end of the line was visually plunging down out of sight & I tried smearing it with mucilin but still virtually no effect!

Stuck a copolymer 12' tapered leader on & everything was fine.