I'm getting really fed up with dry fly fishing.

I'm a relative novice ( 2nd season, last one truncated with floods ) and catch lots of river trout on nymphs under a small indicator or fished New Zealand style off a Klinkhammer.

But I KEEP getting refusal on the Klink , especially when i fish without a nymph suspended, but also when i fish the Klink on its own.

In general I use 4lb Fulling Mill Flourocarbon, and try to sink the leader with Fullers Earth, dishwasher stuff etc.

I have even tried a mouldable tungsten putty to sink the line near the fly.

I caught 2 fish on dries yesterday evening, but probably had 8 refusals for each of these.

I am fishing a smallish flowing river ( not slow in most parts ) with a 5 wt outfit.

Am beginning to think that the florocarbon from the Klink to the nymph may touch off the fishes body or lateral line and spook it an the last second.

Alternatively am thinking that i have got to swith to CDC flies as these may be more realistic , or paraduns, or bloody Funnelduns or [I]something

What sort of refusals rate to a dry fly ( ie fish splashes the fly and doesnt take ) is "normal" and can anyone please help ???!!!!

Thanks all.................

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Irish by birth, Munster by the grace of God.

Hi,

how big are the fish you are catching? I found that going down from 3lb hi-tec line to ordinary 1.5 lb mono line made all the difference, as the trout I caught were on a small stream (10 foot wide, 6" - 4', fast to medium flowing, the Upper Don in South Yorkshire) and they don't go much over 1lb.

On a 3wt 7' rod, it was responsive enough to soak up the fish's energy without risking the line breaking.

Cheers,
Courty

Double post

Question is do YOU want to catch a fish with every cast?? You will always get refusals Its when "THAT" fish sups down your dry that makes it!BIG TIME

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Silversedge
LETS TACKLE CANCER SUPPORTER
"MON THE HILL CLIMBERS!!"

Spider

Refusals happen and you have taken to the dry at the hardest part of the season dont worry about it, its a confidence thing.
Is there no one locally that can show you what and how they do it?

Are you fishing the right fly?
I can only speak for myself but i think a klink is really a fast rough water fly.
In most other types of water i would be fishing something really small just now.

My armory at this time of year is really wee parachute olives sizes 18-20, cdc and elk size 18 , bread and butter size 18s and then a size 14 low riding sedge for when the bats start to come out.

As a rule of thumb splashes mean sedge rises OR you fly is to big.

You tell me what you see on the water and what the fish are feeding on?

Does any of this ring true? If not you are going to have to get an easy jet flight to Scotland.

Hi Spider

Are all your refusals a splashy take of the fly? If so is this in really fast running water?

If the above two are both yes then i would say that it is not refusals but the fish missing the fly as it is launching itself at it quickly and in fast moving water trying to give itself the greatest chance of intercepting it. I find that when using a klink in fast water it seems to raise a lot of fish quickly and they do tend to miss it. Plus a 4lb tippet will be quite stiff i imagine and will not allow the fly to limply enter the mouth like a natural would on such a fast take.

Try to use smaller diameter tippet. I use Riverge grand max fluorocarbon in 3.5lb 0.115mm as my tippets for all drys mega fine but high strength. Also maybe try and strike a bit slower with the splashy take as i know they can take by suprise and you seem to jump at it. Best bet is to always expect a rise to your fly that was you are never suprised or caught out when a rise happens no matter how fast or slow it is.

You will find that a refusal is where the fish will come up and have a look at the fly but turn away before it breaks the surface. Many a time with polaroids i've seen fish hammer up to look at the fly but turn away or let it just drift over at the last second

Hope this helps

Jonathan

fulling mill 4lb is quite thick compared to other mono such as stroft,orvis double strength etc

Just a thought ,are you avoiding drag ,even the tiny est bit of drag setting in can lead to refusal,a longer tippet of softer mono might help as would a finer diameter .
Until the sedges come out a drag free drift is generally my #1 concern over size and pattern

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

Spider
I've been fishing the last few days - the only fly i've caught on before dusk has been a size 18 f-fly. Refusing everything else. Its the time of year to go small.

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Steve


"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." Paul O'Neil

How long is your leader? If it is too short, less than 9' (some will argue with that) then it is possible that the oft caught trout will be picking up on our fly line and be moe wary of your fly. Fish finer and and with a longer leader.

Matching the hatch might not be the be all and end all on these sorts of streams but having an idea of what they might be taking can only help you. Get Pat O'Reilly's Matching The Hatch, it is a simple and straight forward guide to what food might be on and under the water at each time of year.

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"The sun was so delightfully warm, and the stone, which had been sitting in it for a long time, was so warm, too, that Pooh had almost decided to go on being Pooh in the middle of the stream for the rest of the morning."

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