I have had a brilliant summer fly fishing. Apart from the fact that I have another years experience and confidence I think one real difference has been the method I have been using most. The fish seemed to have spent most of their time feeding on, or very close to, the surface. Small dry flies, emergers and surface patterns have worked very well for me.

Not being the world's greatest caster, or most experienced fly fisherman, this has worked very much in my favour. I usually have to cast a much shorter distance with much lighter tackle. Fly choice usually comes down to something small and black or small and olive. There is no feeding depth to consider or try to achieve. There is no correct retrieve rate or style to work out. No mind boggling choice of patterns to overcome. No worries about line densities or casting distances. No droppers to tangle. All in all I have found the method to be both incredibly successful and extremely simple. Definitely much easier than most other methods of fly fishing.

However, I am continually reading on this site, and othere places, how much more skillful dry fly fishing is when compared with other methods of fishing. On a stillwater? Surely not. Or am I doing it wrong.

If you are catching fish and enjoying yourself then you are doing it right.
Most of the time we put to much into this sport
We are attenpting to catch a fish with a brain the size of a raisin using technology that could have sent us into space

Enjoy mate and dont worry about it.
All the best to you and yours,
Graham

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

nice one maharg, well said. Douglas, you aint doin nothin wrong at all if your enjoying your fishing, youv got it right!!! Tightlines

take it easy

scotty

Stillwater dryfly is very straightforward and you are doing the right thing start with short casts and most of the time the trout will be close to the shore , I also really enjoy this method of casting out among feeders and letting the fly drift with only the occasional twitch to tempt the trout.


River dryfly on heavily fished rivers (River Clyde) will require a lot more watercraft to tempt the good fish , The river is a very different animal when it comes to dryfly.( Drives me mad at times)

But you are correct Stillwater dry fly is great fun and I have enjoyed this method with great results for years.

Col

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"It is not easy to tell one how to cast. The art must be acquired by practice.

I have fished a dry fly almost exclusively this season. I find it much more enjoyable than fishing wets.

What I do also appreciate is that in some respects it is easier to fish dries as the fish, by rising, give away their presence, it's much easier in that respect than to having to search the water for them.

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How poor a thing, sometimes I find,
Will captivate a greedy mind - Isaac Walton.

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*****©(

The whole idea that dry fly requires more skill probably goes back to the teachings and discoveries of one: Frederick M Halford who told everyone that dry fly fishing on chalk streams was the way to catch trout.

He was right of course and in those more spacious times when the land was not polluted with petroleum based ferilizers and insecticides, vast hatches of mayflies and other ephemeridae were common on the chalkstreams and limestone based rivers of England.

But the fishery owners decided to inflict a dry fly only rule in later years, thinking that fewer fish would be caught and less re-stocking required. And to make the fishing even more difficult, the angler had to fish upstream to rising fish only.

This, in my opinion, is where the dry fly myth came from. Halford was not fully to blame.

Because of the amount of weed in chalk streams, and because if careful the angler can position himself in the trout's blind spot, fishing upstream at a narrow angle is the most practical and effective way to target fish a lot of the time. This applies to dry flies, emergers and nymphs. It's not one of the admittedly many myths about chalk stream fishing originated by F M Halford and his disciples.

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

Glad you are enjoying your dry fly fishing Fossil, its a great way to catch fish. I was totally addicted to it for several seasons to the extent that I very rarely fished any other way.....throughout the whole year.This taught me a lot about its capabilities and limitations in all weather conditions and to be honest there are not many days in a season where it is not possible to catch fish on dries somewhere on a body of water.....good news if you love yer dry fly fishing....

Compared to other methods,it can seem simple, we are only working in one dimension rather than two for a kick off. The visual aspect of seeing the fish actually taking our fly more than makes up for that.

With respect though, anyone can put out some dries and wait for a fish to come along and take them.....and thats fair enough,its still a lovely relaxing way to catch fish and at one time I was satisfied doing that for hours on end.
The whole thing goes up another level when casting to risers, spotting the less obvious signs of fish in a ripple, judging their direction and speed then dropping the flies in the trouts path exactly where you want to, accurately and delicately enough so that we dont scare the fish...is really where its at for me. Its the best fun you can have with yer clothes on......

Absolutely agree with every word of that Jim. Also trying to hone those secondary skills that you mention. In fact I think the whole process simply encourages you to fish better and more thoughtfully. Your 'other level' is exactly that. The visual aspect does indeed bring it's own rewards.

My thought though is that no matter how rewarding, enjoyable and successful that it is it is not some superior or more worthy way of fishing, and certainly no greater angling achievment to have simply mastered this one discipline out of so many. For me to sit on the bankside with my 6 weight and compare myself to people who can master drifting boats, sunk lines, overly long leaders and multiple fly set ups. Who can interpret the feeding behaviour of fish and their depth and then go on to employ successful techniques to catch them. To then consider that I am doing something that requires more skill, I think is just silly.

Aye....even to this day some folk seem put off even attempting to fish dries because they imagine its a difficult method, or in some way beyond their capabilities.....strange....