As a relative new comer to fly fishing I am looking for some advice on fishing dry flies.

I am fishing on relatively well stocked lakes and catching a few fish but I can see that there are many more fish ignoring my fly and I think I should be doing better! The few fish I do catch tend to come fairly late in the evening, which makes me think my presentation is at fault.

I am currently trying to fish dry flies; when fishing a hopper or a daddy I use a 6lb copolymer leader of about 10 feet tied to my WF floating line at one end and my fly at the other. Should I try a couple of foot of lighter line say 4lb between the leader and the fly or perhaps a tapered leader? I don't think I could manage a longer leader as my casting is still developing!

I usually apply a little gink on the fly but what should I do with the leader should I make it float or sink and if I was to use a tippet should I try to sink that but leave the leader floating?

I don't use small files but tend to stick to size 12 so I can see what is going on !

By the way currently I am fishing Chigboro near Maldon in Essex.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Nick

Hi Nick

Welcome to the forum

My first thought would be have you got the right fly on? I think the majority of time people over emphasise patterns however at this time of year trout can become very selective feeders especially when on or in the surface....eg look out for lots of very small white upwing flies (caenis). When these are out it is largely game over and there have been plenty of threads on the subject.

Try and match the hatch so if you see big daddies use these (no hard and fast rules but tend to be best late season). If it's tiny midge go down to size 20's. In each case match the breaking strain. For daddies and sedge you need a tough leader as you get smash takes...6lb is about right but if they are being choosey try a fine fluorocarbon.

If I was fishing size 20's I would usually use a 3lb fluorocarbon .

Also ALWAYS degrease your leader as it will naturally sit in the surface film distorting and refracting light...fish can spot it easily. Permasink is good as it takes the shine off as well. If I am using dries on a calm day I often use an intermediate braided leader to ensure the leader is sunk.

Ginking is good but don't over do it on calm days. You often want the fly sitting in the surface film rather than on it like a shuttlecock

Tight lines

R

Some good advice from Texxa above. A few thoughts from me with my Southern softie hat on...

I sometimes think stillwater dry fly in the South of England is a second half of the season tactic for when the fish are used to being up in the water and scouting for food. June may have been a bit early, specially with the mixed weather this year. From now on through - particularly - September is your prime time...

As Texxa says, watch what's coming off and match the hatch. Don't be afraid of going quite small with a Bobs Bits or Griffiths Gnat in 12 or 14. There's nothing quite like seeing a good fish sip one of these down off the surface of a reservoir

If the rules at your target water allow more than one fly, think about using 2 as a team. A well used English stillwater combination is a hopper on the point and a Shipmans' buzzer on the dropper about 5 feet up the leader. Attractor and deceiver doing more as a team than either of the flies would singly.

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

Many thanks Texxa and JohnH,
I will be back to Chigboro again next week and try and put your suggestions into practice.
I have found the weather really strange, on one occasion especially there was a really cold wind blowing even though it was a sunny day.
I will certainly take on board the point about getting the leader to sink and remove the shine, to date it has been floating behind the fly !
I like the idea of the hopper and shipman combination and will try that if I can keep away from the tangles.

It is really interesting puzzling out what works etc. and thank you again for the welcome to the forum.

Nick

If your leader is floating then a deadly method can be to put a normal buzzer on the dropper. As long as your point dry fly isn't too small it should allow the buzzer to hang about 6inches deep while presenting the leader perfectly.

As JohnH mentioned, Shipman's buzzers are one of the best dries of all time. Don't look that exciting to the human eye but they are deadly...have a range of blacks and hares ears and use them when the trout are on midge.

You will find at this time of year an evening rise can be suddenly curtailed by a chilly breeze blowing up as well....sadly they won't rise all the time.

Hi Nick,

I am very much a novice at fly fishing and have been struggling a bit with catching surface feeding fish in the evenings. Here are some things I find are helping.

If you are using conventional type mono go down to 4lb. I am using 4lb clear maxima. I am using, and catching, on much smaller flies, size 20 - 24s. Very simple CDC patterns. I don't worry about not being able to see them, I just fish them as far as I can see them, 20 to 30 feet, and wait for the fish to come to them. If you need to fish further then use them along side a larger pattern. Degreasing your leader is vitally important. Cast to an area where fish are rising and leave static until they find it. I find fishing this way causes much less disturbance to the fish, keep low and back from the edge. Strangely I have found the very best of fishing to be when caenis are hatching. Many more oppertunitys and much more fish rising.

I am very much climbing the learning curve, but I have found these things to be useful.

Hi Texxa
Yes that was exactly what happened a warm day and windy but instead of dropping in the evening it picked up and became colder. The few fish that were rising stopped and the water just died.
I've just bought some black CDCs to try and will look out some hares ears.

Hi fossil-fish
Good to hear from someone else who has been where I am and making a success of it, so encouraging to hear your thoughts.
I have just got some of these CDCs so will definately give them a go alongside my hoppers and daddies, perhaps on a dropper above a hopper.
http://www.hartflyshop.com/cdc-black_2062_1117.htm

atb
nick

I wonder whether English stillwater flyfishers somewhat underestimate the importance of terrestrials when fish are feeding near the surface. I regularly spoon a mess of black bodies, legs and wings from fish I catch on dries from reservoirs - and I don't think they are the remains of adult black buzzers.

So I think you are well on the right lines with those black CDC dries...

btw - the subject of terrestrials is quite well explored in Stan Headley's excellent book "The loch fishers bible".

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

I think that is probably a very good observation.

I his day I was a huge fan of Chris Ogborne's videos and book. He fished the likes of Chew and championed fishing hoppers in a range of colours and sizes from opening day through to the season end.

He argued that they covered a range of insects including midge but also terrestrials.

Looking forward to trying these ideas.

The rig I am going to try is - From the floating fly line a five foot length of 6lb flouro then a six inch dropper and then five foot of flouro to the point fly.

Do you have any comments on tying the dropper. I have got some really small metal rig rings and I could use one of these to make a dropper in the leader. Would that be OK or should I tie it into the fluro, if so what is the best knot / way of tying a dropper?

Thanks again

Nick