Different Dry Fly Strategies And The Otter

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

Each year I have a number of people who take my 3 hour dry fly outing because out of all the techniques in fly fishing this is the one that puzzles them the most. Presentation, the avoidance of drag and matching the hatch can all seem overwhelming when it is simply not. Here are some simple rules that must be addressed.

1. Where Do You Fish? This is really important because all rivers are not the same. If you spend most of your time fishing on tailwaters you will be presented with much different conditions than on freestones. If you read the quote at the top of the page you will you will understand. Tailwaters are made to be stable with flows and water temperatures and you can have surface feeding during the height of a hot summer day almost any time. Freestones have their flows and temperatures fluctuating constantly from cold, flooded conditions to low flows and high temperatures. Where you can score on the Swift with dries all day long you may have to settle for the "Evening Rise" on a stream like the Millers or the EB. In 2009 I fished the EB from Memorial Day through Labor Day with nothing but dry flies and caught a lot of trout BUT all of the fishing was done from 6 pm through dark. That's when the trout began to "look up" because that's when the insects began to hatch.

2. What Kind

Of Rod? - I can dry fly fish all season long with a 3wt to a 5wt on any of the rivers that I fish, tailwater or freestone. A 3wt matched with a double taper works great on the Swift because that double taper lays out sooo gently which is what you want on that intimate stream and it's ability to roll cast will keep you out of the bushes. A 4 or 5wt can launch the long casts and bigger flies that you may need on bigger rivers like the EB, Millers or the Ware. It is a misconception that you NEED a 2wt or lighter for the Swift. I've caught many of its trout with a 4wt while fishing dries in the tiny size 20's and never felt over gunned. Just an average wind will mess up a cast with a ultra
light line. Trust me.

3. What Kind Of Fly? - Matching the Hatch can be reduced to two elements: matching the size and matching the profile of the fly of choice. COLOR is the last element to consider because one fly tyer's
version of light olive or sulphur is probably totally different than anothers' version. And remember, the rise of that trout that you are getting into position for was probably to the emerger stage and not to the adult imitation that you carefully crafted and that emerger is of a different color than the adult. Now, for those that can't agree with this fact please consider this obvious point: your dry fly has a big piece of curved steel sticking out of its butt which which the natural doesn't. (Note - maybe profile isn't that important either. Bob Wyatt and his book,What Trout Want: The Educated Trout And Other Myths is a must read on this subject)

The Otter - I spent 2.5 hours yesterday morning braving a stiff wind and dealing with a Y Pool otter who totally spent about 20 to 30 minutes tearing up the pool. I knew something was up when I was making my way across the river and saw about 8 bows racing downstream past the Hemlocks. It took about 30 minutes for the trout began to show themselves and I got 2 hits and landed one. Bill said that the beast spent all day Monday doing the same thing. If this year is like all the others the otter will leave the pool in about a month or so or when the rest of the river gets stocked.


Ken