Beadheads Or Split Shot (The Deerfield was stocked 10/2, Millers to be stocked 10/4. See Comments

Ken, Based on your blog, I finally purchased a starling skin. What a difference tying the smaller soft hackles. Loving it, and I think the fish will too! Thank you for your advice. Truly appreciate this column. There's always a tidbit to be read that makes my fishing adventure enjoyable. - Bob O



Scuds - to bead or not to bead

A funny thing happened over the last few years- I pretty much stopped using beadhead flies except for a small stash of  bead head buggers that I seldom use. I moved over to using split shot, especially mico shot when I needed to get the required depth and velocity I wanted on that fly.

A new technique??  Hardly!!  Let's explore some fly fishing history.  Backcast to the 1970's into the 80's. There were basically two ways to get a fly  down. One was to wrap lead around the the hook when tying the fly. It was effective in doing that and it was also effective in adding a real harmful toxin into the environment that also includes your tying bench.  It also, because of its bulk, distorted the shape of some flies.

Lead stayed around until beads, of all sorts, stole the thunder.  Lead is still out there but not like before.  Split shot was in use for those of us who would HIGH STICK without knowing that we were high sticking. We were just fishing nymphs on a short line, with a split shot about 5 inches above an unweighted fly and we caught a lot of trout.  Most of the time we were fishing at a 15 foot distance and many times even closer.  In short, split shot worked great.  Why was that?

An unweighted fly, 5 or so inches below the right amount of shot, is a very active critter, much more than a bead head which because of it's weight has only a jig like, up and down motion.  The unweighted fly below a split shot darts, sinks, dips and glides around.  Trout like that!!

Don't buy the story that it's harder to hook trout with split shot.  It's not true.  You will get subtle hits and vicious hits and you will feel them all and since you will be fishing a shorter line you will put more fish in the net.

The neat thing is that changing your strategy is a snap with split shot.  Let's say that you are fishing a nymph under shot when you think that putting the fly higher in the water column would be good.  Just dump the split shot and fish the fly unweighted.  No changing flies AND you may not have the reason to carry so many flies any longer (you don't need as many bead heads)

Back in the 80's my buggers were unweighted but I had plenty of split shot.

Stocking Update

As of early this Tuesday morning (10/1) the only river stocked in the State has been the Squannacook River in Townsend, Groton and Shirley.  The flow rate for the Squannacook is a whopping  8.6 cfs  (just kidding, 8.6 is LOW) while the decades long average for today is about 20 cfs.  There are other rivers with comparable numbers so maybe they will get fish too.

We have been hit with bone dry Autumns of  three of the last four years.  I've never seen this condition in so many back to back seasons as I have lately.  Still denying climate change????

Your Comments

The quote at the top is from Bob O, a longtime reader of this blog.  He, like many, will dispense timely advice and it is well appreciated.  As I've said before the Comments Section of this blog is a "blog within a blog".

Not all comments are legitimate.  I had one individual who would try to bury me in comments about the big fish he would catch in the Swift and how he would feel threatened by other fly fishers. He seemed phony so he got banned from this blog.  Back he comes with a new alias and the same writing style that included some very strong words about some good Swift regulars. Banned again.  Another alias  with some strong words followed.  He even tried to start his own blog (it sank without a trace),  I don't know where he is because I haven't heard from him since late last winter.  Maybe he's infected another blog.

Ken