By Gary Borger:

For some reason, the “romance” of fly fishing often dictates the angler’s choice of gear, clothing, flies and tactics. But we need to remember that the fish is not out to catch fly rodders. The fish is a wild animal simply trying to make it another day, and subject to the same three biological drives that influence every living organism. The prime biological imperative is protection. Second comes nourishment. Third is reproduction of the species. Put simply, these three, in order of life-importance to the organism, are (1) Save your butt, (2) Fill your Gut and (3) Have kids. 

Predators always understand that by far the number one biological drive of the prey organism is to save its butt. Fly fishers seem to be more focused on the second imperative: fill your gut. They seem to think that fish would rather eat than scurry for cover at the first sign of danger. Thus, fly rodders tend to spook more fish than they should, often times without even knowing that they did. 

There are those who say no talking while fishing. Talking does not spook fish; the people who tell others to be quiet just want quiet for themselves. So talk if you want. There are, however, several things that we do as fly rodders that really do spook fish, any one of which, for the fish, is a top fear-inducing activity. 

Clothing selection can be very significant. Fish are not fashion conscious, unless we can say that they don’t like clothing colors that fail to line up with the nature surroundings. Charlie Brooks illustrated this very nicely with his gear. An air force major, Charlie moved to West Yellowstone, Montana, upon retirement. He had visited there many times before, and figured it was the best place in the contiguous United States to consistently catch big trout. 

On his many visits, he learned of a fly fisher that the locals called “Old Monotone.” Seems that this person caught more big fish than anyone else. He was so dubbed because he wore camouflaged clothing, hat and face paint, polished the shiny finish off his fly rod, used a black reel and brown line, and could cast lying on his stomach. Other anglers would see him playing big fish, but rarely saw him actually fishing because of his clandestine nature and coloration. Charlie really wanted to meet “Old Monotone” because Charlie loved to catch big fish, and admired anyone who would go to such lengths to be the ultimate predator. But no one knew who he was, and they had no way of getting in touch with him.

One day, he was having lunch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and another angler came in and said that he had seen “Old Monotone” earlier in the day fishing at Mule Shoe Bend on the Firehole in Yellowstone Park. Seems like ”Old Monotone” had landed a very nice brown about mid morning. The only reason that the fly fisher had seen “Old Monotone” was because the splashing of the fighting fish has caught his attention. Charlie was stunned. No wonder he couldn’t meet “Old Monotone,” he was “Old Monotone.”

I don’t think it’s necessary to go to “Old Monotone’s” lengths to be a good predator. But certainly wearing clothing that blends in with the environment is a good place to start as a predator. There are no fluorescent orange lions for a reason.

Ozzie Ozefovich produced a most revealing DVD on what fish see of anglers. In the DVD, his brother Joe stands 30 feet from the underwater camera wearing a green hat. One has to look hard to see him. Then he puts on a white hat. It’s like a neon sign. Instantly, one can see the need to be nature-neutral in clothing colors. 

And then there are several aspects of line delivery that can spook fish. (1) Excessive false casting. (2) Casting with the line too high above the surface. (3) Poor casting accuracy. (4) A poor pickup.  (5) Associated with casting is line and leader flash and rod flash.

Excessive false casting is a trait inherited from the early days of single-hand rod casting (from about 1850 onward). In those days, rod action was quite soft in order to protect the rather delicate, gut tippets. Fly rodders had no fly floatants of any real value, and the fly line was braided silk. False casting became a very necessary activity to flick water out of the fly and the line, and the slow rod action necessitated quite a few false casts to manage this.

Today we have great floatants, plastic coated lines and graphite rods. Flicking water out of the fly is done with basically a one or two false cast effort. And if one knows the “C” pickup, then false casts are unessential. The rod tip is snapped around quickly in a “C” movement—starting at the top of the “C” and ending at the bottom. The rod is then immediately lifted into the backcast. The line pops off the surface and the fly snaps around, popping all the water out of it. Only a few false casts, or none, means the fish has far less chance of seeing the aerial line.

In this same regard, many fly casters seem to think that the rod must be held vertically for every cast. This is another left over from the early days of casting development that has no place in modern fly fishing. Casting with the rod vertical keeps the line very high above the surface, and therefore much more visible to the fish. My fishing cast is typically an elliptical stroke with the rod tipped 30 to 45 degrees out to the casting arm side. In this position, the line travels lower over the surface, requiring less time for it to drop to the surface at the completion of the cast. Less time means the fish has less chance of seeing flash from the rod, line and leader, and less time for the wind to influence its movement. Pay attention to this aspect of staying unnoticed by the fish.

Casting accuracy is simply essential, but many fly fishers spend little or no time practicing this necessary skill. Dropping the fly on the fish’s head usually spooks it, and not being able to get the imitation in the fish’s feeding lane is not only frustrating but a real time-waster. Casting beyond the fish’s feeding lane, and dragging a dry over its head, can put fish down or put them on alert. 

Target practice with hula hoops laid out at a variety of distances from the caster is a great way to develop accuracy. Two stakes a foot apart can greatly improve lateral accuracy. The fly rodder casts the line between the stakes from a variety of distances. Casting to a wall or other similar structure from a variety of distances can greatly improve distance accuracy. Try it when shooting line, also. 

Ripping the fly off the surface with a poor pickup can be a very definite fish-spooker. There are ways to avoid sloppiness in lifting the line. Start slowly and get the fly moving before increasing line speed at the start of the backcast. If the leader sinks, a fast lift can cause a dry fly to dive under and make a loud popping sound. This can certainly spook or put fish on alert. Using the “C” pickup described above is probably the smoothest way to get the fly up off the water with the least disturbance. 

Line flash and leader flash can most definitely be seen by the fish, and can be minimized by using lines that are more earth tone in color—greens, tans, olives, even blue. Hot orange, yellow and red lines flash more than their earth-tone cousins. When Ozzie shot his DVD, he had one section that showed the line flicking back and forth overhead. The leader actually created more flash than the line. Interestingly, I use Maxima Chameleon (MC) for the butt section and tapered section of the leader. In the air, MC looks black and has no flash. I did not know this when I began using MC in my leader designs (in the late 1960s), but I will certainly continue to use it for just that reason.

Walking the shoreline like an overweight elephant is not the smartest tactic. Sounds generated by walking on shore can definitely be transmitted into the water, especially if the bank is soggy or extends out over, and is in contact with the surface. The fly rodder should be stalking the fish, not giving it every opportunity to flee. 

In the same regard, wading like a wounded hippo is not the smartest move, either. Sloppy wading generates displacement waves (the ripples and waves that are generated). Fish detect these with their highly sensitive lateral line mechanism. Such displacement waves are a sure sign that a predator is close, and are one of the best ways to spook fish, especially in quiet water areas. In fast-water areas like riffles and rapids, displacement waves are immediately swept away, and of no concern to fish. But in pools, flats, runs and lakes, wild-eyed wading is a great mistake. Move quietly and slowly to generate as few displacement waves as possible. 

Another aspect of an improper approach is not staying low enough when getting close. To stay in the highly compressed zone at the edge of the fish’s visual window, and blend in with the background, the fly fisher has to stay under a 10-degree angle. That’s 10 degrees above the surface of the water, not 10-degrees above the bank. A 6-foot-tall angler needs to stay 34 feet away from the fish to stay under the 10-degree angle. To get closer, the angler has to crouch, or kneel or crawl on the belly. Wading is another way to decrease one’s height above the water’s surface. If the angler is up on a bank that is only 2 feet above the surface, then the 10-degree angle requires the fly fisher to stay back a long 45 feet. 

So, plan on staying low and moving slow. Don’t be overly anxious to race up on feeding fish. Now back to clothing. Wearing a white shirt, yellow rain jacket, orange hat, etc., and staying under the 10-degree angle will not decrease the fly caster’s visibility. The bright clothing will stand out strongly against any background.

While we are discussing getting close to the fish, let me remind you that taking time to stalk the fish, and then casting with the rod vertical is not the wisest move you can make. Keep the casts low. And, just getting close is not enough if you are in a poor position to make a cast, or if the cast will not position the fly in the best feed lane, or if the cast will cause the fly to drag, and so on. Think it through carefully before plotting the approach strategy. 

In lakes, fly fishers have the problem of the boat. First, sitting high in the boat or standing while casting makes the fly fisher visible to the fish. Flats fishers often complain that they have to cast so far to reach a bonefish or tarpon. With the guide up high on the poling platform and the caster standing on the bow of the boat, it’s any wonder they can ever get close enough to make any length cast. I much prefer to wade the flats when bottom composition with allow it. I’ve caught many bones within easy casting distance while wading.

Then too, there’s the problem of bow displacement. Trying to get close to fish on the flats, or in lakes when the fish are up near the surface, can be problematic because the displacement pressure of the boat can be detected by the fish. On the flats, displacement pressure spells shark to the bones. In lakes, trout are not concerned when they are feeding several feet deep, but when feeding near the surface, bow pressure displacement-vibrations can spell predator. Flats fishers using kayaks find they can get much closer to the fish because the caster is lower in the water, and the kayak has a small bow displacement. Float tubes are highly successful watercraft in lakes because of the same two reasons. When float tubing, I’ve had surface feeding fish swim toward me, duck under me and continue feeding behind me. 

Don’t spook the fish with bad angling habits. Paying attention to good predatory skills goes a long way toward a more successful day. 

Episode #: 29 (click to listen)
Duration: 1 hr 23 min
Topics Discussed: The impact of “A River Runs Through It”, the man behind the books, what the industry used to look like.
Buy Gary’s Books and DVDs: Presentation, Fishing the Film (Fly Fishing – The Book Series, 1)
Bio: Gary Borger is an important part of the fly-fishing community.  Author, instructor, presenter, and all-round wealth of knowledge, he’s been in the industry since 1971. 

The post How To Properly Stalk Fish – Gary Borger appeared first on Anchored Outdoors.

By Gary A. Borger:

When Rain Changes Plans

Don had invited me to speak at his fly shop, and then spend a couple of days fishing the Cumberland River. The shop engagement went without a hitch, but the fishing trip suffered the slings and arrows of rain, rain, and then more rain. The Cumberland rose an astonishing 17 feet, and our trip there would most certainly have been a futile effort. Don suggested we head into southeast Kentucky to the Daniel Boone National Forest, and fish some of its smaller streams. 

We parked at a wide spot along the dirt road, and got out to look at our potential water for the day. The stream was a bit high, but only slightly off color—the heavy forestland had absorbed the rains, giving us a chance to at least fish for a while. Whether the fish were feeding or not was another story. 

I had fished many such streams in northwest Pennsylvania, under similar conditions as a child, and knew that the day could simply evolve into casting practice, rather than a fish-catching expedition. Still, we were there, the day was lovely, and besides, I wanted to fish. And so we set up our gear, shouldered into the fishing vests, and set off. Don headed downstream, I headed up.

Knowing full well that the fish would be feeding deep, I rigged up a couple of nymphs, shot, and an indicator, and began prospecting the gravelly bottom of the stream’s small pools. Nothing of any significance happened—that is to say, I didn’t catch anything. 

Usually under these circumstances, I stick with my nymph selection for several pools before making any changes in the imitations; and so, after a half dozen of these potential fish-holding areas yielded nothing, I decided to have a look in the fly box. 

Foam Beetle Trick

My eye fell on a clump of size 16, black Foam Beetles. Nipping the two nymphs off the tippet, I tied on a beetle. The shot was about 10 inches above the imitation, and the indicator about 4 feet above the shot. I wish I could say that the first cast was successful, but no, it was not. However, after a few minutes, the indicator halted in its drift, and I tightened on a nice little brown of about 10 inches. My confidence renewed, I released the fish, and began fishing a bit more determinedly. My fear of spending the day in casting practice evaporated, and as the minutes slipped by, my catch increased steadily. 

Turning Casting Into Catching

Suddenly, I saw Don headed upstream my way. I stopped casting and waited until he caught up. He was a bit off-temper and perplexed. All morning the fish had been chasing his Muddler, but refusing to take it. I asked him to show me how he was fishing the imitation, and he cast into the pool that I was just getting ready to fish. A brown flashed the fly, but showed no further interest in Don’s Muddler, even though he worked it through the area several more times. 

“Let me try,” I said, and Don nodded. On the second drift, I hooked a brown that was the same size as the one that had flashed Don’s imitation. He looked a bit irritated—as I suppose I would have been, if the tables had been turned. 

From Frustration to Success

“What are you using?” he asked, and not in a gentle way as was his nature. 

“A Foam Beetle,” I replied.

“What?” he questioned. “That’s a floating fly, and you’ve got on shot and an indicator.”

I explained that beetles are the most abundant of the insect species, and they are always highly prevalent in forest areas. All the rain, I noted, had probably washed many of them into the stream, and the fish were tuned-in to the submerged insects. Suddenly, Don looked very interested, and I asked if he wanted me to rig his system with a beetle, shot, and indicator. We both had a great day fishing the dry beetle as a nymph.

Dry Flies Fished Deep

It’s a counter-intuitive trick I’ve used many times, with a number of different dries. Other dry imitations that work well when fished in the deep nymphing mode include the Elk Hair Caddis, Devil Bug (a dry caddis emerger), Griffith’s Gnat, Variant, Ant, and green Oak Worm. I sometimes fish these imitations singly, but often in a tractor/trailer style with a nymph or another dry. For example, I may fish a bead head prince nymph ahead of an Elk Hair Caddis or Griffith’s Gnat. Fishing a Foam Beetle with a Green Oak Worm or ant can sometimes be very productive. Try any variety of mix and match that comes to mind.

A note about the Elk Hair Caddis. Many female caddis flies lay their eggs on the bottom. They carry an air bubble with them as they oviposit (so they don’t drown). When done, they release their hold on the bottom and pop to the top in their air, diving bell. When the bubble bursts at the surface, the female immediately flies away. This can be mis-interpreted as a caddis “hatch.” Trouble is, this egg laying behavior can be going on even during a true caddis hatch. So, if the fish are rising and not responding to the surface fished dry, try fishing it deep as a nymph, and then swinging it to the surface at the end of the dead drift. 

I’ve used a Variant dry fly for the same purpose. A Variant is a “variation” of a standard, hackled dry fly that lacks wings—just a tail, body, and hackle. I simply roll it between my thumb and forefinger to angle the hackle back along the body. 

The real secret to fishing dries as nymphs is getting the flies deep and keeping them there. And while Euro Nymphing is a great tactic, it is basically useless when fishing flies like the Foam Beetle on the bottom. Split shot is essential. I use a Compound Tippet when nymphing with dries. The first 4 to 5 feet consists of 1X or 2X tippet material knotted to the leader butt, and terminated in a tippet ring. To the ring I knot on a 10 to 12 inch long segment of tippet material that complements the fly I’m using. For example, if I’m using a size 16 Foam Beetle, I will add 5X (fly size/3 = tippet “X”; 16/3 = about 5X). This shorter segment completes the Compound Tippet. The shot goes on the 1X or 2X, just above the tippet ring. I put an indicator 5 to 6 feet above the fly.

The purpose of the shot is to (1) hold the floating fly down on the fly bottom (after all it was designed to float), (2) anchor the fly against line drag. The size of the shot depends upon the speed of the current and the length of line beyond the rod tip. If I’m fishing the Leisenring Lift tactic with a dry fished as a nymph, then basically only the leader and a couple of feet of line are beyond the rod tip. Usually a couple of bb shot will suffice to keep the fly down. As more line is needed beyond the rod tip, and/or the currents increase in speed, more shot is needed to anchor the fly against line drag—which would pull the fly back to the surface.

The indicator (notice I did not say “strike” indicator) is the fly fisher’s greatest asset when nymphing with dries in the bottom cupboards because it indicates everything the angler needs to know about the activity of the imitation.  If the indicator is in the wrong food lane, the fly is in the wrong food lane. If the indicator is dragging, the fly is being pulled back to the surface. If the indicator is lifted high off the surface while lifting the rod tip during the drift, then the fly has been pulled off the bottom. But even more important, the indicator tells the fly rodder what the fly is doing. If the indicator is ticking and pausing momentarily, then the shot is on the bottom and so is the fly. The indicator ticks because the shot is hitting rocks. If the indicator is going the same speed as the surface foam, then so is the fly—and it’s not on the bottom. The indicator should be going the same speed as the bottom currents—where the fly and shot are supposed to be. The indicator should be going 1/2 to 2/3 the speed of the surface foam. 

When a fish grabs the fly, the moving shot causes the hook point to grab (I keep my hooks needle sharp at all times). The fish reacts to the weight of the shot by moving away, and the indicator shoots under. A hook set seats the point, and the fight is on.

Cast this rig with the Elliptical Stroke. Developed in the mid 1930s on Austria’s River Traun by Hans Gebetsroither, the Elliptical stroke is the key to casing shot, heavily weighted flies, sink tip lines, large, air-resistant imitations, and practically everything except, perhaps tiny nymphs and smaller dries. The fly rodder makes the backcast with the rod tipped 30 to 45 degrees out to the casting arm side, and during the pause between the backcast and forward cast, brings the rod up and around so that the forward cast can be made with the rod in a vertical or near vertical position. This casting stroke separates the backcast and forward cast by 30 to 45 degrees, or a bit less. 

My fishing cast uses an elliptical stroke that is tipped out to the side. The back stroke is at about 45 degrees to the vertical and the forward stroke about 30 degrees to the vertical. This keeps the fly line lower over the water than making the forward stoke with the rod fully vertical. The lower line hopefully makes it less noticeable to the fish and takes less time to fall to the water, making it less influenced by winds from the side.  

Because of the elliptical pathway of the line, there’s very little to no chance that the line will catch on itself during the stroke. The shot or other weight swings smoothly through the air, rather than being jerked back and forth, as happens with the classic dry fly casting stroke. To really polish the elliptical stroke, flip the wrist back and up-around at the end of the back stroke. This is actually an upward aimed, Hook Curve, which cause the line to climb at the end of the backcast. It is the only way to make a cast that actually rises at the end of the back stroke rather than falling.  It gives the fly rodder great control of the line at all times. 

Nymphing with dries is a tactic that deserves a place in every fly rodder’s bag of presentation styles. It may seem unorthodox, but it can be a highly effective technique that can add the joy of success in many circumstances.  

Episode #: 29 (click to listen)
Duration: 1 hr 23 min
Topics Discussed: The impact of “A River Runs Through It”, the man behind the books, what the industry used to look like.
Buy Gary’s Books and DVDs: Presentation, Fishing the Film (Fly Fishing – The Book Series, 1)
Bio: Gary Borger is an important part of the fly-fishing community.  Author, instructor, presenter, and all-round wealth of knowledge, he’s been in the industry since 1971. 

The post Nymphing with Dry Flies – Gary Borger appeared first on Anchored Outdoors.