Dam Snitty Day.

[Da Da's Fishing]

Originally Posted by bigorangefan

Call me weird but I prefer to coax those guys to hit on the surface. I've found my self leaving the nymphing gear alone and rigging up the dry fly presentation equipment and targeting the browns with something very small, black and boyant.

I get lots of takes everytime I go.

Here is the brown that Sam referred to. It took me 20 minutes to entice a bite. I think I had a half dozen rejections until I tied on something truly tiny.

I should force myself to throw dry but I've found two things when I do. 1) I can't turn them over well, so I get a fly lying around a bunch of tippet. 2) about 60% of the time I get a hit on a dry only to pull air when I set the hook. I did have pretty good luck last time out with hook set. I've tried to pause before I set.

DD F

[bigorangefan]

Originally Posted by Da Da's Fishing

I should force myself to throw dry but I've found two things when I do. 1) I can't turn them over well, so I get a fly lying around a bunch of tippet. 2) about 60% of the time I get a hit on a dry only to pull air when I set the hook. I did have pretty good luck last time out with hook set. I've tried to pause before I set.

DD F

DD, I can't tell you how many misses I have every time I go. The first few misses are exciting, after that it gets frustrating. Earlier in the year, it seems my hookup ratio was pretty good. Now, the time it takes for the fish to determine something is wrong seems shorter. It also could be the odds of actually getting a hook to bite are not good on really small stuff.

As for getting the leader to straighten out, I use a furled leader and tie on 3 feet of 6x. If the tippet does not straighten out, it really is not a big deal because most of the time, I'm casting across slack water to faster current. It works like a pile cast which is ideal.

The big problem is the breeze. A light fluffy spec of a fly on 6x does not penetrate the wind. I don't care what kind of line speed you develop, once the fly line stops moving the breeze alters the fly and tippet.

If I bump into you at the dam, I'll show you the tackle I use. I'd say the dam is where I go to get my dry fly fix satisfied. Most other places, I fish subsurface.