When there is a big hatch and the fish are on it, of course everyone grabs their 3 or 4 weight and ties on the dries that best match the hatch. There are magical green drake hatches on Henry’s Fork(see pic below for instance) and amazing Blue Winged Olive (BWO) hatches in the spring on the Flaming Gorge A section on the Green. The skwala hatch on the Clark Fork, or the legendary Mother’s Day caddis hatch on the Arkansas in Colorado. Be in the right place at the right time and it just doesn’t get any better in trout land.
There is much to like about dry fly fishing. It requires greater skill than nymphing or stripping streamers. It is sight casting that requires the most precision, not only in the placement of the fly but in doing it in such a way that you eliminate drag. Also, unless you are in the midst of a fish feeding frenzy, you are likely to catch fewer fish, than if you were fishing sub-surface. But, not all fly fisherman are about the numbers. Believe me, I understand the guides who floats a client who can’t cast and sets them up with a nymph rig. Clients want to catch fish and nymphing is the best possible approach to ensure that outcome for a novice. I have also noticed a growing percentage of younger fly fishers who’s primary focus is stripping streamers. There is an accepted theory that streamers attract eats by larger fish. For these fishermen, they take quality over quantity and the tug is the drug. It really is an awesome feeling when a monster brown slams your articulated streamer. Some tail waters like the South Fork of the Snake, below Palisades dam, or the Flaming Gorge of the Green below Flaming Gorge Reservoir, if the fish aren’t rising, it is very difficult to tease them up. Other rivers, like the Blackfoot in Montana, fish regularly rise to a dry fly even when there is no hatch. Heck, lot’s high mountain stream fly fishing is all about dry fly fishing. The point being, nymph fishing and streamer fishing work at all times of the year regardless of whether or not that is a hatch. But for me, i will do whatever it takes to fish dries first, regardless of the season or the conditions. I regularly fish size 24 dry fly midge patterns all winter long, November – March and I have good success with them.
Other reasons Why I Fish the Dry:
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Sight Casting! Whether it is a tailing redfish, permit or bonefish, sight casting requires pinpoint accuracy. This is even more so, when there is a hatch and you are casting to rising trout. In many cases, there are so many naturals that the fish won’t move more than three inches left or right.
- Matching the Hatch! This can be so hard relative to streamer or nymph fishing. With a little local knowledge or experience, you can select a good match for a baitfish or a nymph. With the dry fly your selection needs to be the “best match to the hatch”. Meaning, if baetis are hatching, you need to match size, color and stage. With baetis, or a BWO for instance, I carry every stage, the Dun pattern, parachute, cripple and emerger. The fish might be eating on top, in the film or just below. Sometimes it is trial and error before you figure it out, but that can be part of the fun.
- The Eat/ The Set! This is the best part IMHO. Nothing beats the thrill of the eat and setting at the precise moment that provides the best chance of burying point of the fly in the corner of the fishes mouth.
The picture above is of a fly fishing friend of mine, taken on the South Fork of the Snake at not a particularly buggy time of year. However, caddis were out almost every evening and we had incredible dry fly action during the last two hours of the day, even though there was no surface action action earlier. The point here is, sometimes you have to adjust your fishing schedule if you are interested in fishing dries.
