Rediscovering Dry Fly fishing

In the era of Euro Nymphing, jig and articulated streamers, and thousands of productive new nymph patterns, the dry fly is often cast aside as a much less effective method for fly fishing for trout.  Many younger generation fly fishers have very little experience fishing a dry fly and a good number seasoned anglers have moved towards fishing subsurface almost exclusively.  After years of guiding, competing, and fishing all over North America, I’ve concluded that many, if not most anglers that I do see dry fly fishing simply do not have the skill to consistently fool a fish.  Accurately and delicately presenting a fly to a trout who has left his comfort zone and is feeding on the surface is a challenge and skill that many fly fishers do not possess. Dry fly fishing can be the best method for catching trout on certain days or during hatches, but you must be willing to try and able to execute. 

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I am as guilty, maybe more so than anyone, of not fishing a dry fly enough. I spent years learning the intricacies of euro nymphing, at the expense of both the fun and effectiveness of the dry fly.  I have, on occasion, waded into a river of rising fish and attempted to catch them with a nymph.  I’ve seen lots of other anglers do the same. Pretty dimwitted right?  When I think back to some of my more memorable days on the water, they often involve dry fly fishing.  In fact, the biggest wild brook trout I have laid eyes on was hooked while prospecting with a dry fly, along with tons of other beautiful trout and salmon caught over the years. 


I categorize dry fly fishing in three categories.  Hatches, prospecting, and dry dropper fishing.  The dry dropper rig has so many different uses that I have written articles in this magazine on that topic alone, so we will focus on the first two. 


Fishing a hatch is one of the most challenging aspects of fly fishing.  Get things right and you will have a most memorable session, but get it wrong and it can be terribly frustrating.  Starting with technique, the angler must be able to cast their fly to rising fish, without spooking them.  Herein lies the problem for most anglers, not enough practice.  Sloppy and excessive false casts, poor form that lands the fly, leader or fly line too hard on the water, inaccurate casts, inability to perform both aerial and on the water mends, and poor leader construction (often too short and heavy) that does not allow the dry fly to float naturally will kill your chances.  Its over for most before it even started. If you get your presentation dialed, determining what fly to use is the next challenge. Often the trout will take most well presented flies, at other times or on particular rivers, they are keyed into a specific insect and it will take observation and plenty of fly changes to get things right. When the hatch ends you very well may not have figured out the puzzle, or been able to execute, but you will have made progress in becoming a better angler.   




Prospecting with a single dry can also be an extremely effective way to fly fish. It may also be the most overlooked technique.  There have been plenty of days that no insects seemed to be coming off or rises spotted, but lo and behold trout were willing and eager to rise to a dry fly.  My wife, on more than one occasion, has shown me up as she casts a single dry fly over likely water and gets eat after eat, while I start with what I thing will work for the conditions and do not catch nearly as many fish subsurface. Generally when prospecting with a dry fly, you’ll want to fish riffles, runs, flats, milder pocket water, and structure like logs, overhanging bushes and boulders while covering a good amount of water.  Unlike the longer leaders and delicate presentations required when fishing a hatch, you’ll want a leader you can control easily and mend well, since you are trying to achieve longer drifts over likely water. Plopping the fly down on the water can actually get the trouts attention since they will be holding deeper and closer to cover than when they are up in the column and weary of predators as they are when feeding at the surface during a hatch.  


Dry fly fishing is where many of us started fly fishing. Whether you are coming full circle and rediscovering the joys of dry fly fishing, or started your fly fishing journey with other methods, investing the time to fish a dry fly will be worth it. Good luck on the water!

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