Henry’s Wading Report:
So far you have had a good day, fish jumping on you fly when ever you get a good dead drift, yep your really on your game when all of a sudden a breeze comes up putting a chop on the water and the fishing gets hot . That chop is giving your midge or nymph a little extra action and your thinking this is great hope this breeze doesn’t go away.
What did that chop tell you? Maybe the world of aquatic critters are alive and moving around. So why am I trying so hard to make sure my fly is dead drifting and not making any unnecessary movement?
I’m suggesting you add a little action to your dead drifting fly. I don’t believe you have to have a complete dead drift. From my experience when I have made a bad mend and move or jerked my midge at times I get some of my hardest takes.
Folks, the underwater world of bugs and such are not motionless, they move, they are alive, they hop, jump and swim.
I know several guides who make their flies dance down the river when the water is slow and calm, give it a try with a rubber legged Woolly Bugger or a midge emerger and see if you don’t get two or three times the number of strikes than you do when you only dead drift. I believe you just might increase your catch rate by adding a hop, skip and a jump from time to time.
One last word of wisdom. If you want to catch a few big fish use big flies but if you want to catch a lot of fish with big fish in the mix, fish small flies. There are more small critters under water than there are big ones and if all the fish waited for the big ones they would starve to death. Go small and catch a bunch.
Life is good in the Ozarks.