Friday, March 18, 2011

Dry Fly Fishing Here At Last

I am not ashamed to admit that I prefer dry fly fishing to nymphing any day of the week.  I also like wet flies just under the surface, so if a fish is in the top foot of the water column, he's mine.  If he's goes below that, you can have him.  Effectively speaking, that philosophy takes away about 80 % of the fish catching opportunity.  I've been fly fishing 52 years and I know all about fish, especially big fish feeding on or near the bottom and I will readily admit that nymphing is much more productive than surface fishing for that very reason.  I just don't care!  I fish because I enjoy seeing a trout tip it's nose up out of the water and take my fly.  I like to see the spray off the fly line as I lift it slowly to set the hook.  Without that, I'm missing something.  I don't mind fishing #24 dry flies as opposed to big ones; it's the take that's stunning.  So now we enter my season, the season of top water feeding and I'm a happy man.  Watching a trout rise is one of the most artful events of nature.  I literally live for it.  You may think I'm a sick man and I probably am.  I am convinced that God made trout to rise and he made single malt scotch for me to sip while I watch.

2 comments:

  1. Bill, I am with you. Nymphing does not blow my skirt up. I would rather fish dries, streamers or wets than nymphing. We are giving up some catching, but having more fun. Great blog, and thanks for the recipes.

    Dennis

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