Beavers Bend Fly Shop

docbob,
That really depends on the time of year. I am going to take the approach that you are talking about today as the time frame. So with that in mind what you are seeing is the trout rising for a midge. If they are on the LMF then they are going to be a small size 32 white midge. Your best bet for this type of fishing is emerger in a size 24. Something like a RS2 or a small white midge pattern fished as an emerger. Look in the fly tying section for my LMF cream midge. That should do the trick.
Now if it cloudy outside I would use an olive RS2 or an small olive soft hackle, fish this on the swing as opposed to a dead drift. This will imitate a emerger and not the larva or nymph stage of the fly you are tring to imitate.

Kit

I think Kit is offering some excellent advice about fishing emergers. People often say fish were rising, but they are actually feeding on emergers near the surface and not on flies actually floating on the surface. This was the case on Wednesday around lunchtime in the "Cliffs section" downstream from Cold Hole. I saw some adult BWOs floating on the top, but the fish didn't take them. There were plenty of splashes and some very small flies coming off.
My problem, when fishing flies on the swing is I miss so many of the strikes, especially those at the very end of the drift (when your line is straight downstream). I react when I feel the tug, but my hook-up rate is only about 1 out of 3. You have no visual indication to help you, as when fishing upstream with an indicator. It's just a quick tug and it's over. If the fish doesn't hook itself, it's gone. Perhaps keeping my rod tip higher will help hook more fish.
Who has broken the code on hooking fish at the end of the swing?

Thanks- Ken

Ken,

"Who has broken the code on hooking fish at the end of the swing? "

Certainly not an expert, but I find just immediately raising the rod tip say two feet on a hit, but not a hard strike response on the fish. But I do keep the rod tip just a couple inches above the water surface at all times.
Keeping your line mended as straight as possible during the swing and stripping back upstream will keep slack out of the line which could possible cause a fish to not become hooked.
If you miss the fish don't respond by casting again, but train your self to stop stripping a second or two then start stripping again, as the fish may return to your fly and try again.

Works for me on wooley buggers and bead heads fished deep. No indicator fishing for me however. Never.

And usually no sight fishing for fish, its "all feel" and in deeper water.

Slim

FlyFisherMann said:

I think Kit is offering some excellent advice about fishing emergers. People often say fish were rising, but they are actually feeding on emergers near the surface and not on flies actually floating on the surface. This was the case on Wednesday around lunchtime in the "Cliffs section" downstream from Cold Hole. I saw some adult BWOs floating on the top, but the fish didn't take them. There were plenty of splashes and some very small flies coming off.
My problem, when fishing flies on the swing is I miss so many of the strikes, especially those at the very end of the drift (when your line is straight downstream). I react when I feel the tug, but my hook-up rate is only about 1 out of 3. You have no visual indication to help you, as when fishing upstream with an indicator. It's just a quick tug and it's over. If the fish doesn't hook itself, it's gone. Perhaps keeping my rod tip higher will help hook more fish.
Who has broken the code on hooking fish at the end of the swing?

Thanks- Ken

Hooking up at the end of the swing will result in less hookups, thats just the way it is. When you set the hook which way are you pulling? Unless a fish turns you usually pull the hook right out of it's mouth. Maybe a softer lift instead of a jerk would help. I just accept the fact the hook ups will be less when fishing downstream.

I fish soft hackle a lot when I fish LMF, especially during the spring when the march browns are coming off. I have to say I miss maybe 1 out of 6 hook sets when I fish this way. This by no means makes me a expert but I do have a few more hook ups from what I am hearing on the board. So with that in mind I am going to try to explain just what I do when I fish this way.
When a fish hits a fly on the swing it is most likely going to be a solid hit. That tug you are feeling is this fish coming up to take the fly, turning slightly and heading back down to the bottom. With that in mind if it is a big fish you have many opportunities to screw this up. So lets go thru some of the basic equipment that I found to help with this.
First the rod, I love fast action rods, to me I can really get some distance with a good fast action rods. But that isn’t my first choice when it comes to swinging soft hackles. First off with a stiff rod I will most likely break off when a fish hits. Therein lies the first clue to fishing soft hackles, you need a rod with a little give to it. This will give the fish just enough time to take the fly and not pull out of the fish’s mouth so quickly.
Second is the tippet material. I use just about ever kind of tippet material out there today. some are much softer and supply then others. Some are very stiff without much give when you pull on it while tying a knot. You want a tippet material that has some give it it when using soft hackles. That will allow the fish to us the springing action of the rod and tippet when it takes the fly. This will allow just enough time for a solid hook up and not pull the fly out of the fishes mouth. One of the things you have to consider when fishing soft hackles is that your fly is always twisting and turning in the current. It never stays in a path that you think it does, that is with the barb pointing down towards the bottom. Most of the time it does but after hooking thousands of fish on soft hackle I can tell you that you never know exactly where that hook is going to be till you take it out of the fishes mouth.
This brings up some very interesting points that is that in order to be successful you want to give the fish just a split second before setting the hook to give the fish enough time to close it’s mouth around the hook. If you do this your percentage will go up but you will never be 100%. Why well there is still a small percentage of fish that when you set the hook the point of the barb goes right in between the jaws and never hits a soft spot for the barb to go into. You will feel the tug when it pulls on the fly but it manages to just slip in between the jaws.
Last is setting the hook. Normally when I use soft hackle I just give a slight jerk in the opposite direction that the fish pulls. In other words My fly is going to be swinging downstream so I am going to pull up stream. If you are using sharp hooks then this is never a problem. The simple weight of the fish is going to set the hook.
So in order to increase you hook up use the right equipment and a gentle hook set and you percentage should increase. Good luck and tight lines.
Kit

Thanks for the comments. I will give these techniques a try on my next trip to LMF.

I might add to kitts comments, if I may be so bold.

Tippet up a little when swinging the softie. In calmer water go 1 x above what you would nymph, in heavier water, go 2 x above.

B

bradg,

kitt's really? That is a car just one 'T' for my name kinda like Kit Carson.......LOL
Brad is correct if you are not use to fiahing soft hackle and your are breaking off then up one size and continue doing the same thing. I will say that flourocarbon material is so much better then nylon when using one size up.
Kit

er, sorry kit. that car was a badass though. what do you think about nylon mono as shock-type tippet in these cases, as opposed to the fluoro which is strong, less visible, but maybe less apt to hold up to a sudden burst. i just use fluoro, but wondered what you think.

bradg

No it wasn't but ZZ Top rod is a really cool car...LOL

Yea know I have use nylon for years and I really can't say that I have caught that many more fish using fluorocarbon leader material. But I do know that my DAD had been known to use white sewing thread as tippet material in the past. Fortunately we don’t have to do that these days. The tippet material that we have today is absolutely excellent, except for maybe that reptile brand…LOL
I like the fluorocarbon tippet material but I don’t use exclusively. On the LMF I fish a lot of nymphs and soft hackle flies. So I normally just tie on two sections of tippet material. So my leaders are not leaders by today’s standard. I will have a back bone of nylon leader which has been shorten somewhat not on purpose but more out of the constant retying of tippet material after being stuck on the bottom so many times. So with that said my butt section is about 4 or 5 or 6 or sometimes 7 feet long of a tapered nylon leader. To that I normally tie on a 4 of 5 foot section of 5X tippet material. Then I tie on a 2 or 3 foot of 6X tippet material sometimes 7X if I’m fishing low clear water and midges. I will put the weight right at the knot between the two sizes and the indicator will be at the junction of the nylon leader and the tippet material I tied on. I will sometimes not use a weight but instead use a weighted fly and ty that onto the long tag end that I sometimes leave on. This does two things for me. One it gets the fly down but most importantly it keeps the fly on the bottom and 2 feet away from the weight I am using.
I do almost the same thing rig wise on my salmon/ steelhead rigs. That is 4ft of 30lb 4ft of 15lb with a tag and 3 ft of 10 or 12lb tippet. I do attach the weight to the tag end of the tippet this way I only loose the weight and not the whole rig if I hang up on the bottom.
But in either case I don’t use anything for a shock tippet except for salt water rigs. True there is some springing effect wih different material but I really let the rod act as the shock absorber when using soft hackles or any time I use a tight line approach to fly fishing. Now anyone who has ever cast any of my rods knows that there is one common thread to them. That is they are all fast action rods. I don’t recommend them to anyone starting out because they are unforgiving rods. But one in particular fits the bill as a med-fast action rod and that is the one I use the most for this type of fishing. It has just enough tip flex to handle a fast striking fish. I also don’t hold the rod very tight, I hold it just enough to not have it yank out of my hand. You would be surprised just how fast and hard a 12 inch trout can hit at times.
These are about all that I do I don’t think there is any big secretes to it as much as there is learning to react just enough and not over power the fish.

Kit