Dry Fly fishing for wild brown trout; A beginners guide to the basics.

Understanding Dry Fly Fishing

Dry fly fishing involves using flies that float on the water's surface. Unlike wet flies that sink below the surface, dry flies are designed to imitate adult insects, making them an enticing choice for fish that are feeding.

This technique requires both skill and knowledge about the water, insects, and fish feeding habits. For instance, studies show that about 90% of a trout's diet can consist of surface insects during certain times of the year. While beginners might struggle to achieve a natural presentation, perseverance and practice can lead to success. This guide will hopefully introduce you to the fundamental basics and give you a better understanding of how to fish for trout using a dry fly setup.

Choosing the Right Gear

Selecting the right gear is crucial for successful dry fly fishing. Select the correct rod for the right application.

Will you be fishing a small upland stream where a 7ft 2wt rod be best suited or perhaps a larger river like the middle Usk where a 9ft 4wt would be better to present at range and be able to cope with playing larger fish in heavier flows. Choosing the right setup can be the difference between a good or bad day.

Rod, Reel, and Line

Choose a medium-action rod that is suited to the situation. The length not only dictates the casting distance but also gives you better control over your fly and accessibility on the water. A soft actioned rod cushions lighter tippets and reduces line breakage dramatically, it also affords the beginner easier casting as opposed to using a fast actioned rod.

For your reel, opt for a weight-forward floating line, which helps keep your fly buoyant. It's essential to match the line weight to your rod for optimal performance. For example, if you're using a 4-weight rod, a 4-weight line is ideal.

Flies

A solid selection of dry flies is your best bet for success. As a beginner, focus on versatile patterns such as:

• Elk Hair Caddis: Effective in a variety of waters and excellent for imitating adult caddis flies, this pattern comes into its own in the latter days of summer when caddis hatches are most prevalent.

• March brown Jingler A go-to for the early season angler when imitating the revered Rhithrogena Germanica (March Brown) an early season mayfly that is much anticipated, it can provide some of the best early season dry fly sport.

  
  

• Large Dark Olive (LDO)This small mayfly Baetis Rhodani is prevalent throughout the UK in running water and can be found through most of the season. I've attached a photo above of a pattern I use and is very successful on my home small spate rivers in south east Wales.

  
  
  
  
  
  

Having a few of these flies in your fly box can set you up for success, and in difference sizes can be utilised through out the season when other hatches maybe present, for instance a march brown pattern could well be used to imitate a large brook dun which appear slightly later into April, it has also served me well during hatches of Autumn duns in late September. In smaller sizes the LDO pattern makes a great fly to be used during hatches of olive uprights and blue winged olives. I am a strong believer that colour isn't important but place more importance on size and silhouette. A well presented fly that is drifted correctly will always out fish a close imitation fished badly.

Reading the Water

Effective dry fly fishing starts with understanding your fishing environment and most importantly where the fish are likely to be feeding. Likely areas can be identified by experience and a little entomology, water craft.

Fast shallow gravel runs at the head of slower glides are a good starting point as they are home to lots of aquatic invertebrates (nymphs). They'll hatch out of these runs and subsequently be moved down stream by the current into slower deeper glides, these are great areas to start to look for rising fish. Identify the food source and where its going and 9 times out of 10 you'll find the fish.

Identifying Feeding Fish

Look for fish that are rising, which can signal feeding activity. A small swirl on the water's surface typically means a fish is taking insects from the top. Rise forms can be a good indicator of a fish's feeding behavior and allows you to establish what approach may work best to present to a feeding fish. Small dimples near the surface doesn't mean the size of the fish is necessarily small, it can be quite the opposite. Large weary fish don't always give alot away and know how to feed unnoticed. Smaller rise forms can also indicate fish that are feeding in the surface film on emergers or spent, crippled insects. Large splashy rises may indicate fish feeding on insects riding high on the surface. Learning these skills comes from experience on the water and maybe specific to the behavior of fish on each water you fish, so my best advice is to spend time on the water and observe. Time spent on the water even if your not catching is never wasted.

Don't always be too eager to jump into a pool to cast to the far bank. On many occasions I've caught fish inches away from my inside bank and not far away from my standing position. Stealth and patience are good skills to learn to be a good dry fly angler.

Observing Insect Activity

Recognizing the types of insects present can drastically improve your chances of success. For example, significant hatches of mayflies often occur at the warmest part of the day early season, timing these right and identifying what insects are on the water can increase your success and also means you can plan your fishing at the most productive times of the day. During the summer months you may get sustained hatches through out the day into evening time, then late evening you may also get a spinner fall also along with hatching insects (sub Imago's). The spinner is given its name when an adult dun (Imago's) have reached full maturity and go on to mate. They then return to the water and deposit their eggs into the waters surface. Once the cycle is complete they'll then die and fall onto the waters surface in a recognisable (crucifix) shape, fish can be really active and drop their guard during this time and for me this is the best dry fly sport of the season and something I look forward to in much anticipation.

Cast with Precision

After selecting your gear and assessing the water, it’s time to cast.

Stealth Matters

Approach the water quietly, as trout are easily startled. Use bankside features to mask your movements and position, when getting into position to make a cast I like to keep a low profile. Once settled I hold motionless for a short period to allow the fish to settle back down. Avoid casting shadows over feeding areas to prevent spooking fish. A good tip when casting at a feeding fish is to direct your false casts away from the fish's position, delivering the fly to the fish on the final cast this will reduce the chances of spooking the fish with a line cast over it's head.

The Perfect Presentation

A convincing presentation is vital for enticing fish to take your fly.

Dress to thrill

Fly and leader dressings...What are they? dressings, desiccants, degreasers, sinkants, floatants, it can sound confusing but I'll try and break it down.

Dry flies float on the surface, and although we use materials when tying them to enable them to float sometimes they need a little more help to float longer and be more durable. That's when we add dressings. I keep it simple for fly patterns that primarily rely on CDC to keep it afloat, I use a silica based powder such as fulling mills high glide. Pop open the lid and put your fly in and pop the lid back closed, give the botte a few shakes and that's it your flies good to go. You may need to re apply after a a few drifts on the water or after landing a fish. Lotions & Potions - FM High Glide | Fulling Mill Fishing Flies.

For flies that use hackles to float them I use a gel type dressing such as Fulling mills dry sauce Lotions & Potions - FM Dry Sauce | Fulling Mill Fishing Flies

Application is straight forward, simply squeeze out a very small amount onto our finger tip and rub it between your thumb and fore finger, Work it into the hackles of the fly and that's it.

Leader dressing I also keep very simple, and the reasoning why we dress the leader is simple too. When presenting a dry fly on a long leader we want that leader to ride high on the surface not in it. Doing this you create a better drift as the leader is only being influenced by the top water current the same as your fly and floating line. meaning they all travel at the same speed on the surface. Its also much more efficient when making contact with the fish when lifting your line out of the water when striking.

So to float my leader I use good old fashioned Mucilin green. I like to dress up from the tippet ring on the tapered leader connection excluding the front section tippet up the full length on the tapered leader and onto the first 10 to 15ft of fly line for the reason mentioned above.

the front section of tippet I like dress with a 'mud' fullers earth based dressing which does not sink the tippet but degreasers the leader and aids eliminating shine and glare to reduce spooking weary fish.

Drift and basic leader setup

Let your fly drift naturally with the current. An upstream mend in a fast flow can help eliminate the dreaded drag on your fly.

The length of your leader will also dictate how long your fly will drift and also help reduce drag. For instance I typically use leaders from 16 to 20ft in length and will always be tapered. A good starting point for a beginner is to obtain a tapered leader that is somewhere in length between 12 and 15ft, a good start would be to purchase a premade one, i use these https://www.fullingmill.co.uk/Products-UK/Leaders-UK/Masterclass-Tapered-Leader-7X-12ft-UK I find them very good and very durable. I had one on the same cast for most of last season only changing the tippet material when required .

Attach a small tippet ring ideally 1.5 to 2mm in diameter to the end of your tapered leader where you can then attach the appropriate tippet material. for me this will be a good quality Co-Polymer. My favoured choice of tippet material is Fulling Mill's masterclass Co-polymer.

Copolymer - Masterclass Copolymer | Fulling Mill Fishing Flies

Hook Set

When you get a rise, wait until you see the fish take the fly before setting the hook. A swift lift of the rod is essential to ensure the hook is securely placed in the fish’s mouth.

Practice Casting Techniques

Improving your casting requires practice to ensure that you can place your fly delicately onto the water.

Roll Cast and False Cast

Practice roll and false casts. A roll cast is beneficial for tight spaces, while a false cast allows you to dry your fly before placing it back in the water.

Distance and Accuracy

Work on different casting distances to boost your accuracy. Start by targeting a small area of water, gradually extending to longer distances as your confidence grows.

The Importance of Patience

Fishing often involves waiting, and dry fly fishing is no exception.

Waiting for the Right Moment

Realize that bites may not always come immediately after your cast. Fish can be picky, and it might take several casts before you hook one. In fact, it can take 20 casts or more to get a fish to commit to taking our fly.

Enjoying the Experience

While the goal is often to catch fish, be mindful to take moments to appreciate the tranquility of nature. Revel in the scenery, listen to the water, and enjoy the challenges presented by casting to rising fish.