First Drift Fly Company

Like most people, when I started out Czech nymphing years ago I used bomber flies that were packed to the gills with lead wire wraps and I simply drug them across the bottom. Not that this wasn’t effective, because it still outperformed my standard indicator rig in most situations. But as time has gone on, I have had the pleasure of learning more refined techniques along with developing a weighting scheme that covers all my bases.

One often overlooked aspect of a trout’s anatomy is that their eyes are naturally positioned for them to be looking up. So when people are dragging their flies across the bottom, they are actually not presenting their flies to most trout. Not to say this won’t catch trout, but there is a better way. In this article, I am going to go over three ways to improve your presentation and to get your flies into the right water column for longer. This will in turn present your fly to more trout and improve your catch rate.

You will find competitive fly fishermen with the same pattern tied with different sized beads. They see the importance of fishing throughout the entire water column. I recommend having a variety of weights for some of your confidence mainstay patterns. I further recommend starting each area you are going to fish with a lightly weighted fly and then gradually tying on a heavier fly as you work your way down through the water column. This is by far the easiest way to present your fly throughout the entire water column.

But who wants to continually have to change their flies every 10 casts or so? This brings us to our second technique, which is changing your casting angles. Starting with a light weight fly, cast your fly so that it enters the water at a shallow angle. In order to do this there are multiple ways, but the easiest I think is lowering your casting angle. This can be accomplished by having your rod tip travel more horizontally to the water and closer to the water’s surface than your normal tip path. As compared to an oval cast for example.

The third technique once you get a few drifts through that water column using a horizontal approach, would be to utilize a tuck cast. This will allow your fly or flies to enter at a more vertical angle. Thus lessening the amount of tippet which is in contact with the water, and cut through those faster layers of water. By lessening the amount of tippet on or in the water, one reduces the amount of friction and increases your rigs ability to get to depth before friction with the tippet starts pulling your rig downstream. One has to remember the higher and faster you stop your rod tip. The more your rig will tuck and kick back slightly giving your rig a bit of slack to obtain depth.

These are three ways to present your flies to more trout throughout the water column. Just remember to work top-down. If after conducting both casting techniques you are still not ticking bottom on the last third of your drift, switch out one of your flies for a heavier fly and cycle through the two casting methods again until you are successful. In future articles, I will go over techniques on how to achieve and maintain good contact with your rig throughout the drift.  

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” Heraclitus.

remains I am sure most of you have heard this famous quote before, but what does he mean? With moving water one thing reminds a constant. The river is an ever changing ecosystem. Weather and flows, which is measured by cubic feet per second (CFS), are changing day to day. Water temperatures are constantly fluctuating. Time of day and even the presence of other fishermen or animals will change the dynamic. Not to be forgotten, current hatches and the size or presence of baitfish or other small fish in the system are factors that will play a part in where trout will lie and feed throughout the day.

So what can we do as fishermen before and after each day on the water to make sure we are getting the most out of every day on the water? Observe and Report. No, I am not talking about the mediocre Seth Rogan movie from over a decade ago. It’s quite simple honestly. Check the CFS on your local waters on a state-run site, take water temperatures throughout the day, look at spider webs for trapped flies, annotate hatches you see, and keep track of where you are seeing and catching fish throughout the day and on what. One key thing is if you are seeing fish’s lies or feeding habits change throughout the day, annotate the water’s temperature.

 The key is to then annotate this information in a simple format at home. This information can then be used for future days on the water. By simply building your own database in your own words, you are constructing your own personal River Report, which suits your fishing style and not a generic fishing report that maybe a month old on a fly shop’s website. Plus if you only have 3 hours one day a week, you can target the best time to go fishing based off past trips.

 Before every day on the water, I check my historical data. This gives me an idea which rivers will be fishing the best or which types of water. I can also ensure I have flies that worked under these same conditions. This gives me confidence before I even step a foot out the door. Because I know I am going to productive water, I have an idea of what should be hatching. I will have flies in the appropriate size, color, shape and weight to fish for the day.

I personally use an excel spreadsheet. This way I can make a tab for each river I fish and compare them to other rivers when deciding on where and when to fish. The key is to make it your own. Something you will actually do and reference in the future.

First Drift Fly Company started out as a custom fly tying shop and has expanded over the years. Today we offer hundreds of great products from around the globe. We are continually in search of the latest products and expanding our inventory.

It’s our goal to offer you the best materials at not only the best prices, but with great customer service and fast shipping too.

Fly fishing and fly tying are our true passions in life. Every fly we offer are not only flies we personally use but have been used across the country and on all of our local rivers to bring fish to the net.