The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

In most situations we know that a natural drift, putting little or no movement on the fly ourselves, means more hooked fish.

Can you name some situations where putting movement on a fly catches fish? Here is one: hand twist retrieve of a wet fly.

I guess the obvious answer would be when you are fishing streamers. I have also had times when dry fly fishing an emerger the fish seemed to hit it better if it was twitched.

Skitter a caddis imitation across the surface?

Short pulls on a large caddis to create the "motor boat" effect when them large adults are moving on the surface?

Pulling any dry fly pattern under the surface at the end of the drift to allow it to rise and imitate an emerger?

Jigging an unweighted subsurface pattern (bugger, leeches, nymphs) using a sinking line...unweighted fly suspended above sunken line, follows in direction (and depth) of line on retrieve?

Using a riffle-hitch on a dry or sunken steelhead pattern to skate the fly across the current to induce a strike (not really possible if using bobbers, er, uh, strike indicators or other crutches)?

Paul

PQW-

You're good.

Another might be dapping by holding the rod and line out of the water and dancing a dry fly on the surface beneath the rod tip. But I guess that's pretty
much skittering a caddis like you mentioned, except done really close in, such as by holding the rod tip over a pocket to dangle the fly.

NCL-

I agree. Or just casting across or down-and-across and stripping like crazy. But I learned the hard way that if not at least 3x a big fish can snap the leader.

...just had the opportunity to learn a few things and, like an even older fishermen than I (Izaak Walton)has said, "Fly fishing may be said to be so like mathematics, that it can never be fully learnt.”

Paul

funny thing about dead drifting nymphs is ive caught so many fish on the swing after my drift. so i guess you can say that is movement to entice a bite.

Swinging a wet fly cast down-and-across will catch fish, too. The old timers used to tie on four or five on droppers to imitate a hatch of rising emergers. I think now the rules only allow 2 flies on the line. Fishing wet flies is fun, and very forgiving because you don't need to worry about a drag free drift. You can just strip or hand-twist retrieve them.

maybe in your world.

Paul

I like the swining bobicator,,,when it's a big bushy grasshopper

rich, when i was up on the umpqua this summer i would head down river from camp and swing for steelhead in the morning. in the afternoon i would hit the river right across from camp. i had so much fun swinging a crystal bugger for 10-12" trout. i would cast down and across. everytime as soon as the fly would hit the seem of the soft and fast water a fish would take it.

(laughs) There's drag, but you don't worry about it. It's called dreaming.

You still designing buildings?

And then you woke up!