Two Handed Casting and Leaders

Something happened on the American River. I'm not sure what it was, however, by the end of the day, I felt that I had taken a step backwards in my spey casting abilities. I wasn't getting as much distance and the line wasn't unfolding very well. I'm not sure if I was tired or was just low on concentration.

On Sunday, after watching my weekly football game, I decided to head to the local school playground and get some practice in. Focusing on my technique, I felt much better after a quick half hour. I was back to casting 80 or more feet in a controlled manner. I also modified my form a little bit and feel more confident about my technique.

Spey casting is so enjoyable for me. There are so many facets to the cast that it takes a lot to bring it all together. How you hold your hands, how you set the anchor, where you set the anchor, how you apply the power stroke, etc, etc. When it all comes together, it can be satisfying. Before getting a two hander, I never really enjoyed casting as much I do now. There just aren't as many variables to keep my mind buzzing. I know it sounds ridiculous to anyone that has never used a two handed rod before. I was there and thought the same thing. Give it a try and you'll know what I mean.

However, casting isn't fishing. And if you allow yourself to get too caught up in it, you suddenly find yourself ignoring the presentation. Which of course is what leads to actually catching a fish. You have to be careful.

On the rigging front, I've built a few tapered 12 foot leaders in various lengths to use with steelhead. I'm hoping to get back to the grass to see how well they turn over the larger flies. Something that seems to be working right now is the following formula.

5' of 30lb
3' of 20lb
2' of 12lb
2' of 8lb

However, since grass casting is much different than when you are on the water (more tension when anchoring on water), the true test will be my next fishing trip.

Two Handed Rods

Not too long ago, I bought a new Redington 8-weight rod. While shopping at my local fly fishing shop, I quickly realized that this weight came with a "fighting grip". Initially, I resisted the idea of an extra stub on the butt end of the stick, it just looked odd. Lucky for me, I purchased it anyway.

As mentioned briefly in my Calaveras report, I've become somewhat obsessed with spey casting techniques. Although you can certainly do all of these casts using a one handed flyrod (which I certainly do), I've found that I can more easily get the line out longer distances by taking my left hand and using that fighting grip for extra leverage. Just as you would on a spey rod.

If I had realized the value of the extra grip prior to buying a rod, I probably would of bought a "switch rod" instead. For those of you not familiar with this hybrid, it is a cross between the flyrod and a spey. It includes a grip for your second hand and they are usually longer, ten feet or more. The extra length and the grip give you the ability to load your line more and really get it out there without the need for a back cast.

Many of the rivers that I fish have a lot of trees and brush along the bank. Learning how to cast with these techniques have been a blessing, not to mention feeling more graceful than simply performing a roll cast. With that fighting grip and what I've learned over a few trips out, I can get line out pretty darn far without worrying about what is behind me.

Size 12 Soft Hackle -- VIDEO!

Here we go again, another video. While I'm trying to learn to tie cleaner flies, I will occasionally videotape myself doing it. Why? Not really sure. However, they are going to be posted here for your amusement. Hopefully I'll get better and you'll be able to see the progress.

Sometimes I fight with myself about how clean a fly should look. Sure, it's nice to have that really clean and small looking head. But, if the idea is to make a buggy looking fish catching machine, does it really matter? You'd have to ask a fish to know for sure, but my guess would be no. It doesn't matter. I've been catching trout on the ugly ones too.

For this video, I sped it up so that you can watch it in super speed. You can see just as much and get half as bored by watching it in fast forward. So with that in mind, I declare this the inauguration of the "2-Minute Fly Video".

Size 16 Hare's Ear Soft Hackle -- VIDEO!

The other day I mentioned that I took some video as I tied a size 16 soft hackle. Well, here it is in all of its glory. There is no audio and there was some editing as I stopped here and there to do other things.

This probably won't help anyone that is already a tyer, but perhaps someone new to it, or perhaps just new to soft hackles will get something out of it.

This is a super easy pattern. One more reason to love soft hackles.

Three Rig Wet Fly System

Want to increase your chance of catching trout? Try multiple flies at once. I will often fish three at a time to quickly see what they are interested on that day. By mixing different sizes and patterns, you'll know really fast what will work. The method I use is a three fly rig.

There are no real rules to this method, except for maybe one. Put the heaviest fly as the anchor fly, the fly that is furthest from the fly line. As suggested by someone else, this may also be the place to put an attractor pattern. When I'm searching, I'll often put a larger size 10 winged wet as the anchor that may have some brighter colors, a soft hackle size 12 or smaller as the middle fly, and another soft hackle or perhaps a winged wet size 12 or smaller as the top.

Building the rig can't be easier. Cut three pieces of two foot long tippet material (you pick the size), take two of those pieces and overlap the two ends by 7 or so inches, place your thumb at this spot and knot them with a double overhand. Refer to the diagram for a little better explanation. After the two are knotted, then add the third in the same overlapping fashion. The end of the rig is tied to a leader or you can simply use longer tippet material and tie it directly to the fly line. Having an actual tapered leader is not necessary. The basic idea is to have each fly approximately separated by the same amount of space when in the water. The top and middle position hanging off about 6-7 inches of line.

You would fish the three rig the same way you fish a single fly. Dead drift, up and across, across, down and across, or directly down. It doesn't really matter. The idea is to get the flies in the feeding lane and keep it there as long as possible. Dead drift is my favorite, but swinging it is fine. If you do swing it, try and slow it down a little with line mends. Before casting back upstream, be sure to let it dangle below you for a while and maybe go as far as dancing it around. You'll catch fish here as it rises and falls.

If you see one fly is getting most of the attention, you can swap your other flies for the similar working patterns.

Why soft hackle wet flies?

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a big fan of Soft Hackles and to a lesser degree, regular winged wets. They're so easy to fish and are very productive at any time of day, in any weather, and at all depths from just under the surface to down deep.

If you read around the net, these flies can be called any number of things. Spiders, flymphs, soft hackles, and more. I'm not sure I always know the distinction, although some literature say that spiders are tied more sparsely. Whatever the case, they are all soft hackles to me.

For those of you new to SHs, you can just cast these out across the stream and let them "swing" in the current. You don't have to be perfect with a dead drift (although dead drifting a soft hackle upstream is a killer) and you'll still catch a ton of trout. Not to mention, when swinging, there is no mistaking when a fish is on!

Main Tuolumne - August 14th, 2007

Another trick I like to use is that in tight situations, I'll let the fly "swim" below me, directly downstream. I'll use the rod to put it beside boulders, under trees, along seams. Wherever you know fish are hanging out. Alternate lifts with short drifts. I've even caught fish while my fly was just dangling downstream as I was doing something else (digging out a camera, getting a drink of water, etc), not even trying to catch anything. In a small creek, this is a great way to go since trees make it hard to get a good cast in.

Soft hackles can be fished directly upstream, up and across, across, down and across, downstream, or all of the above. Dead drift, swing, or even pulled through the water, I don't think there is a wrong way to fish them. I've caught plenty of trout during the hottest part of the day deep down, or just below the surface when you may be tempted to put a dry on.

Lastly, I'd just like to say that I often rig together 3 flies at once. This gives you a great way to see what is working for that particular day. The heaviest fly goes on the tail, a medium sized soft hackle in the middle, and the front gets either a winged wet or another soft. If you don't know what fish are interested in, this gives you an excellent way to find out - quick!

I really think that the hackle, no matter how sparse it may be, gives extra life to any fly. I occasionally still fish nymphs or even tie one here or there, but I really think that putting the hackle on just makes it more interesting to the fish. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. As soon as someone interviews a trout to find out for sure, let me know!

Here are some great links to some sites with soft hackle/wet fly/spider/flymph info:

http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/flymphs/
http://www.jackgartside.com/step_soft_hackle_flies.htm
http://tinyurl.com/35jqrp
http://flyfisherman.com/softhackles/