attaching flies

[maxaldo]

I would write this item in the fly fishing area, although it may have taken some time to get ample replies and that may be time i dont have . What i would like to know is, when fishing a number of flies, maybe 2 or 3 on the same line, how do i attach them all to it?

 

I woud like to fish a number of dries on the same line in order to have an increased chance of catching on each cast and also to improve the chance of a take from a following fish as it sees a number of flies behind the one it originally went for.

 

Cheers, max

[Team Man]

Thats a bit like fishing for Mackrel with umpteen feathers, I don't think its quite the thing in fly fishing, the art is fishing with A fly

[Anderoo]

Use a 4-turn water knot to attach droppers, use fairly stiff line though and only short lengths (6" or so) or they're liable to tangle.

 

Edit: there's nothing unsporting in using 2 or 3 flies, where rules allow. It's a very common method.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Anderoo

[Sportsman]

It is quite normal to fish a team of two or three flies on the same cast, but your question suggests that you are not an experienced fly fisher. If this is the case then tangles are a distinct possibility and you may be better advised to stick to one fly.

A single fly fished well will often out fish a team of flies fished badly.

If you want to fish a team the lets assume you are using a 12' leader.

Come up around 3' and tie in a length of mono the same strength as your tippet. I use a 4 turn water knot like this http://carlsons.co.uk/tips/surgeon.htm

Trim off the upper end of the tied in dropper and leave the lower end to attach your fly. I usually leave it 4" - 6" long.

Come up another 3' and repeat.

Instead of using 3 dries you might want to use a heavier fly on the point so that is sinks, a lighter fly on the first dropper so that it is just sub surface and a big bushy fly on the top dropper to create a wake or disturbance in the water and to act as an attractor.

You don't say what sort of water you are fishing, or your intended quarry but something like this will work in most situations.

[Team Man]

Edit: there's nothing unsporting in using 2 or 3 flies, where rules allow. It's a very common method.

 

That surprises me, I thought it was not the done thing to use more than one fly, you learn something new every day

Edited August 12, 2008 by Team Man

[maxaldo]

Thats a bit like fishing for Mackrel with umpteen feathers, I don't think its quite the thing in fly fishing, the art is fishing with A fly

 

Well that was my original opinion, however i invested in this months trout fisherman magazine to find it seems to be pretty common practice among the experts who write the collums. At the moment i'm having problems hooking trout who take off the top so i need to give myself more chance to hook up. I spend 16 quid to fish one of my small local reservoirs which is stocked with rainbows and blues, for this price i can fish all day and take away 3 and catch and realease 3 more, but if i am struggling i need to find i way to improve my chances of catching. It's all about having the pleasure of catching really, nothing sinnister.

[Sportsman]

Well that was my original opinion, however i invested in this months trout fisherman magazine to find it seems to be pretty common practice among the experts who write the collums. At the moment i'm having problems hooking trout who take off the top so i need to give myself more chance to hook up. I spend 16 quid to fish one of my small local reservoirs which is stocked with rainbows and blues, for this price i can fish all day and take away 3 and catch and realease 3 more, but if i am struggling i need to find i way to improve my chances of catching. It's all about having the pleasure of catching really, nothing sinnister.

 

Are you having problems getting takes or are you having problems hooking takes?

 

If you are not getting takes then it is wrong fly / wrong style. If there are fish rising and you are not getting takes to your dry fly try matching the hatch in terms of size and colour. Failing that try fishing an emerger like a Shipmans Buzzer. These are fished IN the surface film rather than on it, just on the point of sinking.

 

http://business.virgin.net/british.classic/shipmans.html

 

If all else fails cast a slim buzzer into the feeding fish. Watch your leader for takes on the drop

 

http://www.bassbug.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Buzzers.html

 

If you are getting takes but having problems hooking them then you may be striking too quickly. Wait a couple of seconds for the fish to turn down with the fly in its mouth and then just lift into it. No need to strike violently.

 

Good luck

[Team Man]

Well that was my original opinion, however i invested in this months trout fisherman magazine to find it seems to be pretty common practice among the experts who write the collums. At the moment i'm having problems hooking trout who take off the top so i need to give myself more chance to hook up. I spend 16 quid to fish one of my small local reservoirs which is stocked with rainbows and blues, for this price i can fish all day and take away 3 and catch and realease 3 more, but if i am struggling i need to find i way to improve my chances of catching. It's all about having the pleasure of catching really, nothing sinnister.

 

 

Yes, I understand that its OK now, I'm afraid fly fishing is not my field, so know very little about it, I had always assumed it was not the done thing, now I know better

[Anderoo]

Also, when fishing with droppers, relax your casting style a bit - if you throw a very tight loop, there's more chance of it tangling.

 

I'd only use droppers (for English stillwater trout fishing at any rate) when fishing teams of nymphs, usually buzzers, to present flies at different depths. If trout are feeding on the surface I'd stick to one fly (assuming you know what they're taking), fish a long leader and cast to rises, then leaving it static. As Sportsman says, waiting just a fraction before striking will improve the hook-up rate. Also, a fly fished in rather than on the water will often get better takes, as it appears drowned. Flies high on the water will sometimes be splashed or swirled at by trout, trying to drown them.

 

I haven't done any small stillwater trout fishing for ages, I should have another go soon. Maybe next spring. The closed season tench fishing has kind of relegated it.

[maxaldo]

[if you are getting takes but having problems hooking them then you may be striking too quickly. Wait a couple of seconds for the fish to turn down with the fly in its mouth and then just lift into it. No need to strike violently.

 

Good luck

 

I'm getting takes, btut the are finicky and half assed. One day last week i had a full day of it, i must have had about 8 bites all day butjust couldn't get into them. A few times i felt the fish on for a second or so, but it still managed to free itself in no time at all, also upon inspecting my hook to see if it was blunt, mangled or none existant, i saw that there was a scale on the hook, as though the fish had not taken with its mouth, perhaps the fish where trying to sink the fly with their bodies before taking them beneat the surface as i know they often do this?