attaching flies

[Sportsman]

If they are coming short I would try an emerger style buzzer just in or even an inch or two below the surface.

My favourite is to take a Shipmans Buzzer, apply floatant to just one end of it and fish it solo on a long leader. Don't forget to degrease and sink your leader.

Cast to rising fish and just fish it static, don't be tempted to move it, especially if the water is calm.

If that doesn't work, or there is a wave on the water try the same fly ginked up and stripped back along the surface as fast as you can so it is making lots of disturbance. When you see a bow wave appearing behind it from a chasing trout DON"T slow down. Speed up if anything. You won't get a fish every cast but it will do wonders for your adrenalin levels

[Anderoo]

CDC buzzers are great for that too (Cul de Canard, naturally oily feathers that float without needing floatant). A CDC buzzer has snared me many cheeky trout! The buzzer itself hangs below the surface, like the Shipmans.

[bluerinse]

I would suggest that you are missing bites as you are not in contact with your flies, if you feel the take for just an instance that normally means you are feeling the fish coming off, it is very important to keep in contact, if you have slack line or to large a bow in the line it is hard to lift into the bites.

A very very slow retrieve will counter the bow and keep you in contact. I presume you are fishing large water and not a river.

if you are on a large water fishing 3 fly’s is fine, try a heavy fly on the point a CDC on the top dropper and a buzzer on the middle dropper you can then fish at 3 different levels of water, I would fish with a 15 - 20 ft leader once you find were the fish are feeding you can change all your fly’s to target that level be it on the top, 5ft 10ft or even 20ft.

once you find the fish then it does not matter to me if I fish one or three fly's you will catch and with most places having a limit I tend to fish one fly otherwise I have caught my limit and have to leave.