The "normal" method for fishing dry flies is supposed to be upstream at a 45 degree angle. That way you can control the drag and not spook the fish with your line. I've read a bunch of articles that emphasize the importance of eliminating drag. I just read a book by Joe Humphries and he even talks about eliminating micro drag! He thinks you need to put slack in your tippet to avoid micro drag. He talks about adjusting your tippet length until you get the right amount of slack in the tippet. Tippet that is too short will lay in a straight line. Too long and it will collapse in a pile. Just right and it lays in a snake pattern on the water.

Anyway, I'm wondering if it might be better to go with a direct upstream cast when using ultralight equipment, especially a short rod since you can't hold your line off the water. The disadvantage would be that you're casting your flyline over the fish, but if it's ultralight line, I'm thinking it might not be a problem.

Do any of these look familiar?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... reys+trout

Thanks!

Personally, I'm not fast enough to keep line from piling up and tangling around my legs, so even if lining the fish weren't a problem with direct upstream presentations, I would avoid them whenever possible.

I'll probably order several of them. He's got some really good, advanced information in his videos. The only problem is that he's not an advocate of ultralight. He recommends 6wt for fishing small streams. And he likes to pile on the weights when nymphing. For me, I'd rather use a spinning rod if I'm going to be using a lot of weight. I'm using a 6' 2wt which is one reason I'm trying the direct upstream technique. With a short rod I feel like I need to focus on techniques where your line is "on the water" since I can't really high stick.

Even though the "normal" way of fishing dry flies is at a 45 degree angle upstream, in the real world, particularly on pretty small streams, there often isn't enough stream width available to manage 45 degrees unless the cast is really short. You can still avoid "lining" the fish when casting directly upstream by making increaingly longer casts as you work upstream. Also, with dry flies, drag becomes apparent by watching the fly. When it starts to drag, it makes a V wake, and then it's time to pick it up for a new cast. And it is important to experiment with leaders. That's one reason that it's good to make your own, whether by furling or tying tapered (stepped down) leaders out of different diameters of monofilament.

Regarding the idea of roll casting, I often use a roll-cast pick-up to initiate a new cast after working out a cast. That is also a good way to pick up the line for a new cast when fishing wets or nymphs. It's surprising how many fish end up hooking themselves when the fly comes up at the beginning of a roll cast.

If your furled leader is sinking, before you get it wet rub mucilin into it - it'll float like a cork for quite awhile. I've read his writings and Humphries is undoubtedly a better fly fisher than me. But for me, in the real world, the "ideal" leader is totally dependent on conditions and size of fly. I often change flies and encounter different conditions in a day of fishing. I'm simply not going to change leaders repeatedly during the day so I do like most and use a compromise leader and change tippets as needed. If I know I'm going to streamer fish, I'll choose a heavier, shorter leader for that purpose. I don't like casting directly upstream but I will if conditions don't allow any other choice.

I usually work upstream and don't move my position, sometimes its directly upstream, sometimes at an angle. I spook more fish by my movement than with the fly line. I've been leaning towards significantly longer leaders to help this.

Fishing downstream with a dry fly isn't exactly in line with conventional wisdom, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It certainly does let fish see the fly before the line and even most of the leader. And what you have described makes for a good, drag-free presentation.

A downside of dry-fly fishing downstream is that the fly tends to get waterlogged sooner. Another thing to consider is that while drag-free presentation is usually the ideal, it isn't always the best option. When adult midges, caddis, and stoneflies are abundant on the water, one can sometimes make an appropriate fly deliberately drag and skitter across the surface, just as it gets to where a fish has been rising or is suspected to be, with exciting results. A couple of good flies for this are the old bivisble or a spider tied on a dry-fly hook. With the latter, even if it does sink, it's not so different from a soft-hackle wet fly.

Just a couple more thoughts on the subject.

That seems like a very interesting experiment and results. There must be a connection between your two observations. A long leader with a light tippet can help a lot in avoiding drag. Can you imagine avoiding drag with a 50-pound test tippet on your leader, not to mention the size of the hooks on your dry flies?

I believe a lot of it is a "When in Rome thing.". When you hit a stream where most folks work upstream nothing could be more rude than floating thru or wading downstream swinging streamers and soft hackles. If you enjoy assigned beats or something I suppose you can do whatever suits your fancy. Most of the time I avoided busy water when possible. Highly recommend you focus more on your drift and presentation and less on casting. You'll hookup more often.

Working stockers on the lake shore is a different game and stockers in general are. Go for wild fish and learn to fool them. Don't concern yourself so much with their size. Seek where you can learn to fool dark fish without par marks. Their smart and when you can consistently fool them you are ready to move to another level.

Hang in there. Read the Ring of the Rise and Caddis Flies. Ponder these as you work you dry fly and dry with dropper offerings. It will pay off.

Kindest regards,

Clay