Beginner Question about dry flies.

[skeeter bite]

I just finished up my first season of fly fishing for trout. I've learned quite a bit about what doesn't work but still have a long way to go. This season I only fished nymphs and streamers, never cast a single dry fly.
My question is, can I use dry flies to 'locate' fish? I understand the theory about 'hatches' but often when I was fishing, nothing was hatching that I could determine. My background is bass fishing and often times I've used a top water bait to produce a strike when conditions were right. Are there 'attractor' type dry flies that I can use to produce a strike when no hatch is taking place? I'm thinking something that imitates a grasshopper, ant, or bee, Is this a realistic approach? Any comments on this would be appreciated.
One of the most important things I learned this season was to buy a wading staff and never go fishing without it.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Yes, for sure. Terrestrials like ants and grasshoppers are part of a trout's natural diet and they don't fall into a stream with the same frequency that a stonefly, mayfly or caddis hatches, so you're not likely to see fish rising to them anyway. Keep in mind that on many/most streams, at least the less fertile freestone streams, trout are likely almost always hungry, so they will hit a dry even when no hatch is visible or obvious. When you fish for wild Brookies or other wild trout in small freestones, they're almost always hungry and will often hit dry flies even in winter or times of very cool water when hatching insects are rare.

For what it's worth, I'd typically tell you that I actually PREFER to fish nymphs and I don't do so solely because they can be highly effective. I rarely fish dry flies and almost never fish a streamer, not because I don't think those techniques are also highly effective seasonally, but because I like to fish nymphs. I did decide to concentrate on dries this past summer, mostly because I've been tying a lot of dries and trying to figure some things out and I caught more trout on dry flies this year than I've caught in any of the previous 5 years combined of my entire trout fishing career. Of the trout that I caught on dries, I'd guess that only about 10% were actually seen rising before I cast to them or got a strike on my dry fly.

 

[dryflyguy]

Terrestrials are more effective when the weather warms up - usually from May, right on through summer and early fall. Ants and beetles are what I use then.

As for earlier in the year - I would use attractors like an Adams or a tan caddis
Both good searching patterns

 

[Dr.J 1952]

Just a little story for the heck of it: I was fishing the Little Mahoning in late Indiana County in late April a few years back. I was nymphing and was using a reddish orange strike indicator. A trout came up for my strike indicator. I put on a Red Humpy dry and caught him. You never know.

 

[JimNovo]

Of course you can “prospect” with dry flies. Terrestrials are good during the summer when they are more abundant. You could also use an Adam’s (generic mayfly), a tan caddis, or a stimulator to try to get a fish to come up.

Honestly though, dry fly prospecting when fish aren’t actively rising hasn’t brought me a lot of success. I would expect that if they are not looking up, then nymphing or even dry dropper fishing might get you more activity.

I prefer to dry fly fish over nymphing because you see that a fish is feeding and your task is to fool him to eat. I typically reserve nymphing for the winter months when there are no hatches so the fish aren’t eating on the surface. Then nymphing is prospecting to likely spots where a fish may be holding.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Royal Wulffs, Patriots, EHC, Adams, Stimulators, Terrestrials, heck even a Light Cahill can all work quite effectively as "attractor patterns", especially on small streams between May and mid-October.

 

[Tigereye]

Royal Wulffs, Patriots, EHC, Adams, Stimulators, Terrestrials, heck even a Light Cahill can all work quite effectively as "attractor patterns", especially on small streams between May and mid-October.

They are not bad on larger freestones either. Throw in a green or chartreuse bodied Adam's and you got yourself a fantastic attractor box.

 

[rrt]

You've gotten good advice here. I particularly like Adams and tan Wright Fluttering Caddis dry flies for locating and catching trout in the absence of hatches. The Adams worked particularly well this autumn for me. The Adams is also my go-to fly for early season prospecting.

 

[skeeter bite]

You've gotten good advice here. I particularly like Adams and tan Wright Fluttering Caddis dry flies for locating and catching trout in the absence of hatches. The Adams worked particularly well this autumn for me. The Adams is also my go-to fly for early season prospecting.

Thanks for your reply. When you're on the stream 'prospecting' what size fly would you be fishing?

 

[rrt]

Big streams with high/normal flows: size 12; low flows size 14
Moderate size to small streams: size 14; sometimes 16 in low flows

Remember, I'm talking Adams and Fluttering Caddis dry flies. The guys who use terrestrials probably vary the size according to which terrestrial they are tossing. For instance, I knew a couple of guys who liked size 12 foam beetles for "fishing the water" on their favorite stream but who used small size 16 ants on some quiet sections of the stream.

 

[Tigereye]

Big streams with high/normal flows: size 12; low flows size 14
Moderate size to small streams: size 14; sometimes 16 in low flows

BINGO!!!!!!!!!

With the exception of stimulators #10 and #12) and the occasionally larger wulff (#12), sizes #14 and #16 should get the lions share of work. If I had to guess ~95%

 

[BruceC2C]

Good post here.
Thx for everyone's insight.

Been FF 10+ yrs, Nymphing, Streamers...and abt 5 yrs ago, committed to midges cuz I like fishing in the winter.

Never really committed to the dry.
Admittedly afraid it was " too technical" for me.
Didn't want to dent my fragile confidence😎

Last winter, took some baby steps
w #16 Elk Hair Caddis & dropper.

Depending on how lazy I am feeling,
I will sometimes " grease" my dry fly leader
with ALBOLENE.
I find it helps my confidence & presentation a bit.

Any thoughts on " leader grease/ treatment' from more experienced crew?
Seems this question would fit well here.

 

[troutbert]

Tan caddis #14

Never really committed to the dry.
Admittedly afraid it was " too technical" for me.
Didn't want to dent my fragile confidence😎

Fishing dry flies on mountain streams in the summer after thunderstorms have brought the water levels up is one of the EASIEST ways to catch fish.

 

[albatross]

Any thoughts on " leader grease/ treatment' from more experienced crew?
Seems this question would fit well here.

I use Loon Payette paste to grease my leader. Not just for dry flies either, it helps when mending with an indicator. I know some also use Muclin, natural or silicone.

 

[Tigereye]

@BruceC2C

Nymphing is much more technical than dry ff.
Think about it this way. In nymph ff, you need to control fly in 3 dimensions, depth, distance, speed, all invisible to you.
Dry ff, you are only in 2 dimensions distance and speed, both visable to you as the fly is on surface.
In addition takes are much easier to detect especially if you aren't euronymphing. Indy nymphing is a bit like dry ff.

 

[DaveKile]

Along with a caddis fly, I use a rusty brown spinner #16 as a my go to dry fly for surface situations I can't figure out. The versatility of coloring, size and shape in the water is a great utility.

It can look like a crippled emerger during a hatch and makes for easy pickens for hungry trout. I had three solid days on Penns creek one April of nothing but RBS middle of the day during light hatches. I use them in the evenings at the end of sulphur hatch when it is starting to get dark. They stand out for me and the trout. I'll throw one on any time I get stymied (which is often) on a stream.

 

[JeffK]

Rusty spinners are always good anywhere. 16 is a great place to start but I also go down to an 18 if olives are in season and the fish are on them (use 18's at Little Lehigh mostly) or up to a 12 in late spring when the larger mayflies are about.

Attractors work in smaller streams. Pick your favorite. I like Ausable Wulff, Royal Wulff, and orange or yellow stimulator and have had a Patriot period. Prefer stimulators if I may be doing dry dropper at some time.

In larger streams when prospecting with dries I generally try the larger bugs that may entice a decent trout up like a March Brown, light Cahill or Iso depending on the season. Most prospecting is by the drop off where the riffles meet the pool/run. Commonly there is a trout looking for food there. Terrestrials generally work best in lower flows from early summer to first frost.

I may grease the leader, but never the tippet. I put mud or saliva on the tippet so it sinks a little and is more invisible. Grease leader mostly when fishing wets right under the surface.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

@BruceC2C

Nymphing is much more technical than dry ff.
Think about it this way. In nymph ff, you need to control fly in 3 dimensions, depth, distance, speed, all invisible to you.
Dry ff, you are only in 2 dimensions distance and speed, both visable to you as the fly is on surface.
In addition takes are much easier to detect especially if you aren't euronymphing. Indy nymphing is a bit like dry ff.

Perhaps, but I'd argue casting mechanics matter a whole lot more in dry fly fishing.

 

[dryflyguy]

Regarding terrestrial size:

I typically use #14 and #16's.
However, by late summer and fall, when streams are at their lowest levels, I find that #18 and #20's work better.
And these smaller sizes often will take fish that are midging, avoiding having to go to the teensy stuff.

 

[shakey]

Another fun prospecting fly is an orange ant .