Fishing your drift out

[Van_Cleaver]

This is kind of basic, but today I was fishing a stretch of water I hadn't been on before. Early on I had a couple light taps at the very end of my drift. Should have paid more attention! Later on when this happened and I was feeling more relaxed, I made a point of repeating the drift and maintaining focus. A light touch and just lifted the tip and stripped lightly with my left hand hooking a fat rainbow. Light is key since you are downstream and can easily break off, especially if you happen to be fishing 6x. On the next cast I did the exact same thing and caught a beautiful stream bred brown. It's so easy to rush and forget the basics, but it's the attention to details the pay off.

 

[STONEMAN]

Well said. So it makes sense why we get takes at the end of the drift or at a Leisenring lift at the end of the drift. So why the takes when the fly or flies are just flapping in the current for what seems like a long time. What is natural about that?

 

[duckfoot]

I'd estimate 75% of the fish I have caught have been on the strip.

Go figure.