Wet Fly Fishing : Gear & Flies Used
.gif)
There are
a myriad of flies available for wet fly fishing. Normally, most
wet flies have soft hackling. The reason for this is because
this type of hackling has fibers in it that move around in the
water – sort of inviting the trout to take it in. Additionally,
unlike most nymphs, wet flies are designed to sink rather quickly,
since wet fly fishing is generally done (though not always) quite
close to the bottom of the river. For this reason, many wet flies
tend to be a bit heavier (tied in a wide variety of ways, each
way designed to sink the fly in a particular manner) than the typical
nymph.
Frequently, wet flies tend to be fished in areas that have fast
moving water. Because of this, many anglers fly fish wet flies
using a sinking tip line. While using a sink-tip fly line can definitely
aid the fly in getting down to the right depth, an angler who only
has a floating fly line should not despair. Generally, simply using
weights on the leader or the fly line can do an adequate job of
pulling down a wet fly to the right depth.
Wet Fly Fishing : Dropper Flies
As mentioned,
wet flies are frequently fished in groups of flies – not
just a single fly by itself. When a second, or third, fly is used,
it is called a “dropper fly”. A dropper fly – which
is a very effective and rather ancient method of wet fly fishing – is
a fly that is tied to the main leader.
When rigging
up your fly fishing gear using a dropper fly, simply attach the
first fly onto the end of the tippet as you normally
would. Then, for the second fly, take a 12 inch of tippet material
and tie it to the leader about 12-24 inches above the first fly.
Attach the second fly to the end of that line. You know have a
dropper fly set up. Additional flies can also be attached – you
are in no way limited to just using 1 or 2 flies. However, obviously,
the more flies you have, the greater the likelihood of tangles
occurring are – both when casting and in hooking underwater
obstructions. For beginner anglers, it is probably best to start
with one fly, then go to two flies when comfortable with basic
casting and wet fly fishing technique.
Either way,
one nice thing about a dropper fly is that it allows anglers
to test out flies at the same time. Thus, you can tie on
one type as normal, then tie on a completely different looking
wet fly as a dropper fly. It’s a great way to quickly experiment
around to see what works and what doesn’t on a particular
river (especially a new one you’ve never fished before).
Additionally, from time to time, you may even be rewarded with
having two or more fish hooked simultaneously.
 
Page 1 |
2 | 3 | 4
Top
|