High Sticking Dry Flies

As time passes I spend more and more time fishing dry flies. When I first started fishing them I was overwhelmed. The casting was fussy and had to be precise. The flies were so tiny that they were almost impossible to see. Success did not come easy but I eventually began to catch fish by traditional dry fly methods. I had a lot of trouble seeing the fly if I was fishing over twenty feet of line. One day I was high sticking nymphs when I had a brainstorm, high sticking dry flies. I was catching fish that were just a few feet from my body. Then a fish hit my strike indicator. I tied on an elk hair caddis and fished the same water that I had been nymphing. I only had a couple of feet of fly line out and I fished it just like I would a nymph. I flicked the fly up stream and let it drift down. It went about five feet and a nice rainbow slammed it. I landed that one and quickly revived the fly with dry fly crystals. Again I flicked the fly upstream and let it drift down. This time it went ten feet before an eighteen-inch cutthroat rose from the depths and nailed it. I stood in that riffle and caught a dozen good fish. The technique is simple and effective.

This is contrary to everything that my brother Dan does. He prefers seventy-foot casts over glass smooth water with tiny flies. He sets the hook when he sees a rise near where he thinks the fly is. You cannot see a size 18 fly that is seventy feet away.

High sticking gives you three things, you see the fly, you can make an effective presentation, and you can better control the line. You can see the fly because it is only a few feet from you. With this method I can easily fish dries as small as a 20 or smaller. You make an effective presentation by just flicking the fly up stream to for a soft landing. Since there is nothing touching the water except the fly it is easy to achieve a perfect drift when you do not have to deal with complex currents. The shorter line enhances line control because you can easily set the hook at any part of the drift because there is no slack in the line.

I prefer to use this method when fishing riffles. I particularly like fast riffles that run over gravel and have a drop off. The broken surface helps to conceal my movements and allows me to get very close to fish. The greater water speed does not allow the trout to study the fly. He must decide whether to take the offering very quickly and without hesitation. Finally riffles are generally loaded with fish making them more productive. Since I fish heavy water I have to fish flies that can handle the current. I favor elk hair caddis and Wulff patterns because they float like corks. Hoppers and power ants work well later in the year after the major hatches are gone.

The next you notice some top water action try a method that is easy and effective, high sticking.