Saturday 30 November 2013
Big Rainbows on the Dry Fly at Ardaire Springs.
The wind was a strong northerly gusting upto 60 km per hour and the temperature was very cold only barely touching 5 degrees all day and when it dropped down lower you could feel it on the fly line as it started to stiffen up when casting due to the cold. Starting at the top of the lake there was a small bit of shelter from the wind and the trout were cruising around picking up anything that had been blown in off the grass margins. I caught and released a few nice rainbow and brown trout close in on the dry fly and after spotting many trout aborting the final take with my polaroid glasses i changed over to a smaller klinkhammer pattern on the dropper and allowed the larger size dryfly to fish on the point giving the trout a choice in fly size just in case that was the issue with the refusals. I found that when the flies were out in the heavy wave the big fly was taken aggressively but on covering in close along the margins all the takes were on the smaller pattern so having that set up suited both areas and i kept getting hook ups all day long, the only problem was on hooking a large trout close in it dived down into a weed bed and straightened my small size 16 klinkhammer with ease. Moving into the lower part of the lake the wind was sending a good wave into the corner and i saw a few big rainbows actively taking off the surface so i cast a long line and allowed the flies to be carried naturally on the wave into the corner. The trout came up the wave and hit the dry flies very aggressively so i had to allow a slack line and once i felt the pressure of line moving away i lifted into the trout and they were off up the lake like cruise missiles. The trick was after casting mend into the wind and as the fly moved down the wave send some line after it thus increasing the natural drag free drift and this is how i got some great hook ups. As most anglers know rainbows do not like a good wave and normally that stirs up the browns but these rainbows had'nt read the book and were quite happy to attack the dry flies all day long. The trout were great fighters and never gave up and also some of the big trout were in great shape and condition for this time of year and beautifully coloured. Will definitely be going back for the bigger ones.
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Paul do you use floatant on the flourocabon when fishing the dry flies? what lb breaking strain were you using? what distancce would you have between the point fly and the dropper paul? rgds kieran.
ReplyDeleteHi Kieran, i use a copolymer line rather than a flurocarbon because it is lighter in weight and softer than the flurocarbon and i use a sinkint like Fullers earth to dull the shine and sink the copolymer, as for the lenght some times if fishing 3 flies on a cast they are 3 feet apart but if fishing stockies i use a two fly cast and fish them over 4 feet from each other. When fishing stockies its better just using two flies otherwise you will get a lot of break off's when other following trout take your trailing flies and run off in the opposite direction. Regards Paul.
DeleteHad a nice day today at adaire springs, most of the the fish i caught were on a black booby on the point with a hot orange blob on the dropper. Ned is a sound bloke and was only too happy to help with advise. rgds kieran.
ReplyDeleteVery true, its great to visit a lake and have all the up to date information given to you, because after all it is a fishery and the end result is to catch fish and have a good day and if lucky catch the fish of your dreams.
DeletePaul if you were fishing with a dry fly on a river for brown trout, would you also use a sinkint on your leader? rgds kieran. p.s paul i use florocarbon and if you were to use it dry fly fishing would you use sinkant with it?
ReplyDeleteHi Kieran, fluro is heavier than copolymer so it sinks all on its own but it shines in the sunshine and can pull down small flies so that is why i use a copolymer. You can use fluro but i catch much more fish in all conditions with my copolymer and the trick is just to keep putting sinkant on every so often and that's all. I will use fluro when i'm hanging a nymph off the dry fly as in Klink and Dink or New Zealand method, i will be doing a section on dry fly fishing soon with all these tips so you can see how successful they are. Practising on stock lakes improves your casting and presentation of the dry fly and that will stand to you when fishing rivers because i find wild browns easier to catch on dries than stockies.
DeleteWhat lb breaking strain would you use when fishing for stockies on the dry and what brand of copolymer line would use> rgds kieran.
ReplyDeleteHi Kieran, any copolymer around 8lb breaking strain , as most have the same diameter as fluro about .20mm and if you think about it its the same as 4lb old mono diameter. Rio Powerflex and Airflo Ultra Strong are both nice copolymer's and at .20mm for around 8lb breaking strain they are ideal for stockies using a 5wt rod.
ReplyDeleteDo you use copolymer lines with your d13 lines when using the humungus fly also paul?
ReplyDeleteNo i actually use Airflo G3 flurocarbon 10lb breaking strain because normally when the stockies are taking deep you can get a second fish on your dropper on the way in and also playing them out fast on strong line doesn't tire them out too much and they go back strong enough to survive.
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