photo by jgestar Very early Fenwick FF84 |
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 BH Spey |
How Important is a Drag Free Drift? |
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Master Guide
Posts: 260 (06/12/09 14:35:50) |
I've heard a lot of people over my 25 years of fly fishing state that a drag free drift is THE most important aspect of fly fishing, if you want to catch
fish. In YOUR fishing experience how important do YOU think a drag free drift is to catching fish?
(Yea, I had meant to put this in the "FISHING FFR's" section - sorry about that!) In YOUR fishing experience how important do YOU thing a drag free drift is to catching fish? (Result)
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Last Edited By: BH Spey 06/12/09 19:57:17.
Edited 2 times.
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Upstreeam |
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Master Guide
Posts: 444 (06/12/09 15:09:47) |
I haven't voted, and may not, because it depends. When fishing dries, I'd probably agree. But when fishing subsurface, I frequently want some drag,
especially with wet flies; the tricky part is figuring out just how much drag, where, when, direction, etc., is happening down there.
I do enjoy dries most, so maybe I will end up voting after all. Bob |
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gypsy |
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Master Guide
Posts: 518 (06/12/09 17:00:03) |
I'd agree a drag free drift, with the necessary casting, mending and wading skills to achieve it, is the single most important aspect of dry fly fishing.
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Spencer DT |
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Master Guide
Posts: 241 (06/12/09 18:09:09) |
I voted based on dry fly fishing on moving water. Many other types of fishing on moving water I will actually mend to create more drag.
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Cornmuse |
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Posts: 836 (06/12/09 19:13:35) Administrator |
Drag free drift is very important unless you're fishing for steelhead, atlantic salmon, pacific salmon, trout feeding during a major caddis hatch, trout
(or any species) feeding on any emergence during a very windy day, smallmouth bass feeding on egg-dropping damsels, any fish species targeting hoppers, or any
time you're just walking up the creek dragging the fly behind you and a fish takes. In other words, it only matters when it matters, which isn't very
often in the big scheme of things. And the only time most fly fishers find it important is when they've deliberately gone fishing under conditions when it
is important - a circumstance under which some fly fishers decide to fish exclusively. I guess the real answer is "it depends - go ask the
fish!"
Joe C. "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the
drink, taste the fruit,
- Henry David Thoreau
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harleydeen |
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Master Guide
Posts: 400 (06/12/09 19:21:05) |
I voted "not that important". There is too many instances where you want drag and many were you don't!!!! I primarily fish for steelhead and
whether using nymphs, speys/dees, or dries they all require me to have some drag. Nymphs under an indicator, though, I do drag free. Your question is just
too vague IMHO!!
Tight Lines,
Harley Lk. Stevens, Wa. |
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keebranch |
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Master Guide
Posts: 913 (06/12/09 19:42:50) |
I voted not so important as I mostly fish slower water. If I'm trout fishing streams or rivers, then it matters.
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cofisher |
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Posts: 1572 (06/12/09 19:47:22) Administrator
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I voted critical, but not as important as fly selection. As mentioned above, there are certain times when some drag is good. I don't worry much about drag
when fishing grasshoppers, crickets and ants, etc. It just doesn't seem to matter as much and I guess trout expect a live critter to move around within the
drift...if you get my drift.
Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf. You don't have to eat the ball to have a good time.
Last Edited By: cofisher
06/16/09 12:55:50.
Edited 1 times.
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Spencer DT |
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Master Guide
Posts: 242 (06/12/09 19:53:14) |
I also based my answer on the fact that I fish fairly pressured waters and I dry fly fish during mayfly hatches a bunch. The hex hatch in complete darkness
however I am pretty sure I am not drag free. I can't even see my fly or the end of my line for that matter. Like others have said, it all depends.
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BH Spey |
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Master Guide
Posts: 261 (06/12/09 19:55:14) |
Thanks for the comments guys, I had intended to make the question rather vauge to see what sort of responses I would get and not get into a discussion of
technique. The reason I asked was again in part because I've heard the "drag free" mantra repeated in fly shops and in print so often, but
primarily because about a couple of years ago I became a disciple of wet fly fishing for Trout and the wet fly swing and "drag free" shouldn't
even be mentioned in the same paragraph.
I've fished the wet fly swing for salmon and steelhead since the mid 1980's but for whatever reason never associated it with trout fishing. I've kept a fishing journal since 2001 and the other night was going back through it and was quite astounded to see the my "# of fish landed" had gone up almost 50% since switching to the wet fly swing technique. Come to think of it though, that's about the time I made the switch to glass too! Humph. Tight Lines and Swinging Wets!
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harleydeen |
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Master Guide
Posts: 401 (06/12/09 20:15:04) |
Something I started doing a few years ago was when nymph fishing for steelhead/trout without an indicator is I start with a drag free drift slightly up river
from me, as the fly passes by me I start a wet fly swing. What I've noticed in doing this is that most if not all my strikes are taken when the nymph is
slowly rising at the end of the swing. Similiar to what the naturals inevitably do.
Tight Lines,
Harley Lk. Stevens, Wa. |
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jrb78 |
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Guide
Posts: 88 (06/12/09 20:38:21) |
I fish 99.9% nymphs and love it. While the drag can be important, getting the fly in the right depth (which is usually right off the bottom) and in the right
location for an extended period of time is more important. Like others have said, sometimes I want drag b/c it's the only way to get the fly in the
position that I think there will be the best shot at trout. I fish primarily mountain streams so there are many current changes and very many overhanging
trees.
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whrlpool |
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Master Guide
Posts: 866 (06/13/09 05:22:53) |
Great point jrb. Dwell time man, dwell time. That's the way I refer to it, and to extend that time, you often have to mend line repeatedly, which causes a
pulsing motion of the fly before it settles into the same sweet spot. If there were two methods I had to give up entirely for all fly fishing, they would be
upstream "drag-free float" dry fly fishing, and its subsurface equivalent, dead-drift nymphing. Both are good methods in a a narrow band of
circumstances but in general, as I mentioned in another recent discussion, a fish's prey is alive, not dead, and there is always something in motion on an
insect a fish wants to eat.
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Line Guard |
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Sport
Posts: 15 (06/13/09 11:15:28) |
There's the old saw about how novice flyfishermen often outfish "experts" as the rookies drag their caddis imitations on the surface, mimicking
the "skittering"
technique of the experienced fishermen. It can sometimes be hard to get trout to hit a caddis imitation using a dead drift. Of course, it has a lot to do with the way caddis hatch out--ballooning to the surface and taking off quickly (unlike mayflies, which remain in the surface film longer). |
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bulldog1935 |
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Posts: 5032 (06/13/09 12:12:09) Administrator |
get that long dead drift then swing.
If you're prospecting, cover all the water you can reach, then step up a couple of steps and do it again.
the rods are never obsolete - the marketing is.
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corlay |
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Master Guide
Posts: 883 (06/13/09 20:17:36) |
I voted "very important",
interpreting the question to mean dry fly fishing on a trout stream. I know this to be true, becuase I am still very un-skilled at dry fly fishing, in general. I very rarely get a Trout to hit my dries when I'm in a situation where I have to deal with casting across variable seams of current to reach a rising fish; and conversely, when I'm in a spot where the current(s) are favorable to getting a good drift from my location, I usually catch trout on whatever fly I have tied-on. Now, the dry fly I am using is usually the product of a good educated guess; but if pattern/size were more important than presentation - I certainly should have chosen wrong and had to change flies once in a while. My general take on the topic is: Present the "Right bug" poorly, and get ready to be skunked; Present the "Wrong bug" well, and you still have a shot.
"From my observations I think that most of us spend too much time worrying about our tackle and too little time
learning the intimate characteristics of the fish and streams we fish most."
- Ray Bergman
Trout, New York: Knopf 1938 |
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whrlpool |
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Master Guide
Posts: 868 (06/14/09 05:00:46) |
Corlay, that is a great summary. The right presentation beats the theoretical "right" fly every time. On leaders for drag freel float, especially
across complex current, George Harvey had the best concept going, so good you can virtually give up tippets smaller than 5X. I can't think of his book
title offhand. Anyway, I think of it now as a long and strong tippet, so where I'd once use, say 24" of 5X, I'd now use 30" of 4X. The tippet
by intention falls in a wave, allowing freedom of drift to the fly through variable current. The supposed visibility of larger diameters is barely a factor,
especially in riffled flow. When drag-free is the way to go for dry flies, upstream cast or down, I try to present such that the the last foot or so of the
tippet curves downstream, the line and leader above it. A secondary benefit is that the fly more frequently rides as real flies do--facing upstream. I have
also greatly simplified casting precision with dry flies by eliminating everything that makes them more fluttery or leader-twisting to deliver. Usually, they
have a body that will float well in and of itself, four or five tail fibers, and a wisp of hackle. They might have a tuft of poly to serve as a wing, or a
little spin or stack of deer hair (a la compara-duns, but much shorter). On my older flies, I usually trim most everything off them before using them for
drag-free drift fishing. Of course I still have bulky and bushy flies for other dry fly uses.
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JeffK |
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Guide
Posts: 96 (06/15/09 07:08:12) |
I look at the presentation as control of the line rather than just dead drifting. Dead drift when it needs to be and alive when it needs to be. In most cases
I find imitating a live caddis tougher than getting a dead drift.
A dead drift is essential for things that are dead. Spinners need a real dead drift and eggs bounce along the bottom with no "life". Most bugs move so little dead is more correct than moving (and you can't always be perfectly dead either). At the other end, are flies that need to be skittered across the surface. Getting the right leader is important for that dead drift, but mending, position, and keeping the line off the water can be real important too. Mend to control speed - it is real important. Try to cast from a location where you are in the same current as the target. The more currents you cross the more control problems you will have. Finally, keep as much line as possible off the water. Try high sticking a dry sometime where conflicting currents make dead drifting difficult. |
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archfly |
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Sport
Posts: 34 (06/16/09 04:47:12) |
That's a great question. I voted for dead drift, but in fly fishing there are no absolutes. Just when you think you have it figured-out, the trout want
something else. Generally, however, dead drift works.
Whether cast upstream, floated downstream, or downstream with a slow stripping retrieve at the end of the drift that turns a dry fly into a wet fly, it is all about controlling the presentation. That is why I like to use fiberglass rods, they give me better line control than I get with the evil carbon! Wet fly fishing is another story. Unless it's a small stream, down and across is my preferred presentation. Hey, it works on salmon! John |
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fishthebow |
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Sport
Posts: 35 (06/16/09 18:33:51) |
If the trout are looking for a dead drifting natural, then it is often critical to get as close as possible to the same. I have experienced it many times where
an imperfect cast, no take, follow up same spot with a good cast, bang.
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rvreclus |
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Master Guide
Posts: 327 (06/22/09 08:30:11) |
BH Spey,
I didn't vote, but my opinion is, drag/drag free is only important in how it affects the presentation you want to use. The proof is in the fishing. Respectfully rvreclus |
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