How to fish wets?

[lastchance]

The only time I've had luck with wet flies or flymphs is using them as a droppers off dry flies. The fish have been hitting them at the end of the swing below me. It seems I can't catch fish when using only wet flies. How do you fish them? Can they only be fished in shallow riffles? Are there any wets that you can fish when there are no hatches? Which would you recommend. This has me perplexed because I like tying them. I know it has to be me and how I'm going about it. Thanks

[WarrenP]

lastchance,

I know exactly where you are with fishing wets and flymphs. I had the same questions and had tried them last year without any success, but, since they are flies that can be tied quickly and are an easy tie, I decided that since everyone else is catching fish on them, I must be doing something wrong. Then I started reading posts from REE and Donald and doing a little research and then decided to get serious about fishing them. The turning point for me was when I was fishing one day on the river and as it got later in the evening, the fish started feeding off the surface or picking something up just under the surface. I decided to tie on a wet fly and see what happens. I cast up river and fished the fly up, across and down from me and I would get a hit at the end of the swing below me. Everytime I would see a rise, I would cast the wet fly so it would swing through the area where the rise was and usually I would get the hit. That was the turning point for me. I had a ball catching fish that evening and I learned that wet flies will catch fish. I would recommend that you cast the wet fly or flymph up stream and mend yourline so that the fly will sink and when it gets below you, the fly line will start to bring the fly up to the surface. I think the fly coming up to the surface is what triggers the strike which means you must mend your line to get the fly down so that at the end of the swing, it will start to come up just like the insect form. Try this when your fish are feeding on the surface and see if it works for you and helps. I have also discovered that if there is no surface activity, I just need to get the fly down as deep as I can through mending and this will produce fish for me that are feeding on the bottom. Another way that works for me is in a fast water riffle area. You cast upstream and hold your rod up and try to only allow the fly, tippet and leader to be in the water. In other words, try and keep the fly line out of the water as much as possible. This will allow the fly to sink rather quickly. You just use your rod to follow the line down through the fast water. Using this method really works good, but, it is very difficult to get a good hook set with this method, but, as long as you get a strike and see it, that is all that counts.

The above may not be the proper way to fish wets and flymphs, but, it is working for me. I know someone here knows the proper or better way of fishing them and will post. Stick with wets and flymphs and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I am really enjoying them and look forward to each trip to the water to experiment more with them.

Keep us posted on your progress and have fun and don't get discouraged.

I almost forgot. I do not know if this has any bearing on my success with wets and flymphs or not, but, I make and use my own furled leaders and I make my furled leaders from Vanish fluorocarbon and they sink rather quickly. My furled lealders are 7' long and I attach a 6' tippet to the end of them and my tippet material is either 4 or 6 pound test fluorocarbon. The combination of furled fluorocarbon leader and fluorocabon tippet really sinks and this may be a contributing factor to my success. Just thought I should throw this out there. I really want you to discover the fun of fishing wets and flymphs.

[lastchance]

Warren: Thanks for taking the time to give such an in depth reply. You really hit the right places as far as questions go. I normally fish 2 flies at a time and I tried the same with wets. I'm going to go with your suggestions, although the hatches here in PA are about done. Can you recommend any searching patterns when there is nothing on the water? We're pretty much left with hoppers, ants and beetles right now. I've read you can use the same leader for wets as you do for dry flies. I tied some March Brown flymphs and spiders, PTs, olives, and of course, ther partridge & orange and the patridge and green. The flies are very pretty and fun to tie.
Thanks for your help!
Bruce

[WarrenP]

Bruce,

Well the "bad" news! I am about as non-traditional of a fly fisherman as you can get and I will probably take a bashing for that! I usually do not let it bother me though as long as I am catching fish when I am fishing and usually I can always catch fish when I go. I do not pay much attention to any hatches when fishing and do not spend a lot of time trying to match any particular hatch (OK people let me have it! ) I think if you stuck with the March Brown flymph when there is nothing happening on the surface, you will do alright. Try to tie flies as "buggie" as you can so that they have a lot of "movement" when in the current. My personal opinion is that the more "movement" your fly has, the more "alive" it looks to the fish and if it looks alive, they will usually take a swipe at it. If there are any "secrets" to fishing wets and flymphs, I would say it is the following and these are not carved in stone anywhere. They are just the ways that I fish them and it works for me and remember I am non-traditional!

Make sure to always cast UPSTREAM and mend your line so your fly will get down deep and then as it gets past you and starts the swing, it will start to rise up. I have tried to help others on the river who cannot understand how I am catching fish and they are not. What I usually see is that they will cast across the stream instead of up stream. This will not allow their fly to get down deep enough and they are fishing above the fish. When I do get them to cast up stream and mend their line, they usually will get a hit. The next time I watch them, they are back to casting across stream instead of up stream.

Always keep a close watch on your fly line. Any movement or hesitation will usually be a strike and that can come immediately after you cast it up stream or anywhere in between up stream and at the end of the swing.

Don't be too quick to bring your fly out and cast up stream again when it gets to the end of the swing. There are times I will allow it to just suspend at the end of the swing in the current. In my mind's eye I can see it swinging back and forth in the current. Give it a nudge with your rod tip every once and awhile. If that does not produce, start a slow 3 to 6 inch strip for a couple feet. If that does not work, recast it up stream. Make sure to give the fly time to do the "fishing" for you.

The above techniques are the way I fish any fly I may have tied on and that could be a streamer pattern, bugger pattern, etc. I do not fish dry flies. The closest I get to a dry fly is a bluegill/bass popper. I really concentrate on watching my fly line and mending fly line to get the fly as deep as I can. If I feel it touch bottom every once and awhile that is even better because I know when it starts to come up at the end I will probably get a strike.

Hopefully, this will help. Sorry I cannot help you with what fly for what hatch. I just tie and fish flies that look like nothing but, look like they are alive and have movement.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Dang, Warren, you have been listening, haven't you? Lastchance, Warren has hit the major points for working the wee wets. If there is nothing happening on the river, I'll turn a few rocks over to see whats crawling around under there and fish a wet fly that has the same size and color as the bugs I find.

For a general searching wet fly I like a PT flymph with brown partridge or hen hackle, using natural and olive PT fibers.

In another thread our wet fly guru, Donald Nicholson, suggested Dave Hugh's book Wet Flies. There is a ton of information about tying and fishing all manner of wet flies. I completly agree, it's a great book that will give you a lot of insight into fishing wet flies.

REE

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

I think WarrenP has just about covered all the major points I can think of. There are a number of threads recently that include various patterns. When trying to work out what the fish will take, I'll fish 3 wet flies (where allowed) at a time, and try to make each one different, dark, med, and light, change up on sizes, etc, until figuring out what's working on the day. Using palmered flies (say, a soldier palmer), some sort of fancy pattern (Peter Ross, Royal Coachman, etc) and a spider to vary shapes and things. The presentation and upstream casts with mends that WarrenP described is used for all these mix and match casts.

Also, I'll extend the drift sometimes to fish long, especially on bright days with clear water. After the swing strikes can occur half way back up the retrieve! Wee wets are effective the entire time they are in the water. You have to keep a really close eye on the drift (when you are unlikely to feel a strike, it's more like nymphing without an indicator - very intense visual observation), but once it swings it becomes much more tactile. Fun stuff.

- Jeff

[EdD]

So Warren, are you going to formally knock that into an article so that it is indexed into the archives doesn't get lost over time? Or are we gonna have to start leaving half-empty jars of Powerb@it (tm) by your front door as a warning to others?

Very nice posts, thanks.
Ed

[WarrenP]

EdD,

All I really did was describe how I fish the soft hackle flies in order to catch fish on them. Someone has already informed me that some of what I stated is in a book called, "Wet Flies" by Dave Huges, so, I guess I better get that book and read it!

I really do enjoy fishing wet flies and flymphs and they will catch fish if they are properly fished. There is no quick and easy way to fish them. It takes a lot of concentration and watching your line. You need to work on your mending to get the fly down and you need to slow down with your fishing and give the fly a chance to work. All of these requirements fit in with my style of fishing and that is why I enjoy fishing them. Once a friend of mine scared me on the river when he spoke to me because I did not know he was there. He stated that he walked down the river bank to where I was and had been watching me for 30 minutes and he said he had never seen anyone concentrate so much on his fishing and block everything around him out, like I was doing. That is just my style. I really enjoy the peace and quiet and sometimes I have to "block" everything around me out in order to get the peace and quiet. I really do wish I could figure out how to teach this style of fishing because, like my Beginner's Fly Tying class, I get so upset with my teaching skills when I cannot get others to understand what I am trying to show and teach them. To me, what I am doing is not difficult whether it is tying flies or fishing, but, I just have not figured out how to teach that to others. Maybe it is easier for me because I just love tying and fly fishing.

Sorry for the long post. Have a great day.

[lastchance]

Warren: I'm going to go out tomorrow and give your methods a try. I may dedicate the entire day tomorrow to fishing only wet flies. The flies are so cool and easy to tie that I've just got to learn how to fish them. I am an experienced tier and fisherman looking for a new challenge. Wet flies always have intrigued me. Thanks again for your posts. They are excellent. I wish I lived near you so we could spend a day on the stream. Of course, I'd buy the beer.
Bruce

[lastchance]

Warren: I thought of other questions. What tippet design do you use? Also, can you fish wet flies in deeper water, such as 3 to 5 feet? Do you have to add weight?
Thanks