Below the Deerfield Dam - Black Hills

[ilmbaba]

Went up Castle Creek all the way to the dam. The water is so clear right now. There have been lots of reports that the trout are eating Copper Johns like candy, but all I got today was one missed strike on an Elk Hair Caddis. Nothing at all on the Copper John (of course, I'm not very good at this). If only Betty and Carey were here. At least there's water!

Elliott

[Betty Hiner]

Oh, how I wish I was there, too!!!

Ummm ... oh, OK, Cary, too, I suppose!!

[sagefisher]

Elliott,

How were you fishing your Copper Johns? As a dropper off the caddis, or below a strike indicator or?

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Rev Craig]

This may be for another forum, but how should one fish a Copper John?

Craig

[sagefisher]

Copper Johns are a great dropper fly, much like the Pheasant Tail Nymph and Lightning Bug. When used as a dropper 12 to 18 inches below a dry, it acts as a good emerger pattern. Fish will head up for the dry, see the easier target of the dropper and take it.

Below a strike indicator, it is a great fly either as the main nymph fished deep in the bottom of the river or as a dropper off a larger and heavier nymph, both fish on dead drift right down at the bottom.

In a lake, fished either just below the surface as an emerger --cast out, let it sink a bit then start a very slow retrieve?or down deeper adjusting the depth to find where the fish are feeding.

You can tie the Copper John with different colors of copper wire to vary the pattern a bit.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[ilmbaba]

I was fishing it under a strike indicator. I'm a very green rookie at nymph fishing. I think I'm gonna get a local guide from the flyshop to give me a lesson. At least then I'll know why I'm not catching the trout

[sagefisher]

Elliott,

When you are nymph fishing in a river or stream and using a strike indicator, there are two factors that are critical, having your flies down on the bottom and being drag free.

If you fish dries or nymphs, you will have to mend the line or end up without a drag free drift, hence very few fish. I wish I could point you to a website that covers the technique, but I don't know of any. I am sure there are some books out there that do cover the subject. I would suggest you either call your local fly shop or Frank Amato Publications in Portland, Oregon at 1-800-541-9498. Do that during normal business hours. Talk to a person there and see if they can suggest a good book or DVD.

For most people, mending is something that you learn sort of On The Job, in other words, out on the river while you are fishing.

When you are on a lake, if there is water movement, it is fairly consistent around where you fish. So, when you lay your line out, the whole line and fly sort of move as one, or at least one speed or no speed at all if the water is not moving. However, the wind and the waves kicked up by the wind can give you problems and you may need to toss in a mend or two even on a lake.

On a river, or stream or creek, water virtually never flows at the same speed in any given stretch, unless the water is backed up by a dam of some kind. Water is flowing down stream, except in a back eddy, being influenced by gravity, caused by the amount of slope the river has and also by all of the obstructions that are in the water. All of the rocks, both above the water and below the water influence the flow rate, as do bends of the river, obstructions sticking out into the river, deep holes, underwater ledges, the shape of the sides of the river, everything that the water touches is causing changes in the flow rate.

As you prepare to cast, look at the water between you and where you want to cast to, see how many different speeds and directions the river is flowing. You will have to lay out your line so that the faster sections of water have more line upstream to push against, hence keeping the line in the slower sections traveling at the same over all pace as the faster water. Sometimes there will be a seam of water, were several currents come together and actually form a line in the water. You may want to put your fly right along that seam. Depending on how the river is flowing between you and that seam, you may need to either mend upstream or to mend downstream.

As you learn to cast you may want to start working on your Reach Cast. Within limits, once you make your forward cast and unload your rod, the fly and fly line will go exactly where the tip of the rod was pointing when it unloaded. As the fly line is heading out to that spot, what you do to your rod will not affect it, unless you jerked back on the line or something. A good way to point this out to people but not a way I would recommend you do, is to make a cast at a target on the grass then just drop your rod. That is the part I don't recommend, you could break a rod. However, the fly and fly line will continue to the target, not affected by what happened to the rod and line behind it.

A Reach Cast makes effective use of that situation. As you make your cast upstream and you unload your rod, you can then sweep the tip and rod upwards in an arc and in the upstream direction, causing the line that is near the rod to travel and land upstream more than it would have done so if you had cast straight out and let the line land on the water. That Reach Cast puts a 'mend' into the line and it can be done either upstream or downstream as the water and your rod direction dictates.

That could be your first 'mend'.

Then you will need to toss in an actual mend. A Mend is when the fly has hit the water and you then take the fly rod and move it fairly quickly and in an upward sweeping motion to pick up the line from your boat or bank almost to the fly and move it up or down stream. It has to be done just as the fly and or strike indicator hits the water, don't delay. You need to let the fly drop and go drag free and if you are moving the line around it won't do that.

So, your first mend is intended to move the line near the fly or strike indicator. You may then need to toss in a smaller mend for the line that is closer to you, after that you then leave it alone. Don't move it again. Both of those mends must occur within just seconds of the fly or strike indicator landing on the water.

The best way to learn this is to take your fly rod down to a stream or river and practice, practice, practice. Watch how the line will try to move in front of the fly/indicator. Once it does that it will start dragging the fly/indicator and mess up your cast. Try the cast again and change the mend to see if you can out smart the water. Watch the strike indicator and notice when it is drag free, when it is not being pulled either downstream or back upstream by the line. If it is being pulled, try a different cast, maybe more or less mend either up or down stream. Practice will get you to casting mends just like you need them.

Like I said, mending is best taught on the job, out on the river. But, there may be some visual aids out there that can help you as well. Give Amato a call and see what they say.

As for being on the bottom, a general rule of thumb is to estimate the depth of the stretch of water and move your strike indicator to allow for half again as much or 1.5 times the depth of the water. However, the weight of the flies (like your main nymph and a dropper) and maybe a piece of split shot and the speed of the water all factor into what is the actual needed distance from your strike indicator to your flies.

When you cast out and do a drift, if you never feel the flies ticking along the bottom every now and then, or see your strike indicator showing small jabs then that means you are not deep enough. If you are hanging up all the time then you are too deep. It is a guessing game that you will get better at as time goes on.

Watch the strike indicator. Some takes are so soft that the most you will see is a very slight pause or change of direction of the indicator. It is really nice when the strike indicator gets pulled completely under by the fish, but that is rare. Usually it will be a very slight movement or hesitation. If you see something, give the line a short sharp pull to set the hook. If there is nothing there and you are still at the start or middle of your drift, then leave the line alone. The flies will go back down and you can finish your drift.



This has been part one, go to part two

Larry ---sagefisher---

[sagefisher]

Part Two of Drag Free Nymphing

Another point to make is the actual length of your drift. First off, you will not want to do a lot of false casting. The more you false cast the more you are asking that nymphing rig to turn into a birds nest. So, keep your false casts to an absolute minimum and keep your casts fairly short at first.

Anyway, back to the length of the drift. You cast upstream, do your reach/mend casts, and allow the rig to drift down. The first 5 or 10 feet of the drift are used to get your flies down to the bottom. You will not often get hits during that section. Then there is a short section that is right in front of you in where the flies are actually on the bottom and drag free. This is your window of opportunity for a hit. As the rig drifts past you, the flies will be picked up off the bottom because you came to the end of your mended line. Leave the rig alone. You will sometimes pick up a fish on that upswing, the fish think it is a nymph heading for the surface. Once your flies get to the surface, strip in a few lengths and pick up your rig and cast again.

As with all fly fishing, first work the water that is close to you and then slowly cast out farther and farther. Once you have covered that section, then you can move up or down stream no more than ten feet. Now start your casts over. Your strike zone is only a 10 to 15 foot section that is right in front of you, so as you move up or down, don?t exceed that distance on shore or otherwise you will miss fishing some of the sections of bottom, where the fish are.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

Larry ---sagefisher---