Quote Originally Posted by ScottP View Post
...Tried skating a few dries ...
... I've had some very good days with FEB OCs this fall, while dead drifting the flies.

I have tried "skating" these flies, which seems to be a popular way of presenting them, and haven't had any success with the technique. The closest I've come is the occasional hit when starting to pick the fly up - but intentionally moving it, no.

The whole FEB thing ( salmonflies, golden stones, hoppers, and October Caddis ) is based on a design that rides very low with a lot of stuff ( antenna, legs, the FEB ) going on subsurface, representing a spent bug. Just makes sense to me that fish are more likely to hit the bug that is struggling / dead drifting than one that is moving.

Maybe it is more that I don't have good technique for skating than the skating presentation in and of itself. But as I think about fishing this hatch the past several weeks, it occurs to me that for the good number of OCs I've seen down on the water ovipositing, I've not seen a fish take one doing so. I have watched several spent naturals get taken.

John