Upstream or Downstream

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

When I'm fishing wet flies (spiders or winged versions) I find that takes will occur at any point from when the fly hits the water, through the dead drift, through the swing, and the retrieve. I'll cast them up stream, or across, or down, where ever looks to be the direction of the best holding water. I'll have some tied on lighter hooks if I want them to stay closer to the surface, and some tied on heavier wire to sink faster. I don't add lead to wets, though I do weight nymphs. Nymphs I'll tend to fish up stream, but will also let them swing past me on a downstream journey; especially unweighted ones. Dries I tend to fish upstream, and fairly close to me. Streamers I usually fish down and across.

- Jeff

[Bamboozle]

Fishing downstream to me means walking WAY downstream and then fishing up. I ONLY do this if I'm fishing with somebody else and they want to fish upstream from the spot where we're having our pre-fishing beer(s) at.

I only know how to fish in one direction; UP!

[Bobinmich]

Across and up with a upstream mend to eliminate drag is always the most productive dry fly float for me. But many streams are too small for this and you must cast up and strip in line for drift control with a dry. This is a lot of work for someone with old arthritic joints. So I like to fish down and walk back. Easier to wade. Nice and peacful. Roll cast a dry along the banks or swing a nymph. I fish downstream at night too. Easier wading and quieter. Here you are just slapping down big muddlers and drift means nothing. I'll leave the upstream beat to the kids. They'll love it.

Bobinmich

[MarkKillam]

I fish both ways...mostly depending on what direction I am headed on the stream/river and what flies I am using. Whenever possible I work upstream and cast dries upstream. When I have reached the furthest point upstream I want to go, I will frequently start to cast upstream and and then swing the fly downstream to see if I can get a fish feeding on emerging bugs. Also on the way back downstream when the sun is shining on the water, I will sometimes tie on either a soft hackle or a bugger. In the end I prefer fishing dries upstream, but will deviate from that when necessary.

thats my 2 cents for what they may or may not be worth LOL

[ilmbaba]

There are many different thoughts on this question. The last two issues on Flyfishing and Tying Journal (an FAOL Sponsor) both had issues on fishing downstream. The Spring 07 issue had an article on general downstream presentations by Dave Whitlock. Basically (very basically), yo can approach it in four steps:

Approach
Presentation Prep
Downstream Presentation
Striking with the Downstream Presentation

The Summer 07 article dealt with nymphing downstream rather than upstream written by Rich Osthoff. It covered the advantages you gain by using a downstream presentation. Some of those listed are:

Faster prospecting when trout are feeding opportunistically
It puts the nymph in the point position
You can swim the nymph across the current on a tight line
You can slow it down to give trout in fast water a longer view
You can control the attitude of the nymph
etc

They make a lot of sense to me. Of course, we all know that trout love to make liars out of our mentors. If you're hitting trout water and the opportunity presents itself, try both ways. Let us know which worked better for you....and where

[K3's]

Fishing upstream or downstream should really rely on one basic thing-- Presentation of the fly to their holding area!! Many holds cannot be reached by only presenting in one direction, due the various nature of stream beds and obstacles within. Theuse of various casts can be utilized to achieve the desired drift to the proper location. For example, although I dry fly fish working upstream most of the time (85%), there are going to be certain holding lies that i can only reach from a down stream angle (the seam/flat water right in front or between a series of boulders). Using a slack line stack cast you can feed out a dead drifted fly right into position working downstream. Another advantage of fishing a dry downstream in this manner is the fact that the first thing to reach the fish is the fly, so lining them is not an issue. The problem of course is having slack in the line. Spooking a fish by your location is also a concern, but you can do that from any spot on the water if you happen to be a clumsy wader that takes an occasional dunk like myself . My thought is that you can fish up or down with any style/method of fishing, merely dependent upon finding the best way to get your fly in front of the fish.......