OK. First of all I know this many times gets the smaller trout but sometimes you just “have to catch something”.
Get your ever-ready black wooly bugger and cast it(wherever…it doesn’t matter much as you will see).
Let it drift downsteam to directly downstream from you and let it sit “motionless” at the end of your line. What good does this do?
Well that wooly bugger will look like a small fish(or whatever) just ‘treading water’. Got to think how this looks to a fish. To a fish anything remaining ‘motionless’ in a stream is really swimming.
Trout will look at it! Many times they will take it before it gets directly down stream from you. But letting it “just sit” makes it look more tempting to them. Occasioanally strip a small amnount of line(like it’s swimming upstream) and many times this is all it takes to elicit a strike.
Many times I will strip it in a little and then let it drift back downstream and start all over without casting.
Works like a charm. I started doing this after noticeing how trout hit a roostertail on an ultralite. A wooly bugger looks a LOT like the body of a roostertail.
A great way to fish for beginners because it entails very little or no casting ability. I learned this while learning how not to mess up my leader(learning how to fish while learning how to cast)
I’ve always heard that when all else fails and you want to find out what the trout are eating put on a wooly catch a fish then pump their stomach to see what is in the belly. Hmmm to take the bugger off or not?
Have a good friend that we have named a fly after called the cs-special. A #10 black and olive or black and peacock wooly. I can’t even count the number of fish we have caught on sink tip lines and a wooly on a downstream presentation. Sweeping, twitching, motionless etc… At one time I honestly can recall an entire fly box with nothing more than multiple sizes in the cs special. Too funny.
That actually sounds very realistic and do-able. I’ve always just stripped it in on/after the swing. However, I’m not sure why it would entice only small guys. I’ve caught more big trout on buggers than any other fly. Is it because the fly is just hanging out instead of swimming away from a predator in distress? That does sound like a great way to get beginners catching fish with out the hassle of dead drifting dries, mending the line and getting caught up in brush. Good post
I’d say it’s because in nature when fish see something to eat in current and it’s seems to be struggling, it must seem like easy prey to them so they try a grab.
I would recommend this method with general nymphs as well. If you are nymphing, let your line straighten out below you for 10-15 seconds, dangling in the current. If nothing happens, all you have to do to cast is flip your rod upstream. The drag caused by the current should load your rod for you so you don’t have to cast. I remember watching a Gary Borger fishing video years ago and he emphasized that time spent false casting was time spent unable to catch fish. With this technique, your fly stays in the water well over 95% of the time.
Gary Borger huh? It’s funny how we discover many of the same things eventually. I caught a nice 18" brown on the Blue River in Breckenridge, Co. using this technique as a total rookie. I didn’t want anyone to see me as it seemed aberrant.
I generally fish upstream. If there is, say a log, across the water… or branches dipping down into the water so a drift would be next to impossible, I will generally go upstream from the obsticle and drop a wooly back to it. Just hold it in the current. Usually triggers a hit.
I remember watching a Gary Borger fishing video years ago and he emphasized that time spent false casting was time spent unable to catch fish.
I’ve heard and read that comment several times. I just laugh at it because I spend a LOT of time with my fly and line in the water not catching fish. I really think that the few extra seconds spent false casting to get extra line out or to make sure your presentation is just right is probably OK.
I really think that the few extra seconds spent false casting to get extra line out or to make sure your presentation is just right is probably OK.