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Hi all. I just picked up a fly rod & reel, floating line, tapered leaders etc... I've been out at Salmon River practicing for the last few days, but my results leave me with a few questions. I have floating line, yet the last few feet seem to sink a little bit. Is this normal? Also, my dry flies will float for the first few casts, but seem to sink after they are wet. (normal?) I've also had a few leaders break towards the tip. Does this have to do with timing? If anyone could take a moment to enlighten my ignorance I would greatly appreciate it. |
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Hope I can help: The end of your floating line should not sink if you've dressed it with floatant, and your nail knot is not too heavy and you've sealed the cut end of the fly line with a small amount of glue like epoxy or cyano instant glue. Usually I find the tapered leaders that you buy commercially have way too heavy a butt end for lighter fly lines and I prefer to tie my own and match the butt end of the leader to the fly line size. I find that 12 or 15 lb test as a butt section for my 4 wt. and 6 wt. rods work just fine. Depends on the fly line type and diameter where you are tying on the leader. Leaders breaking towards the tip- sounds like your back-cast to forward cast timing is off and the fly is "whipping" at the end of the stroke. I strongly suggest going to a fly shop and getting an afternoon of casting lessons. It's easy to tell the "self-taught" casters out there as their casting stroke is way too open and their back-cast is way too low. Reading books is one thing, but actually having someone who knows how to cast watch what you are doing and tell you what's happening is a hell of a lot easier on the learning curve and the frustration level. Dry flies sinking after a while: yep, that's pretty normal. If you dress the fly with a bit of floatant it will still sink after a few drifts, but it will shake the water off a lot quicker and with a false cast or two, it should float high and dry again. Cheers.
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Thanks for your reply Geoff, I'm feeling a little bit more confident. I've had a number of fish jump for my flies, it's great to see (would be nice if they would take the hook though). Anyhow, a few questions left... what kind of floatant is used? Is there a brand specifically meant for flies and such? Also, I was wondering if it was a commen thing to do for people to dress their flies (wet especially) with any kind of taste/scent?
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You can get specific fly floatant and fly line cleaner/floatant at any tackle shop, and there are as many types as there are fishermen. I prefer the waxy/greasy type of fly floatant like Gherke's Gink or mucilin, but you can get little spray bottles of silicone floatant or even bottles of a dry powder type floatant- it really depends on what you find easiest to use for your type of fishing. It is not a common thing to dress wet flies with any kind of scent, but you can use a sinking compound (basically liquid detergent) to get the fly to absorb water and sink better. The issue of "scenting" your wet flies is a philisophical discussion - if the issue is just to catch fish, then it might work, but if your "fishing experience" is more defined by "being there" and fooling the fish with a fly, then why would you want to add scent to the fly? Some fly fishing purists would likely say that's cheating- check some of the "Jensen Egg" discussions earlier on in this board and on Sportfishingbc discussion board. Cheers. G.
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