Fly fishing with coarse gear

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Has anyone tried it?

The reason I ask is there are places on rivers that it's impossible to fly fish - the banks are too steep for wading and the trees and bushes to close to cast a fly line (ok you can roll cast but you'd need to be good and I'm not)

But I was thinking of putting a dry fly on the end of my line on a float to cast out and then letting run down stream using the float only as a casting weight

I've no other reason for doing this than to try something different - I could fish traditional baits - but thought it might catch a fish or two feeding on insects that I might otherwise not catch

Thought gents

[peter crabtree]

Not sure if flies float downstream but worth a try I suppose.

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

sorry Peter

but why wouldn't a fly that lands o nthe water float down stream with the flow of the water?

[peter crabtree]

I am no fluff chucker but when I see them on telly they seem to skim the flies across the flow or upstream....
Might work with a breadfly though....

[Paul Boote]

Not really my scene - baitfishing with a fly - but then I can roll cast and Spey Cast and don't want to catch fish from those few places where fish are safe from the likes of us...

Bubble float - Fly fishing without a fly rod - Global FlyFisher

[stu_the_blank]

I have fished on the Rio Narcea with some Spanish friends of mine a couple of times. they got me the permits and provided all the gear.

After giving up on very sparce Salmon, in the gloaming we 'fly fished' for sea trout and Browns. A small spinning rod with a fixed spool reel a bubble float and a team of wet flies. fished across and down. Seemed strange when I first tried it but it certainly worked!

Brilliant social fishing by the way.

Stu

[S-Kippy]

You could try "dapping" with a pole. Equally bizarre.

[mark knowles]

That sounds like the sort of jungle fly fishing I love and descibes much of the urban fly fishing in West Yorkshire, You need to learn to roll cast, lob cast and spey cast. Aquiring these skills is all part of the game. You will certainly need to learn the black art of the downstream dry fly it may be your only presentation option in some swims. Drag is the big enemy of the dry fly up or down and you will only have a yard or so before it takes hold but the first thing the fish will see is your fly not the leader so there is less chance of lining the fish. Its also the best approach if grayling are the target.

[mark knowles]

Don't be dismissive of dapping with a pole either. Peche a la barre the French call it. It's a method they use to fish the high alpine streams using a 5-6 metre pole with 6 feet of old fly line attached to the tip then a 3 foot leader to the fly. With this they stand well back from the edge and drop the fly just where they want it. I've fished some tiny venues where this would work a treat, the Exe on Exmoor above Exford and the Bure near Melton Constable come to mind.

[S-Kippy]

I was serious...I would imagine dapping would work quite well if you were determined to fish an artificial fly though whether its actually worth the fuss is a moot point. Would it catch you fish ? Probably. Would it catch you more fish than bait ? I doubt it...you can't loose feed flies . Would it be a hoot to try ? Most certainly.