What Fly to Use

[alasdair wardle]

Hi,

After a disapointing winter of not catching anything (i was using patterns like a scudback shrimp and other nymphs) I wondered whether I was using the right fly. Also do I need different flies for the time of year? If so could you tell me a guess of roundabout when I need to use what fly.

Thanks in advance

Alasdair

 

[alasdair wardle]

Another thing that I have remebered is that I fish on the River Derwent in Matlock

Thanks

Alasdair

 

[keora]

I've never done much on leaded shrimps, I think they do better on rivers which are alkaline.

In Spring on the River Wharfe, three reliable wet flies are:

Greenwell's Glory (represents the upwinged flies known as olives)

Snipe and Purple(supposed to represent the nymph of a small fly called the Iron Blue - I've never actually seen one, yet trout like the artificial)

Partridge and Orange( represents a small stonefly. I think trout just like the colour orange on this fly)

I fish these as a team of three flies. If you have only just started fly casting, I'd reduce the numbers of flies on the leader to two or even just one on the point.

Other goodwet flies are:

March Brown - although it represents an upwinged fly of this name, there aren't many rivers where the fly naturally occurs. The artificial fly is just a dark, fairly bulky fly which represents a variety of insects.

Gold head nymph - fish this on the point.

If you see fish rising, try to see what kind of fly they are going after. At this time of year it might be the large dark olive. A good representation of this is a dry Greenwell's glory, size 14.

As spring progresses, the upwinged flies (ephemerids)floating on the surface may get a bit smaller and paler in colour. A grey duster is a good dry fly to use.

There's thousands of flies you could use, but you need relatively few to catch trout. I've read that about 90% of a trout's food is taken from below the surface of the water.

 

[Ric Elwin]

I fish the river a little further down.

Personally I've had quite resonable success with a goldhead nymph on the point, and a black spider on a dropper. You can then cover fish feeding near the surface by casting downstream and across. By casting upstream a little, the nymph works deeper.

Location is the key I think.