Winter Grayling Fishing
PFAC Fly Fishing Workshop – follow-up - June 2022
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I think you’ll all agree that we had a very enjoyable day at our workshop and that, after initial shyness, the session became fully interactive. There were a number of specific questions and I’ve compiled some of the answers. Any links are for example purposes and are not necessarily the best, or cheapest, place to buy items.
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Richard and Don demonstrated dry fly rods and casting.
What is the best all-round rod for all beats of the Noe?
7’6” #3. The weighting suggestion of some rods is not accurate and one #3 line may not be like another! On the Noe, we’re never casting far enough for the line to reach its true weight – probably best to use a weight of line higher than the rod e.g. #4 or even #5.
How long should my tippet and leader be?
1.5 - 2 times the length of the rod
How do I eliminate drag?
It’s important that the trout sees the dry fly presented naturally for as long as possible. Work out how long a tippet you can cast in a straight line and then add 1’ to give you extra time before drag kicks in. Practice the “wiggle mend” but only use this when the cast is complete and the fly is travelling in the direction you want it to. The other mending technique that may be useful is the “bucket cast”. Google both of these!
What is the most useful cast on the river Noe?
Undoubtedly, the Roll Cast. Richard can best demonstrate this to you although this video will give you the idea: How to Make a Roll Cast - RIO Products
This cast must be practised on water as grass doesn’t have sufficient friction. Instead of winding in or retrieving line to stay in contact with the fly, lift the rod tip until line falls back into the D-loop and recast – this is much quicker and easier and negates false-casting.
Thomas and Kieran demonstrated nymphing
How long should a nymphing rod be?
Tom and Kieran were using dedicated rods of 10’ to 10’6” in length and #2 or #3 although a longish conventional rod e.g. 9’ #3 (or a tenkara rod) is required.
e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CZMXMXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
What about the line?
The weight in the cast comes from the flies and not the line. Tom and Kieran were using dedicated nymphing lines e.g. https://www.fishonproductions.co.uk/french_leaders_and_indicators/french_leader.html
There are also lines that will attach to the end of fly lines e.g. https://www.sportfish.co.uk/rio-euro-nymph-shorty.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-daUBhCIARIsALbkjSZYimpOSfEDQfvJUauFrEJBezTrE1nmv_y9pmHzRh2xkXGNKjlMPVAaAnPSEALw_wcB.
What about an indicator?
All the above will have built-in sighters. An alternative is to use an in-line sighter (e.g. Fulling Mill, Fish On or Hends) https://www.fishonproductions.co.uk/french_leaders_and_indicators/two-tone-hi-vis-braid-indicators.html or a tactical sighter tippet e.g https://www.fishingmegastore.com/tapered-leaders-and-casts/orvis-tactical-sighter-tippet-charmulti~41351.html?&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=SHP_CSS&housecode=OR5253&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-daUBhCIARIsALbkjSYGva_x75HNhxw2mjOuoAO4tHMncUpJETYoER5q9p-4Y2Lm0yrTBTEaAuxJEALw_wcB.
How long should the tippet be?
Tie a large loop in the end of the tippet with a triple surgeon’s knot and then cut into a short dropper and a point section. Fish two flies (a heavy bead on the point and a smaller natural on the dropper) at 1.5 - 2 times the depth of water you’re going to fish that day. Stay tight to the flies and fish the sighter ahead of the flies without pulling them. Let the flies raise at the end of the drift and always strike here. Always strike when the sighter stops or moves. Always strike downstream.
How do you fish the Duo / NZ / Klink & Dink method?
Set the point fly at 1.5 - 2 times water depth. Attach the tippet to the bend of a large Klinkhammer or use a Dinkhamer tied front and back https://www.barbless-flies.co.uk/products/adams-dinkhamer?variant=12543945080933&gclid=CjwKCAjwv -GUBhAzEiwASUMm4sxB76qWBU1ZnapMBNS5eJo8Qud00IOx8eJZ_5QmcrWhm8rj2oieRBoCFPMQAvD_BwE Alternatively, use an indicator of your choice and fish two flies: the best ones are small, unobtrusive and moveable.
How do you move your indicator?
Use a ladder leader although you must have a lot of faith in your knots. Put the indicator between two small float stops: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08LBG1CCW/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_VR1H4BAJQ84FQWGFST9Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 which are also available on eBay. Kieran makes his own indicators by gluing foam indicators either side of a large hook and sliding the line through the eye of the hook: https://www.farlows.co.uk/fulling-mill-adhesive-foam-indicators.html?ps=MzM5PTYwMTk=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-daUBhCIARIsALbkjSYhi5_DHmPgG8D_nzDzLdI8-v0RD_p8vd7-FaXIjyFYOZkrniKsQfsaAqKEEALw_wcB#339=6019. Richard use Booby Eye ethafoam cylinders to make indicators: https://www.sportfish.co.uk/veniards-booby-eyes.html?ps=MzM5PTU5MTYmMzQwPTcwNjg=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-daUBhCIARIsALbkjSYMbHNaqh9G8CKNDRZisWOflNAJoahFFqR0fMnClkq7VY3R35uh9SsaAq1rEALw_wcB#339=5916&340=7068. Using a hypodermic needle, he passes line down the end of the cylinder and then out the side after about 1 cm. He spirals the line around the cylinder in tight but open curls, into the cylinder 1 cm from the other end and then out the end. All pre-tied indicators may be kept on tapered leaders – then they just need attaching to the fly line and a tippet adding.
Is there a good book on nymphing?
Where do you keep all your nymphs?
https://hacklemoor.com/hatchstack Spring-loaded tube with magnet: pricey but innovative.
What do you do with your rod when dealing with a fish or changing flies?
All our instructors had very strong opinions on which knots to use. I’ll go back to them, compile their suggestions, and send these out with tying diagrams.
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Tippet material
If you have found something in the past that knots well for you and you feel confident to use then that’s the stuff. For me that is Stroft ABR. Fluoro is hard to knot reliably, is marginally less easy to see sub surface, stronger overall but takes an order of magnitude longer to biodegrade than nylon. It doesn't stretch like nylon and it doesn’t absorb water nearly as much as nylon (which can cause nylon knots to weaken a bit with time). Copolymer seems to have little advantage over good quality nylon.
Knots
Fly to tippet - the Pitzen https://youtu.be/c4jggSqEJQA or the Palomar https://youtu.be/GWNJAgO43tEb or the Three (not six as in the video) Turn Uni https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuDxZAYE45k
Micro-loop in fly line (instead of tippet ring): https://youtu.be/LQMqNCW_jdE
Tippet to leader - Back to back Grinner (Double Uni) https://youtu.be/tr86_TQqPt0 or Triple Surgeon https://youtu.be/rzCzyO-Zsn0 Using a tippet ring and two Uniknots for attaching the tippet gives a very strong result, better than most nylon to nylon knots can achieve.
Leader to line - Perfection Loop https://youtu.be/bYAPQDDmKs4
Droppers - Triple Surgeon. Comments: It is essential that both loops are exactly the same size before pulling tight or the knot will be significantly weakened. For the dropper always use the tag pointing towards the point fly, not the one pointing towards the rod tip as this is only 50% as strong. Keep droppers as short as possible. Once the dropper length is used up, cut a piece off tippet off and tie a blood knot above the old dropper knot and slide it down so it sits behind it. Always lubricate the knot really well and pull it tight with a smooth steady pull until fully seated. Once tied, pull on the knot with about 70% of the stated breaking strain of the line.
Blood knot https://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/blood-knot Nearly a blood knot https://youtu.be/KOZum2373iw
Figure of eight https://vimeo.com/409451939/51640469f0
Slidable dropper https://troutbitten.com/2017/06/21/slidable-dry-dropper-system/
Flies
The Double Badger is known as the Derbyshire fly and is a handy one, the IOBO Humpy in various sizes and tones is also very useful, likewise a grey or black or olive-green F-fly in sizes down to 28 are very useful, other than that Adams (parachute or otherwise), Sherry Spinner, Grey Wulff all very handy for the Noe. A reliable May fly pattern and a few small simple black foam beetles.
What nymph colours should you be considering in cloudy/coloured water? Counter intuitively, the answer is probably dark brown to black. In 1980, white on black car number plates were reversed, becoming black on white. The DoT finally realised that against a diffusely lit background black shows up best (and far better than white on black). This is very similar to cloudy water, in which the fine particles diffusely reflect light like a fog, against which a white or pale object is virtually invisible. The blacker an object becomes the more it is likely to stand out against whatever the the hue of the fog... It is well worth starting with black in cloudy coloured water.
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Pre-season tip:
The days are just starting to ease out and a mans fancy turns to checking over his tackle; make sure the line is clean and treated with you favourite jollop. The reel is freshly greased and running smoothly.
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The favoured rod...? give it a good look over for loose guides, tatty whipping and for grit and grime around the reel seat... but what about that other rod? The one you don’t reach for because it turned out to be a bit disappointing? Don’t ignore it, give it another chance and importantly give it another chance with a different line.
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Sometimes the problem is not the rod but the chap who designated the #wt rating on it.
Even really classy rods can be wrongly rated. There is a strong tendency to under rate modern rods. Beg steal or borrow a couple of lines one and two weights heavier than the rod. Give them a go on the lawn. This is fine, nothing awful is going to happen unless the rod is faulty in the first place. You might find yourself giving that unemployed rod a job.
Very satisfying.
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Always happy to discuss.
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Tight lines. Richard
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Christmas Cracker Casting Tip. (Apart from practice...of course)
That rising fish keeps on heading up stream, just out of reach and you need your cast to be a couple of yards longer to catch up with it. You know you can cast that far because sometimes you do. You give the final, delivery cast a bit more “welly” and it tangles or gets in a mess or drops short. So irritating, especially as the false casts were fine.
This is one of the problems that keeps instructors in work so don't go spreading this all over the internet...please. This is for the Club.
There are a number of causes but for at least 90% of the time it's the same one: Trying too hard. What is more, the harder you try, the worse it seems to get. Why?
You know you are trying to generate more line speed on the final delivery cast. You start the delivery cast with more power...of course you do, it feels the natural thing to do and it's hard not to. Yet this is the cause of problem. The sudden application of power at the start of the cast causes the rod tip to bob up and down and throws a wave in the line which then tangles or worse, as it goes past you.
There are 5 elements to a cast (the 5 commandments). One of them is : “the cast is a smooth acceleration of the rod tip ending with a crisp flick and an abrupt stop”. The cast must always start slow, gentle and smooth no matter how far you want it to go. The extra line speed you are looking for needs to be delivered at the end of the cast with that crisp flick of the wrist.
The flick at the end will feel stronger and more positive with a slow relaxed lazy start than if you over power from the beginning. Your loop will be tighter and the cast more accurate.
This is counter intuitive and really hard to make to make yourself do when you're concentrating determinedly on that fish. Old habits die hard. Practice really helps....lots.
Joyful Yuletide and tight lines in the New Year.
Richard.
