Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
Lucian.Vasies

Skinny dry flies vs fatty flies- what work for you?

Recommended Posts

Hi guys,

When I started to tie my own flies I considered a fatty fly can be more tempting for trout ( consistent food theory ). That was more then 20years ago. And hell, I had a lot of fish on those flies. Now everything is changed on my rivers. I don't know why, probably most educated fish ( C&R is more and more a common practice ) , those old fatty flies don't work anymore. In fact if I tie the same fly but more skinny, with less hackle, the fish respond. This is happening in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Strange but in Italy where I go for fishing also, those fatty flies works fantastic and the skinny ones almost not.

Do you had similar experiences ?

For example the skinny red quills bellow:

red-quill-flies.jpg

 

And a fatty light cahill:

Classic-Light-Cahill-Old-Style.jpg

 

thanks

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have found that in tailwaters skinny flies work better most of the time. I have also found the best luck in Stillwater situations with the fatter bodied version.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With dries never notice much difference. Presentation and size have always been more important. With nymphs and chironomids, can make a big difference, although with subsurface flies, you cannot discount the importance of how the flies behaves underwater, so thickness of the fly may not be the trigger factor per se.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not being a trout guy, I am not sure if my answer is appropriate or not ... based on some knowledge from decades of hobbyist research, more recent internet research, and a niece who is a marine biologist.

 

Fish are instinctual. They have no parental instruction, but must be able to fend for themselves as soon as the yolk sac empties.

As a fry grows, it will attack and test anything, eventually conditioning away from twigs, pieces of grass, stones and any other part of it's environment that doesn't provide a positive result. No thought, just "yes" or "no".

 

Fish that grow up in pressured areas also learn negative results. When a particular food item bites back, especially if it's a drastic threat to survival (like failed flight/fight, being handled and released), that food item will be avoided .... eventually. Negative reinforcement does not "hold" with just one incident. It might put that fish off it's "feed" for a day or two, but it will eat the same thing a few days later.

However, if every time it eats that item, it gets negative results, it will learn to never eat that item again. The food item might be a specific insect (That everyone matches the hatch on), in which case, the fish will get highly selective in that insect, learning to select the ones that look just like all the rest. Hence, if your fly looks different, at all, it won't draw a strike.

If it's not a specific insect, then it becomes about size. Larger patterns are presented more often, since most anglers tie or buy larger patterns. In this situation, the fish learn to avoid larger food items and take smaller and smaller prey.

Bass anglers refer to it as "finesse" fishing, using smaller presentations in heavily pressured waters.

Trout anglers refer to it as "these fish are smarter than others".

 

Lucian ... you say "More educated fish" which is close.

 

It's conditioning ... and Catch & Release fishing is creating a more conditioned fish population, making it harder and harder to hook trophy fish. Not because that "aren't in there" but because they won't hit what you're tossing at them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Fatter" for faster moving water thinner for slower water. I think it's more about how the fly floats and how well it can be seen for a particular set of water.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just tie em and fish em. sometimes I catch fish, sometimes I catch a lot of fish and sometimes I don't and sometimes none.. I use the pattern I think will best do the best job. Period.. Sometimes I use the biggest fattest royal Wulff I have in my boxes in the middle of a size 16 caddis hatch, something totally different from has been thrown at them for the last month and a half. And several times , many times I've had that work on that biggest spooked out fish in the pool. And he probably just learned another lesson LOL ! Sometimes even that won't get em.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If I am fishing slow water or pools I like the thinner flies. When fishing in the riffles I go with fatter bodies and heavier hackle.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...