Mac Brown

Equipment

I prefer long fly rods in the neighborhood of 10’-11’ feet. When I first moved to western NC in the mid 80s most of the shops recommended very short rods for technical mountain streams. I helped develop many of the longer rods around that time period. The long rod revolution in the states is mostly in my region of the USA today according to many of the rod manufacturers. Especially from the competition anglers which creeps over to the masses over time.  The wheels of progress are always very slow to change. These longer rods offer greater control at distance. 

My favorite fly reel is the Evolution made by Ross. It has superior bearings as I rarely ever use the crank handle to reel in a fish. I favor the “slap” method of hitting the rim of the spool and getting a dozen or so revolutions. This method is much faster and smoother for taking in line.

To this day, silk still offers many advantages for the dry fly angler. The thinner diameter raises the stealth meter on spring creeks and tailwaters. I also play around with many braids for fly lines which behave similar to silk. 

The old “Master Lines” were the brain-child of Myron Gregory in the Bay area of San Francisco. He also came up with the grain weight system used today for measuring fly lines. I still have several Master Lines from the 60s that are in perfect shape. These line were made to last for many decades. Other modern lines that are fantastic now-a-days would include the Scientific Anglers Amplitude Trout. This is a super line that anyone can get easily at a quality shop. 

I use CDC more these days than the traditional Catskills and parachute flies from Michigan that I tied in my youth. CDC flies perform better for picky trout. I use preen oil from Marc Petitjean to treat the flies first. Frogs Fanny is the best product for repelling water from the CDC. The founder, Jerry Yates came through one of our week-long fly fishing schools. It has been fantastic getting to know Jerry over the years and have him on staff.

In addition, I use Sno Seal to treat the tippet section because it stays on all day. I also use a homemade mud mixture of glycerin with fullers earth powder to sink the tippet close to the fly. The early years of fly fishing was all about innovation and trying new things. It is gratifying to still play around with materials to make our own things. 

Neutral clothing matches the surroundings we are fishing. My home waters are mostly olive backdrops from tree foliage. Hence, we wear olive accordingly. We fish in mostly shaded environments so I like my polarized glasses to adjust. I use Smith photochromic polarized glasses with amber colored lenses. 

Leaders

Maxima chameleon has been my “go to” for my homemade leaders since I was a kid. I have not used a store bought leader since childhood. I usually cut off the front taper of a commercial fly line. I use a Dave Whitlock glue knot to join the butt section to fly line. This eliminates any knots coming through the tip-top guide. I would rather adjust transfer or dissipation of energy through my leader. I often use multiple dries tied on droppers to “grid” off sections of water more efficiently. I use my Mac knot for tying on the fly to the tippet (YouTube). I have moved away from the use of the blood and surgeon knots. The reason is they end up being too clunky (large) and tend to catch on things in spring creek environments. I made this switch around 2000. It is so easy to tie an overhand loop in the large mono (20 pound) and insert the (15 pound) through the loop. Pull it tight and tie a Davy knot back around with the 15 pound. This makes a very small connection that comes in through the eyelets without a catch. 

I should also point out that during the week-long schools we teach transfer or dissipation of energy. It seems that in the states one of the most confusing things about the sport is following all of these magic leader formulas with the use of magic pixie dust to dress their dry fly. Everyone has offered a magic leader formula. One’s leader choice probably changes as their love of the “dry fly” skills develop. 

Leader length being too short is probably one of the biggest mistakes that I witness throughout the years instructing.  A good starting point would be to begin with roughly 15’ feet. My personal leaders are typically 15 to 32 feet. These offer greater stealth for technical or pressured waters. It enables the angler to reposition the fly line without interfering with the dry fly drift. These longer length leaders are superior for larger tailwaters because the top of the D or V-loop has the weight of the fly line. It is usually all mono below the apex of the loop. This makes for some very effortless varieties of roll casts.

Approach & Stealth

Observation of the water often pays back big dividends. Slow down, listen and look at the behavior of what is going on. Move slowly like the blue heron. We use the heron often in coaching to teach folks more about stealth. Fish far enough away to remain out of sight. Learn about the fishes window and the rule of six (Snell’s window). 

Reading Water

Gary Borger described the “prime lies” on the water beautifully in his text Presentation. These are locations for food and shelter. Implementing a grid off approach of prime lies tend to produce quality fish. The same locations holding quality fish in southern Appalachian streams are the same ones I probe in New Zealand, South America, or the western US states-it is universal. These are often the minor current lanes feeding into a pool. A larger trout can dominate a small current lane and keep other fish away. 

We use the acronym often in coaching Fly Fishing Team USA Youth that FAIL stands for first attempt in learning. To become proficient in likely grid locations on the water, are based on your past experiences. In other words, the more times we have done it wrong, the higher probability we get it right. When I think back to my home waters of east TN as a kid, I had many lessons in spooking fish which naturally did not end well with hooking them. 

Casting Ability

Since teaching casting from the mid 1980s, I no doubt would say get some quality instruction that can jump start your free time on the water. Learn to throw reach mends, pile casts, and curve casts and you are well on your way in the dry fly game. 

Perfect your abilities to fish in tight cover. Learn to fly cast with your fly always in front of you if you want to avoid ever hitting obstacles in back. The traditional method of clock face casting to and from is often useless in tight cover for presentations. Also, learn to initiate your dry fly cast by using up and down, side to side, or small circles on the pickup. This flings the water out of your dry instantly to assist in floating the fly. 

In addition to going down the rabbit hole of just casting discussion, it is worth mentioning that the line control skills once the cast has been made is the grail. Learn to feed line (hump mends), stack mend, and aerial mends to gain the best positioning to make magic occur. This is the real allure of what draws us all to appreciation of dry fly angling. 

Entomology

Most of the literature pushed in America in the late 60s was based on your knowledge of bug identification. This is the path I went down and ended up teaching entomology during my fly fishing courses at the university. However, the older I get I look back at it and realize it was for the most part not necessary. My region of the Smoky Mountains has among the highest insect diversification on the planet. This leads to opportunistic fish because there are so many. Fly fishing for me is a triad approach of tactics, strategies, and line control. It is fascinating for sure-which in part lead me into bee keeping back in the 80s. 

We were fortunate to have a very talented Team USA Youth program for many years. Out of this program there were multiple world champs. We spent all of the training on simplifying their training using a dichotomous chart. Simple yes and no questions to adjust to the ever changing conditions. It is really all you need to be concerned with overall. It works like this for the fly angler- is the sun high or low, water stained or clear, overcast or sunny, is the bug life active or passive (dead drift or passive) and so on. These simple questions lead to your overall approach. Work on your Triad approach and it will no doubt launch you much further ahead over bug identification.  The Triad is the title of a book I have been putting together over the last decade. 

Rise Forms

Trout Fishing from all Angles by Eric Taverner was one of my favorite books as kid which to this day has among the best descriptions on what the rise forms tell the angler. This text came out in the early 30s’ and is still one of the best I have seen. When we have large hatches going on I tend to look for subtle dimple for the quality fish. 

Rise forms can tell you a great deal on how and what the fish are feeding. The rise forms also help in the decision of swing or drift? Lake fishing has become a big passion of mine over the past few decades. The rise form also provides a clue on the direction the fish is moving. Naturally, this assist you in your following fly cast placement.

Fly Selection & Essentials

Fly tying provides a perfect marriage of hobby and sport. In my early years, I tied many traditional patterns for wets, dries, nymphs, and streamers. The problem was I tried too many patterns which made it tough on keeping the boxes organized. It is more productive to have a dozen patterns that you have confidence in. The biggest question tourist ask the local shops is “what flies are they biting on”. Yes, it is ironic. It is always changing which is part of the fun. Fish are curious and like eating lots of various food sources. 

One of the sayings we use during the schools is to “fish the wrong flies well”. Quick story on teaching my kids about drift when they were 7 and 4 years old. I grabbed a handful of leaves from a Dogwood tree and rolled them into a small green ball. As we threw the leaves off the bridge one by one, 7 trout ate the leaf balls within 3 feet of drift. What does that teach us? Spend more time perfecting the archer than looking for the perfect arrow. 

Presentation & Drifts

This is streamlined by fishing with someone who already has some skills to jump start yours if you are relatively new to fly fishing. Take a lesson with someone who specializes in teaching this skill. The lesson will provide you with the goal overall. It will also enable you to differentiate the good, bad, and the ugly. It can be streamlined by many decades to launch your presentation skills. It will motivate you to work on your line control, strategies, and tactics through a lesson. 

Upstream or Downstream

There are pros and cons to both upstream and downstream. In general, learn to first master line control to fish all directions. Often times we fish upstream, across stream, and downstream on the same drift. The water may very well dictate where you will be forced to fish from as well. 

Fish Fighting

This is a skill that is best learned by playing fish quickly into the net. The 5 components we teach on every guide trip over the years would include: cast, line control (drift), hook setting, playing the fish, and finally landing the fish. Side pressure is the name of the game for countering what the fish attempts to do. The rod rarely comes to vertical unless we are slipping into the net. 

Problems arise when folks pull too hard, grab the line and hold on, get the line wrapped around the reel or article of clothing, and many more. The best way to really get efficient at fighting fish would be to improve all 5 components mentioned above through a lesson. To get it right with a very high percentage of fish landed all 5 components are implemented.  

In Summary

Thanks to the Floating Fly for helping preserve the art of dry fly angling. By archiving many of the techniques of dry fly angling will no doubt help the future generation of anglers.  It is an exciting method to use for all kinds of species of fishes. Thanks for the opportunity to share some ideas on the Floating Fly. Check out my blogs at macbrownflyfish.com and flyfishingguideschool.com for other articles in regards to fly fishing.  

All the best, Mac