Stuart Crofts
Stuart Crofts describes himself as ‘one-third fisherman, one-third entomologist and environmental campaigner and one-third overtaken by a childlike enthusiasm for all nature’
1. Choice of equipment Rods, reels, fly lines, fly floatants, clothes, glasses and other useful items.
My favourite method of angling with an artificial fly is with a dryfly. This is not because I think it is elitist or more skilful than other methods it is simply because I like it and it makes me happy. Obviously, I am not alone, many other anglers like fishing the dryfly too and the many aspects on how it should be fished has been debated for generations. There are of course no simple one-line answers, perfect methods or magic flies. Instead, we have a plethora of opinions on every aspect of the sport and that is a huge part of the fun. When it comes down to my choice of equipment then I am very much a horses for courses type of guy, but for the purpose of this article, I would like to stay with my first love of not just dryfly fishing but dryfly fishing on my local small rivers & streams of Yorkshire (England). In general, many of these places are tree lined and very tight. The fish are all wild (trout and grayling) and are easily spooked especially on the more open pools and runs. My choice of rod is driven by the size of these waters, in general the smaller and tighter the stream then the shorter my rod. These start at 6 feet and go up to 8 ½ feet. I have no favourite makes or models but they do all have one thing in common in that the action of all these rods is slow to medium which, in these modern times, can be controversial. Faster action rods, delivering tight loops, are often seen as the only answer in tight spaces. But, I follow a different path using slow controlled casts that can be guided into these same places while, at the same time, giving me very precise accuracy at close range with delicate presentations. As to the reels, well for fishing these small waters I have no preferences at all other than they balance the rod I am using. When it comes to flylines I have always liked sombre coloured lines in olive, brown or grey especially when fishing under trees. As for the line weights, these will match the rod I am using and are commonly in 2# and 3#. What is also important for me is to have a line with a fine tip. For helping my actual dryflies float I use both the gel type floatants and the dry powder types (I use this mainly on CDC type flies). As for things like clothing then again sombre natural colours just feel right. In my fly-vest, as well as my fly-boxes and all the other necessities I also carry a small (pocket sized) folding butterfly net and some sample tubes. These are an essential part of my kit and allow me to collect, and transport home, any interesting insects that I might come across during my time by the river.
River Don
This is one of my local water and is the River Don in South Yorkshire (there are many rivers named “Don” in the UK). It is a typical upland river of my area and is the same river that eventually flows through Sheffield and Doncaster. It is unstocked and holds a good head of wild brown trout and grayling.
A typical pool.
2. Leader material, build up, length and knots.
Just like my choice of fly rod my leaders are again often seen as rather controversial these days. I almost exclusively use a short furled leader with a short tippet. So, what do I mean by short? Well if I am using a rod of say six feet then the furled leader would only be three feet long. The furled leaders I use are made by Luke Bannister, these where originally developed by myself and a gentleman called Rodney Dibble over ten years ago. The aim was quite simple in that I wanted a furled leader that would turn over easily with delicate casts at short range using fly-lines weights between 2# and 4#. But, like many simple ideas it took quite a while to get them right! When Rodney retired the project was handed over to Luke who now makes a small range of delicate furled leaders from three to four and a half feet. As a rule of thumb I use short ones on short rods and the longer ones my longer rods but that is not cast in stone. In the end it is all about presentation and matching the correct leader to the rod I am using and the situation I am fishing. The leaders come with a small loop on each end. The thicker end is attached to the end of the fly-line and the thin end to the tippet. The tippet is the last link in the chain and is where the fly is attached. Again, this is kept short and as another rule of thumb would be about the same as the furled leader. BUT, again this is not cast in stone! It is all about getting good presentation and will be fine-tuned as conditions or the situation dictates. This may all sound a little complex but in practice it is not and using systems that are adaptable is for me essential to cope with the many and various situations I am continually faced with on my local small overgrown rivers and streams. And, of course, this is why it is such fun! While on the subject of the tippet we also have to consider the material this is made from. For myself I still use good old fashioned nylon monofilament. On my local waters the breaking strains are not that important because we do not have many large fish that on other waters would make that decision a little more complex. This allows me to concentrate entirely on the diameter of the nylon tippet because, as I say above, this is the last link in the chain before the fly and therefore will either assist, or hamper, my presentation of the fly. Once again I have simple rule of thumb (BUT like all my other rules of thumb they are not laws set in stone!) in that the smaller the fly I am using then the finer the nylon I use. For example, if I was using a size 16 fly I would probably use 5x (0.006″ or 0.15mm) and for a size 20 I would use 6x (0.005″ or 0.13mm).
A tight tree covered slow pool.
3. Approach and stealth.
There is a very simple rule (not a rule of thumb this time!) on my local waters and it is this; you will not catch any fish you have spooked. I have honed my own field craft skills since I was a boy and the final judge of how good I am is always the reaction of the fish. Yes, of course, I sometimes get it wrong, and that is good, because that is what keeps me sharp. In addition, there is an often over looked aspect of fly-fishing; patience and the ability to stay still. There is never any hurry. Once you get in position just watch and wait until you are completely sure of what is going on. While doing this you will in effect melt into the landscape and it is amazing what you will then see and learn. Never forget that it only takes one cast to catch a fish but, equally, it only takes one cast to mess it up!
A more open run (the undercut bank on the right of the image is where the fish will be, very challenging to approach without spooking the fish due to lack of cover).
4. Reading the water.
Reading the water is all part of my approach and is one of those skills that will improve with practice. It is a skill that is never wasted when trying to catch any wild fish.
5. Casting ability which casts are essential.
I have some funny ideas on this on which many will disagree. For me casting is simply a means to an end and once you have the basics of casting a fly then it all becomes a blank canvas to what happens next. I have no idea what the casts I use are called. In effect the rod is just an extension of my body and when I see a fish my brain works out what needs to happen and, thankfully, the fly usually ends up in the right place. This is perhaps best summed up as hand eye coordination. However, this is where a balanced rod, line, leader and tippet all become vitally important.
6. Entomology, what should we know.
I am known to quite a few people as a bit of an anorak on this subject! But in reality I actually see my very serious studies on entomology as a completely different passion to that of fly-fishing. Nevertheless, I am in no doubt at all, that you DO NOT have to be an expert on entomology to be a good fly-fisher. But, of course having some knowledge of the natural food of the fish we are trying to imitate with our artificial flies is probably no bad thing. I have been running Entomology for Anglers courses with the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) with my good friend Andrew Dixon for over ten years. On these courses we endeavour to show the participants that with just a few simple extra skills they can better understand what is going on in this relationship between the fish and their natural food. It probably will not help them catch hundreds more fish but for sure it will help them understand why they sometimes fail and what else they should consider doing.
A typical upwing, looking closely at any insect gives immediate information on its size and profile (shape). Their names are irrelevant to the fish. And, often just confuse the anglers. The naming part is Taxonomy, a totally different pastime to fishing.
A typical beetle, an obvious and clearly a different profile to the upwing.
A typical adult caddisfly, again an obvious profile that will be familiar to most fly-fishers.
A gall wasp (note the 5mm scale line). Small insects such as this are often taken by fish. But, like the vast majority of insect species, they are totally overlooked by anglers and never mentioned in fishing books.
7. Rise forms Can they tell us something?
Yes, this question is straight from our Entomology for Anglers courses. In short, if fish are rising then they are normally feeding. However, rather than trying to work out what the “rise forms” are telling you why not simply find out what the food forms are that the fish are rising to? That information is a usable fact and not a speculative guess.
8. Fly selection, size, shape, materials, which flies are essential, favourite fly.
All my fly patterns are based on what my local fish are feeding on. There are no magic flies or magic materials – despite strong advertising! I have no favourites just what is working at the time. When it comes to commercial patterns many are generic and will cover a range of food forms that the fish could be feeding on. However, if I was asked to list the characteristics of these flies in some sort of order then their size & profile would be first on the list. And, guess what, when you are looking at the real insects that the fish are feeding on then the size and profile is by far the easiest characteristic to access by eye (see my images of natural insects with notes).
9. Presentation and drifts.
In most cases I always endeavour to get my presentation and drifts to match what the natural insects, the fish are feeding on, are actually doing. However, you have to be willing to adapt. For example, when there is a large selection of insects for the fish to choose from or large numbers of the same insects then sometimes you may have to twitch your pattern or even use something completely different to make your pattern stand out from the crowd.
10. Upstream or downstream?
I don’t care. As long as I can make the fly perform naturally. On local waters the wind direction often dictates what I do. On other waters you may also have to respect local rules which can sometimes mean that you can only fish upstream.
11. Fighting fish.
This is not really an issue on my local waters as we do not have many large fish but I would always try to land, and then release any fish, as quickly as possible wherever I am fishing.
