Kevin Shone — The Floating Fly

1. Choice of Equipment – Rods, Reels, Fly Lines, Fly Floatants, Clothes, Glasses, and other Useful Items.

My preferred river rod for dry fly fishing would be between 8ft 6” and 9ft long and rated for a #3 #4 line. Saying that, we get some cruel wind and rain here in Ireland and on the bigger rivers I would sometimes go up to a #5 rod, as it makes it easier to punch the line into the wind.

At the moment my go to rod is a 9ft #4 Guideline Elevation. This rod is extremely light with a nice crisp action and has excellent recovery in the blank. It has a nice powerful feel in the butt section but is also very forgiving in the tip, so I can go down to very light tippets such as 6X,7X and 8X diameter when needed.

The reel I chose is the Guideline LW Fario, which has a full cage design. It suites my fishing perfectly with its smooth light waterproof and sealed drag system with carbon and stainless disc stack, which generates 1.3 kg of drag power, plenty for any type of trout fishing.

My preferred fly line would be one with a short head such as the Guideline Fario Tactical. For most of my fishing superior presentation is key rather than distance and I have found that it is easier to control a line with around a 9-meter head length. I also fish a lot of small streams which can be very tricky with very limited casting space, again the smaller head lengths are of help in these situations.

I use a few different floatant dressings for my fishing during the season, but for my dry fly fishing and especially when considering small CDC patterns, it has to be TMC Dry Magic. I have found it hard to find a good gel to use for CDC, but this stuff works really well and it punches well above its weight as you only need to apply a tiny bit of gel into the CDC feather and it will keep the fly afloat for a few fish.

2. Leader Material, Build Up, Length and Knots

For my leader set up I tend not to overthink things and keep it fairly simple. During the daytime when fishing with small flies my leaders would be a minimum of 14ft long and be made up of a 9ft knotless tapered leader down to 5X (4lb breaking strain). I then add a copolymer tippet material, using a triple surgeon’s knot, of 6X or maybe 7X (2lb breaking strain) depending on what water and weather conditions are like at the time. There are times during summer months during very low water conditions, or maybe if the beat has been heavily fished, when I would use 8X tippet, but if the water is coloured or has a ripple from the wind you can normally get away with 6X. For evening fishing, I tend to use the same setup, for say a fall of spinners or the BWO hatches. As the light fades and on into darkness when trout are feeding on Caddis, when they often go into a feeding frenzy, I would shorten my leader to 10-11ft and use a tippet of no less than 5X. The trout tend not to be as leader shy when they are smashing Caddis and you don’t want to miss the take by trying to lift a long leader off the water in difficult low light conditions. These are the times when the big browns come on strong and you are often relying on feel rather than sight fishing, they tend to hit the fly fairly hard and aggressively in the dark leading to some of the most exciting fishing on our rivers.

3. Approach and Stealth

I believe that how you approach the river is one of the most important aspects of small river fishing. Set up well away from the riverbank and stay low on your approach. I always walk the beat first, especially if it is a new section of river that I am not familiar with. In general, I enter the river as quietly as possible as on most occasions I like to start fishing with an upstream cast towards my own bank, especially if there are no signs of feeding fish on the surface. This “fishing blind” approach has resulted in some of my best fish as I have found that more often than not there is a good trout lurking under the bank. How many times have you walked down the riverbank and seen fish darting out from under the bank? Most of the time this is not because they have seen you, it is because they have ‘felt’ the vibration from your footsteps, that’s why you should walk at least 2 meters from the edge of the riverbank to minimise the chance of disturbing the fish. If I see a good fish rising I will watch and wait for it to come up again and again, let it become comfortable with its feeding before I try to match the drift of the fly it is taking. I would never cast at a fish that I have seen rising only once, you have to be patient and with some luck you will be rewarded for it.

4. Reading the Water

From my experience having the ability to ‘read the water’ is the most important aspect of river fly fishing, if you can become accomplished in this skill you will be able to catch fish anywhere. Watching the seams, knowing where the fish are lying and identifying the food lanes and pockets will give you the best chance of some good fishing.

5. Casting Ability – Which Casts are Essential?

Casting ability is very important, you have to understand your own limits and also the limitations of the fly line that you are using. Every line has a sweet spot, a loading point, and once you go past that when casting it is very easy to lose control of your line. The last thing you want is your line and leader collapsing either in front or behind you when you are targeting a trophy trout. In general, and where possible, fish at as short a distance to your quarry as you can get away with. When starting a cast, always try to roll your line off the water rather than ripping it off the top which usually creates a disturbance.

I have found that using Spey Casts such as the Circle C, Snap T and basic Roll Cast can be a game changer, as these allow you to make large changes in the position of the fly line on the water, and to change the direction of your cast very quickly and without the need for multiple false casts.

They can also help to get you into some awkward places where an overhead cast might not be possible, or if you are stuck for space on your back cast, as is often the case on small streams. I personally like the short head on WF fly lines as this gives you a good anchor on the water, loading the rod more easily without the need for a large clear area behind you for a back cast, and turns the leader over nicely.

6. Entomology, what should we know?

I think you need a basic understanding of entomology (the study of insects) from a feeding trout’s point of view, but you do not have to have a degree in the subject. It can be very frustrating when starting out trying to learn about the different insects trout feed on, but the key elements to observe are size and colour, the rest you can learn over time, as it is a big learning curve. You can really up your fishing game, and save time swapping between different fly patterns, by learning more about the insects and the different stages of their life cycle. You will learn allot from your mistakes as well as the good days and as with so much of fishing your fellow anglers with local knowledge are a resource worth their weight in gold.

7. Rise Forms – Can they tell us something?

As anglers we can learn a lot from observing rise forms, such as which fly is on the water and at what life cycle stage it is at. Experience is the key here; you need to spend the time observing the trout’s feeding habits and in time you will be able to tell If they are taking an Up-wing Dun from the surface or Emergers attempting to break through the surface film while in transition from their nymphal to adult stage and of course the unmistakable splashy rise for a Caddis on the surface. That’s one of the things I love about fly fishing, every visit to the river is a learning experience.

Fooled by a small Upright

8. Fly Selection, Size, Shape, Materials, Which flies are essential? Favourite Fly?

For my own fishing I mostly use small flies, including:

• BWO patterns in sizes #16 and #18;
• Iron Blue Dun in sizes #18 and #20;
• Rusty Spinners in sizes #18 and #20; and • Adams Parachute in sizes #18 and #20.

(I would sometimes use a high viz post on these for different light conditions or when they are so small to be difficult to see)

I love using small CDC parachute flies, I think the inherent movement of the CDC feather is fantastic and looks very natural and as a result I much rather using CDC and soft hackles rather than stiff cock hackles in my flies. I don’t like bright and/or overdressed flies, I would rather fish sparse simple patterns, but when dressing flies I nearly always use a small piece of Mylar tinsel around the butt area, I have found this can be deadly. If I had to choose one fly I would not go without on a summers evening it would have to be the June Comparadun, it has always served me well and has helped me fool some great trout.

Small Upright Dun with CDC wing

9. Presentation and Drifts

Observation and watercraft are extremely important when considering how to present and drift your fly to a feeding trout. As much as possible you want to imitate the natural insect and in turn present your fly to the fish as it expects to see it. For example, when dry fly fishing, are the naturals floating down the river following the surface currents (this will be the case the majority of the time) or are they fluttering along the surface where a skated fly might be the answer (often the case when Caddis are active), observation and experience are invaluable here.

I think it is very important to choose the right angle from which you cast to a fish, there are a lot of factors to take into account, for instance if you cast straight upstream to a fish it may be easy to control and retrieve the fly line, but you might also spook the fish when the line lands on the water. For the most part I usually try to cast from a 45 degree angle, adding in an aerial mend at the end of the cast and then in order to reduce drag, I try keep as much fly line off the water (and out of the current) as possible, by holding the rod at a high angle.

10. Upstream or Downstream?

The majority of my fishing will be upstream dry fly fishing, this is how I learned when growing up fishing the small local streams for wild trout. However there are a often pools on many small rivers that may only be accessible from the bank and where the only way to present a fly is to fish it downstream, there is great skill involved in this method and it should not be overlooked where the conditions require.

11. Fighting Fish

As anglers we all know that fighting fish can be frustrating at times. As may be obvious every fish you catch is different, and therefore you must expect the unexpected. There are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of landing a fish, such as always making sure the drag on the reel is set properly, be mindful of the breaking strain of the tippet you are using, the lighter it is the less drag should be applied.

When playing a fish, I try to do the following:

Always try to get the fish out of the current as early in the fight as possible so that they can’t use the current to their advantage.
Try to not let the fish get too far down stream of your position, or it will be very hard to get them back up to you against the flow.
Keep continuous tension on the fish but when they want to run let them, do not try to stop a run by increasing the drag or palming the reel.
When you feel the fish starting to tire during the fight it’s time to start reeling in. Always respect the fish, don’t drag the fish around the river unnecessarily and keep it in the water as much as possible.
Get the fish to the net as quickly as possible and release. Use a micromesh or soft rubber net and never lay the fish on a dry bank. Hopefully that fish will then bring joy to another angler.