Many anglers who are new to fly fishing consider dry fly fishing the “traditional” way of catching trout. Well, that’s not entirely true. Wet fly fishing dates back hundreds of years, well before dry fly fishing came around.

Wet fly fishing is one of the best ways for anglers to get introduced to sub-surface fishing. Unlike nymph and dry fly fishing, where skill, practice and precise imitations are needed to effectively take trout consistently, wet fly fishing can provide rewards quickly - even to beginner anglers. Unlike dry fly fishing and nymph fly fishing - when using wet flies, the angler is not attempting to precisely imitate any particular insect.

Wet Fly Fishing : Basic Overview

Instead of looking precisely like a particular type of insect, a wet fly is more an imitation of a stage of life of aquatic insects. Many wet flies imitate a struggling nymph as it attempts to reach the surface of the river. These same wet flies also suitably imitate dead or drowning insects. Either way, one thing about wet flies is that they generally imitate aquatic insects in motion (moving to the surface, drowning in the water, etc…) - not just floating merrily along in the current, completely helpless (although that is done, too!).

Unlike dry fly or nymph fly fishing, wet fly fishing can also be very rewarding to beginner anglers. Perfect, or even good technique, is not needed for new anglers to hook some nice fish. And the reason for this is because of the way most wet fly fishing is done - neither requiring perfect casts nor split-timing when setting the hook.

When fly fishing with wet flies, anglers frequently will use 2 or more flies together. By using two or more flies together in a dropper setup (described later), an angler can improve their chances of finding biting trout.

So, let’s take a close look at how wet fly fishing works, what is used and why any angler should give it a try - even on those rivers that are normally the dry fly fisherman’s playground.

There are many different types of flies available for wet fly fishing. Normally, most wet flies have soft hackling.

The reason for this is because this type of hackling has fibers in it that move around in the water - sort of inviting the trout to take it in.

Additionally, unlike most nymphs, wet flies are designed to sink rather quickly, since wet fly fishing is generally done closer to the bottom of the river. For this reason, many wet flies tend to be a bit heavier and are tied in a wide variety of ways. Each way designed to sink the fly in a particular manner than the typical nymph.

Frequently, wet flies tend to be fished in areas that have fast moving water. Because of this, many anglers fly fish wet flies using a sinking tip line. While using a sink-tip fly line can definitely aid the fly in getting down to the right depth, an angler who only has a floating fly line should not despair. Generally, simply using weights on the leader or the fly line can do an adequate job of pulling down a wet fly to the right depth.

Wet Fly Fishing : Dropper Flies

As mentioned, wet flies are frequently fished in groups of flies - not just a single fly by itself. When a second, or third, fly is used, it is called a “dropper fly”. A dropper fly, which is a very effective and rather ancient method of wet fly fishing, is a fly that is tied to the main leader.

When rigging up your fly fishing gear using a dropper fly, simply attach the first fly onto the end of the tippet as you normally would. Then, for the second fly, take a 12 inch of tippet material and tie it to the leader about 12-24 inches above the first fly. Attach the second fly to the end of that line. You now have a dropper fly set up.

Additional flies can also be attached - you are in no way limited to just using 1 or 2 flies. However, the more flies you have, the greater the likelihood of tangles occurring - both when casting and in hooking underwater obstructions. For beginner anglers, it is probably best to start with one fly, then go to two flies when comfortable with basic casting and wet fly fishing technique.

Either way, one nice thing about a dropper fly is that it allows anglers to test out flies at the same time. Thus, you can tie on one type as normal, then tie on a completely different looking wet fly as a dropper fly. It’s a great way to quickly experiment around to see what works and what doesn’t on a particular river (especially a new one you’ve never fished before). you may even be rewarded with having two or more fish hooked simultaneously.

About The Author

Brett Fogle is the publisher of Fly Fishing Secrets, an insiders guide to flyfishing tips and techniques of the pros. To sign up for free flyfishing tips and other articles, please visit www.fly-fishing-secrets.com.

brett@macarthurwatergardens.com

Bluefin tuna are one of the greatest challenges to anglers off the coast of New England, and Massachusetts continues to be a center of activity for giant bluefin tuna.Most tuna are caught chunking or trolling. I will describe the techniques used by top crews to catch these giants.

Chunking for Bluefin involves archoring on a good fishing spot known to hold bluefin. Once anchored, top crews deploy chunks, stick baits and live baits suspended on ballons at different depths. Most captains have their crew position the baits where at the depth they mark tuna fish on their fish finder.

Many top captains use Gamahastu Live Bait hooks. In determining the hook size, it is important to match the hook to the size bait that you are using. You shouldn’t use a hook that is too large, because it will detract from the presentation of the bait.

All top crews use fluorocaron leader. Leader varies from 150-lb to 220lb, with many crews fishing light gear (150-180) to get bites when they are hard to come by. Most crews start off with a long leader (say 15 feet), so they can cut back and recimpt the hook on if their leader gets nicked up by dogfish or other pests.

Many crews using light fluorocarbon also use H crimps instead of G crimps for their 150 or 180 fluoro. The lower profile H crimp must be done carefullly, preferably using the Jinkai crimping tool listed on this page.

They also use these crimps to attach a small wind on swivel. This way, the leader can be wound all the way on the spool, protecting the flurocarbon during storage, ensuring clean decks, and allowing the angler to reel the fish as close as needed to harpoon it.

All crews attach the sinkers and ballons using rubber bands. Sinker weight is selcted based on the spped of the current and the desired depth that you are trying to fish.

Most crews that troll bluefin fish spreader bars from their outriggers at about 3-4 knots. Most crews fish three to four spreader bars, two from the outriggers and one or two flat lines. Outriggers are rigged with roller trollers so that the line can be reeled through the clip to tease the fish into striking again if he misses the first time. The clip is set tight so that the outrigger sets the hook on the fish.

Fisherman use different spreader bar sizes and colors in their trolling spread based on experience and conditions. Snap swivels are used so that rigs can be swapped out easily. Thimbles and heavy chafe gear protect the mono where it connects to the hook and swivel. Most crews use the Mustad or VMC southern tuna hook style on their trolling rigs.

Fishermans Outfitter

Many people enjoy a nice, long fishing trip. Others enjoy fishing trips that take them to new places and new types of fishing. Stream trout fishing can be one of these types of fishing trips. Stream trout are any of the trout fish that live in streams. This includes the Rainbow trout, the Brown trout, and the Brook trout. While each of these fish have their own unique characteristics, they are all categorized by where they like to live and are collectively called stream trout. Some of the best fishing adventures, are those that are stream trout fishing trips.

Rainbow trout, Brown trout and Brook trout are all good catches. Their weights range from a few pounds on up to a couple of dozen pounds. In many streams, these fish can be found together or alone. In fact, they are most popular in the United States and Canada in the most northern parts and west of the Rocky Mountains. These fish often have very colorful markings and silvery bottoms and sides. Some of the best stream fishing is done from kayaks and during fly fishing as well.

Many people enjoy trout fishing in all forms but stream trout fishing is most enjoyable. Getting out onto the stream with the following water below you can be a great feeling. For those of you who would like to plan a stream trout fishing trip, you can do so fairly easily. In fact, you can book it right online. You may want to consider using a guided trip as part if not all of your trip. Since it takes experience to know where the stream trout are hiding, a guide can help you find them trout in the right places. They can also tell you what types of lure or bait they have used successfully as well. Regardless, though, a stream trout fishing trip is quite the experience no matter how you go about doing it. Looking for the stream trout in the wide open expanse of wilderness can be invigorating and breathtaking!

Ken Austin is the webmaster at All About Trout and Trout Fishing and Satisfying Your Fishing Needs