Lead head tip presentation techniques Leaders and other techniques

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Date: December 27, 2002 at 01:12:09
From: ken, [pool-64-223-38-62.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: Lead head tip presentation techniques Leaders and other techniques

Re: Re.Lead Head Lines(fly tying board)

Summer 2001

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Re: Re.Lead Head Lines(fly tying board)

From: Ken
Date: 30 Aug 2001
Time: 10:38:26
Remote Name: 207.180.0.8

Comments

I use many different lengths of leader but mostly a leader as long as I can that will turn over the flies. I know that the common wisdom is to use a short leader with sinking lines and they do work but I like one as long as I can handle with the size flies I am using. I also will add split shot to the leader as my first method to bring the flies down. At the point when I have three shots on the leader. I stop and put on a small section of lead core and start again. It isn't hard or time consuming to do this and often it isn't necessary. The split shot alone will often do the job. It is a method of working your way down to the fish incrementally by adding a little more depth by adding a little more measured weight to the leader until the presentation begins to catch. Once you have done this process the ease and effectiveness in/of doing it becomes apparent. I also use my normal leader with droppers when I am exploring to find that fly the fish prefer. I prefer non-weighted flies and shot or lead core over weighted flies because a jig has a built-in stable track in current with an up and down imparted action from the angler. This is a good thing when you want to fish a jig and benefit from it's weight and sinking quality but it can be a hinderance when you want the fly to move with the currents or suspend and move from side to side with a swimming movement as flies do. Jigs work but so do flies and they are different lures with different characteristics and the methodologies are different. A jig works best with conventional tackle and a fly works best with a fly rod. You can use either on either. Spinning tackle is used with non- weighted flies with weights on the leader for casting and bringing the fly down to fish that are holding deep and will not move aggressivly to a fly. It is also used with floats to suspend the flies at a certain depth and this a whole world of presentation unto itself called drift fishing and is used for catchiing steelhead in winter rivers and is one of the most deadly methods used for catching them. The weights are placed on a small dropper lead and more are added to it, or some are removed from it to adjust the depth that the fly is fishing. The dropper lead is placed above the fly from two feet to over twelve feet and this method of depth control can be used and is used with a fly rod also to bring a fly down to a deep fish that is holding just above the bottom in fast moving heavy current. The beauty of this method is that it works the same in salt water as it does in these big steelhead rivers and the key to doing it is mending to control drag and the concentrated weight on the leader not the fly. It is the single most effective technique for catching fish holding on the bottom in moving water up to around fifteen feet for the angler with with average to above average line handling skills. It is good to know about it even if you prefer not to use it because understanding how it is done adds clarity in understanding what you must do with your fly to consistantly catch deep fish rather than casting a sinking line and "hoping," for results in every situation. Each cast that you make with deep presentation as the focus must be planned and made with the end result of moving the fly through a particular section over the bottom whether you use a standard sinking line, a heavy sink tip, weights on the leader or lead core tips. These are all swinging presentations and/or dead drifts with back pressure on the fly. There are other presentations that can be used with sinking lines and one very effective one is a technique called "Backing up a Pool," a Scottish salmon technique which reverses the movement of the angler. Ordinarily when casting through a piece of water a fly fishermen makes a cast and moves downstream between casts. The "Backing up a Pool," method reverses this and has the angler move up the river. It is used with a strip retrieve and the beauty of it is; as the angler moves up stream and strips his fly square across the current the fly is presented broadside to the fish and as he moves upstream and makes his next cast the leading fish that are holding in current are seeing the fly for the first time which is the high percentage chance for them to take. The first time a fish sees the fly is often the most productive. Not always but often. It is a good technique to use if you prefer to cast and strip with sinking lines and it works without mending downstream. Cast slightly upstream and strip. It is most effective before the line moves down below you and drag begins to have an effect. Fish short first and then lengthen the cast. This allows you to cover all the water that you can reach with the broadside presentation of the fly. Move up five feet cast short again then medium then long, it covers the water extremely well. When you have moved up far enough to suit yourself then you can move back down and fish through the same water with a wet fly swing. If you don't want to mend and prefer to cast and strip this is a productive method that does catch fish very well with sinking lines. It also works with floaters.

Last changed: November 05, 2001

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