Although weighted flies sink, they can be dead drifted in the current, and that is what I am trying to do when I throw a Clouser quartering upcurrent. It's difficult, especially with anything but a floating line, but I get quite a few hits on that drift. When the Clouser begins to sweep I try to work it back as if swimming against the current.
Most of my steelhead fishing involves dead drifting weighted flies, usually with split shot added to the leader (well above the fly) to get them down really close to the bottom.
As for the Clouser fished as a jig, that sometimes deadly up and down motion is best achieved with fast strips. I like to start with a smooth, moderately fast long strip followed by a brief delay, but experiment to find out what's working best with that fly at that time at that place. Sometimes the most successful retrieve is a 'fast, fast, pause; repeat' kind of retrieve.
I try keep the rod down during the jigging retrieve. The strips give you a jigging effect, and if you've also lifted the rod to move the fly it can be very difficult to set the hook when the take is at the end of the strip - as it usually is.
As you point out, Ken, weighting the head of the fly enables you to get that jigging action on the retrieve. I use bead heads and cone head and dumbell eyes, but I have not noticed any difference in how the fly behaves. it's simply a matter of pattern and imitation - the dumbells and similar weights imitate eyes.
When I started tying flies there were no bead heads or dumbell eyes, at least none that I knew of, and bead chain eyes, such as on the Crazy Charlies, were used only in salt water. We weighted our flies by wrapping lead around the shank, and we shaped the heavy nymphs by tying lead along the sides of the shank. But I was taught to tie unweighted streamers, using split shot when I wanted weight, because that way you could jig the streamer and get a 'swimming up and down' motion out of it.
I still wrap lead around the shank of a few patterns -for example, LaFontaine deep caddis pupa. Those flies are most effective fished deep, dead drift and there's no reason to put a bead on the nose. I have no explanation for why I no longer use lead on Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear flies or Prince Nymphs - I use bead heads on those and have been happy with the reults, even though I usually fish those nymphs dead drift.
|
|