There are great numbers of adult dragonflies flying above the surface of the river. These insects are powerful flyers. The bass catch very few of them by jumping into the air but they keep trying. One day these bass challenged me as many kept jumping close by. I tried them with nymphs, streamer, poppers and drys–all with poor results. Then 20 feet in front of me an adult dragonfly flew up to the stream just inches over the river and a bass jumped in an attempt to grab him. He missed, but it prompted me to experiment.
I put on a Mr. Rapidan Skater Dry Fly size 8 tied on a 3X long hook and dressed the fly and the leader liberally with dry fly floatant cream. Then I waded upstream to a spot 30 feet above where I had seen the bass jump and 10 feet to my side. I cast down and across stream so my fly landed five feet upstream of the spot the bass had jumped. I took up the slack with my line hand and extended the fly rod out over the river. Using a six inch skating fly action every five seconds I made the dry fly dance across the surface of the river. The bass took it solidly. Thirty feet down the river I saw two more bass jumping in an attempt to catch other adult dragonflies. I tried the skating technique with the Mr. Rapidan Skater and it worked.
During days when I don’t see many bass jumping to catch the adult dragonflies, I can often catch many bass by dancing my Mr. Rapidan Skater over the 4-6 feet deep cuts between the river-crossing ledges.