When a large trout comes up and checks out a dry fly drifting on the surface of the stream but refuses it there could be drag on the leader, but often the refusal seems to be because the fly is too large. A tactic I call deminaturation often fools these trout. This method has given me one of the largest rainbows I’ve ever caught on the Madison River, an exceptionally large brown on a Pennsylvania Spring Creek in Montana’s Paradise Valley.
Here is how it works: Let’s assume you drift a dry Dave’s Hopper size 12 along a shaded undercut bank and a large trout comes up and looks at it but refuses it. There are many natural beetles along the stream so you try him with a Crowe Beetle size 14 and he rises to drift along below it but he finally refuses it. The Adams Dry Fly size 16 was great in the spring so you try several drifts of this over him and although he comes up and looks at it twice he refuses. Finally you drift a Mr. Rapidan Ant size 18 over him and he rises and takes it solidly on the first drift.
You can take advantage of this ploy often with a variety of flies when you observe these two goals: First notice we are going to smaller and smaller flies. However, and most importantly, you should show them flies that have different silhouette and thus produce a different light pattern on the surface of the stream. Just give this a try and I believe you’ll be well pleased.
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