Streamer Fishing
Deciding where to stand to make a presentation cast is extremely important. When I’m doing my streamer fly fishing seminars I am often asked how far should I cast and where should I stand.
One of the flies that I cover in the seminar is the Murray’s Madtom/Sculpin for bass fishing. From where I am standing conducting the class, the far wall of the fly shop is about 40 feet away. I explain that since the madtom is a minnow that lives on the stream bottom I should cast toward that wall (40ft away). After the fly sinks deeply, swim it slowly across the stream. This is if the current is smooth between the wall and myself.
As it happens, there is a map display in the fly shop half way between the wall and where I am standing. In order to make this streamer fishing more demanding I pose a question to my students. “Suppose right where that map display is, there is a very fast current that races down the middle of the pool. Does that change where to stand in order to present your streamer so it swims deeply along the stream bottom?”
I get few answers so I explain. An effective tactic is to wade over close to the fast run. Make the presentation cast from here and keep the rod tip high enough in the air to bridge the fast current but not high enough to pull the fly off the stream bottom. This negates the fast run while swimming the fly deeply.
Mountain Trout Fishing
Next scenario–you are wading and fishing dry flies up the right hand side of a small mountain trout stream. You see a trout rising to feed on natural mayflies in a small plate size corner of the pool on the far side right below the riffle. This little Lazy Susan is an excellent feeding station for the trout. The fast currents completely encircling it make it difficult to select a casting position that will assure a drag free presentation.
I master this by wading across stream through the riffle to within 8 feet of the feeding station. From here I can make a pendulum cast which drops my dry fly accurately onto the feeding station while bridging the fast currents around it, thus assuring a drag free drift and a solid strike.