You know how fly fishing is all about using a fake bug to trick an animal that looks at real bugs all day every day?
Why not up the difficulty and use a dry fly? I mean, trout primarily eat things that literally drift right into their mouths. There are times when they exert extra effort to look up, swim up, and eat a dry fly. But they come few and far between, relatively speaking.
It is pretty romantic, so let’s go for it.
Yeah… big, bushy dry flies are nice. Smaller increases the degree of difficulty. Eighteens are good, but twenties are better. They give you less margin for error on the drift. A fluffy dry can drag for a moment, and the surface tension allows a lifelike twitch. Little ones need a lot more attention. Otherwise the fish will know something is up.
A smaller fly means a smaller hook. A smaller hook means a smaller hook eye. A smaller hook eye means smaller tippet. Smaller tippet means a delicate leader-to-tippet knot, a carefully tied and tightened leader-to-fly knot, and a light touch while fishing. Well first, you have to thread it through the eye of the hook.
Now just put it in front of the fish.
