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Mastering the Art of Wet Fly Fishing Add to Flipboard Magazine. Brown Caddisfly Imitation - Fly Fishing 

Mastering the Art of Wet Fly Fishing

It would be quite interesting for you to know that the roots of fly fishing somewhere revolve around the wet fly fishing tradition. This technique is mandatory for you to know because it accelerates your learning process. The wet fly fishing sounds simple, but at the same time it requires a fair amount of skill. It would not be wrong to state that the varied forms of wet fly form the basis of fly fishing. Fishing a fly below the water is wet fly fishing. A question might come to your mind regarding why you should be using wet flies when the nymphs can work quite well under the surface of the water. The answer to this is that there are situations when the trout under the water do not feed on the nymphs.

Wet Fly Fishing Basics

A wet fly has a great resemblance to an insect that dwells on the surface of the water. The wet flies resemble the emerging insects, the drowned insects, and other aquatic life. Wet flies are tied to the tail, wings, body and the soft hackle.

The wet and the dry flies do have their set of differences. The wet flies have softer hackles, and this gives the perception that the fly is alive. The hooks of a wet fly are longer and heavier, and the wings are tied in a way that they lay back.

Wet fly fishing works ideally for the beginners because it is not so intense in comparison to the dry fly fish experience. Thus, this gives a greater margin to the beginners to make mistakes without scaring a lot of fish. You would not find it a problem to throw the wet fly. Even if you cast poorly not a lot is on the line for you because the fish are deeper in the water.

Most beginners stress a lot about the drag. This is yet another aspect that you need not worry about at all because the drag of the fishing reel does not hold a lot of significances when you are wet fly fishing.

If you look at the psyche of the fish, they are less scared when they are in the deep water in comparison to when the fish are at the surface. There is less likely a possibility that the fish would refuse the fly when they are in deep water.

However, the real trick is that you should offer that fly to the fish that has a strong resemblance to the natural food that the fish eats.

The Approach towards Wet Fly Fishing Upstream

However, wet fly fishing can become a challenge when you are fly fishing upstream. The reason is that when you cast the wet fly upstream then it tends to ride back on the current in a rapid way. Therefore, you need to master the art of controlling the line when have to wet fly fish upstream. This technique requires you to approach the fish from behind, and you can present the fly to the fish in quite a natural way. The fish are on the lookout for food that is floating on the surface of the water.  The following are a few tips that can help you with wet fly fishing upstream.

  1. Raise the fly rod tip when you are making use of a short cast. You need to let the fly drift towards you. The long cast is comparatively more complicated because in that case you would need to take in the entire loose line for controlling the line.
  2. Always go in for a soft fly rod and this fly rod will allow you to control the line in a more efficient way.
  3. A pair of polarized sunglasses is mandatory when you are wet fly fishing upstream. You would easily be able to sight the fish turning when the fly floats past. This would give you an indication that the fish is just about to strike.
  4. Once the fish strikes, you have to be ready for setting the hook otherwise the fish would be able to get away with ease.
  5. When you are out to wet fly fish upstream then you can fish at any depth. Make use of a weighted nymph fly when you want to reach those fish that are at the bottom.
  6.  A wet fly with simply no weight should be used when you are into mid-depth fishing.
  7.  Reach cast works well in this situation, and you would not spook the fish. This way the wet fly can easily be placed on one side of your fish. A long leader of about nine feet and a tippet of about 5X would work well.
  8. Last, but not the least it is essential that you should practice how to wet fly fish upstream a number of times. With the passage of time, you would develop your expertise and would also be able to identify the mistakes you make. With practice, you would be able to rectify the mistakes as well and excel in this field.

Luckily potential guidelines and a lot of visual learning material are available online when you want to know more about how to wet fly fish. When you are a beginner start with this technique. When you know it well you can move towards dry fly fishing. It is not only necessary to have the knowledge.

You have to implement the technique exactly as guided to get the best results. You would learn the intricacies with the passage of time. It is always better to seek professional help as well when you want to get the answer to how to wet fly fish. Another reason to start with this technique is that beginners can find it complicated to switch to dry fly fishing immediately. Once you learn this technique it would just not be a sport for you, and you would start enjoying the activity.


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