Blind fishing with a dry fly.
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Freshwater Fishing
Forum Name: Freshwater Fission
Forum Description: The place to discuss all matters related to freshwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38308
Printed Date: 03 Jun 2026 at 6:51am
Topic: Blind fishing with a dry fly.
Posted By: ThomasW
Subject: Blind fishing with a dry fly.
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 4:15pm
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I have decided that I am completely useless at blind fishing nymphs. So was wondering, is it worthwhile to blind fish a dry fly over good looking water when there is no obvious 'raises'. At-least with that method it should be more obvious when a fish takes my fly?
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Replies:
Posted By: michael29973
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 4:32pm
its a good idea i was in the wainui river about a month ago and there was this nice stretch of water but u couldent see init (due to rain) i casted my dry over there and heaps of trout started to come out into the shallows but none took my dry and about a week ago i think it was i was fishing and it was a howling northerly so i couldent see the in the water so i just put on a cicada dry and flicked it out about 2 mins later one took my dry but didnt hook it so went up the river to another spot where i couldent see in due to wind so i casted my dry over there and first cast one took my dry and i got it a nice 2lb brown its suprising that the trout see it but blind dryfishing seems to work pretty good  .good luck
cheers, mike
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Posted By: Fishsnatcher
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 5:07pm
| Both, I'm no expert but why not simply use a dry fly as an indicator? |
Posted By: SINNER
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 5:28pm
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lol fishsnatcher..he has a good point ..always pays to have a dry / nymph dropper combo when fishing blind, especially when you cant see any anything or are fishing faster water. ------------- <000<< Here Fishy Fish <000<< |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 5:38pm
| Can not be bothered dealing with the tangles which often occur when using a two fly combo. |
Posted By: Tobias Alawishous
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 7:25pm
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when blind fishing dry's I try and think edgy ...... between shallow and deep, fast and slow, light and dark .....you get the picture. reference the artful science of fly fishing. |
Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 8:01pm
| A lot of the top guys explore likely water with a dry fly. Something like a #10-12 Royal Wulff is ideal for the role. Most fish will rise to take a fly off the surface...which is interesting as they generally won't take a nymph a foot above their head. The Dry Fly and dropper is a pretty useful technique provided you're not getting tangles, however there are a couple of disadvantages with it. Firstly the nymph doesn't move as naturally. Secondly You tend to be watching for either dry fly strikes or nymph strikes (ie dry fly dropping). Therefore if you get a strike on the nymph when you're expecting the dry you tend to miss it. Michael also brings up a good point in that when the cicada season is on fish are very willing to travel long distances to take a surface cicada. This is the perfect time to explore likely water...although fish are spooky then a cicada is likely to get as many refusals as takes. Therefore I'd say that your best bet is a nice size 10 or 12 Royal Wulff. And plus...this way you get the delight of watching a trout engulf your fly. |
Posted By: kj
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 8:51pm
| the nymph dry combo is hard to beat both still and running water. If the dropper system is causing tangles, try tieng the nymph offf the bend of the dry, if it still tangles try and get a casting leson as you are possibly miss timing or something- but on the big braids where visibility can be tough and the wind strong blind fishing can be the only way to go. |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 8:55pm
| When its calm I often use the dry/nymph combo, but I want to give the dry fly my complete attention so going to avoid it for the time being. |
Posted By: kj
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 9:33pm
| Cool. On the big braided rivers I'd recommend a 10-12 clarks cicada, humpy or royal wulf and prospect away- you'll hit something eventually. Down in Canterbury the green bodied humpys are the killer pattern so should do the business up there too. |
Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 9:53pm
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Yeah definitely tie it off the bend of the hook, I don't really know why more people don't do that eh. |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 10:20pm
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Would give it a go once the flows in the rivers drop back down to a typical summer flow.
The Wairau is only a 10 minute drive so might even have a look tomorrow after work. |
Posted By: Pole Dancer
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2009 at 11:35pm
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Big Stimulators are always good for that work too Militaris. ------------- http://www.clarkreid.co.nz" rel="nofollow - www.clarkreid.co.nz FFF Certified Casting Instructor / Umpqua Designer Tier 
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Posted By: Snap T
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2009 at 1:21am
| Yes stimulator are great to drop a nymph off, especially with rubber legs, they tend to give a bit more stability to the dry fly when fishing riffles so I find they don't get sucked under too easily unless a true strike. |
Posted By: PTN
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2009 at 2:21am
| I've been blind fishing with a green humpy into the heads of the pools. Works great this time of year on rainbows. I started with a nymph combo but they were just taking the dry so off came the nymph. I dont think it really matters what pattern - just something big and they seem to smach them. Not sure about browns - I dont get to fish to them much. |
Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2009 at 8:58am
| I've found my local browns are very willing to rise to a size 10-12 Royal Wulff. Think one of the big stimulators might put them down a little though. |
Posted By: Pole Dancer
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2009 at 2:08pm
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Try it you'll like it. ------------- http://www.clarkreid.co.nz" rel="nofollow - www.clarkreid.co.nz FFF Certified Casting Instructor / Umpqua Designer Tier
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Posted By: waitakidan
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2009 at 7:37am
Unless I am fishing a big dry, Cicada etc, I always fish two flies. I don't seem to get many tangles, and it is far more successful than using one fly. Tying off the bend is the easiest, keeps everything in line. It is easy to concentrate on strikes, just watch the dry. If it dips, strike. If a big head comes out of the water and eats it, strike. Too easy I really like the rubber leg stims too, and Carty's GFF and the like. Will be using them most of the time for the next couple of months. Dan |
Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2009 at 10:03am
| yeah the theory is good... but i find that you tend to strike too fast on a dry fly strike or two slow on a nymph. Possibly this is just my inexperience. |
Posted By: Tore
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2009 at 11:25am
I thought all or at least most Kiwis fished like that...
It's certainly the way I fish maybe 80% of the time in NZ, dry & dropper - truck and trailer style. Supereffective and great fun!
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waitakidan wrote:Posted By: Manic
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2009 at 12:19pm
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I think one of the benefits of fishing a single dry is you can pop it right up against the bank. I fished one of the waikato streams on Tuesday and we caught fish blind fishing dries. I agree at this time of the year larger dries really work but I'm a real fan of fishing smaller stuff ie CDC patterns or klinks and these flies all fish well blind. With smaller flies it's often better to keep your casts shorter and focus on keeping the drifts drag free. ------------- Rene Vaz - Manic Tackle Project http://www.manictackleproject.com - www.manictackleproject.com mailto:[email protected] - [email protected] |
Posted By: Fishsnatcher
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2009 at 5:47pm
But yeah it is a lot easier when you can devote all your attention to a single fly.
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Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 27 Feb 2009 at 1:41am
| yeah for sure. and I think once you get to a certain level you can work out whether a sighted fish will take a nymph or dry. so I think choosing a fly is pretty crucial. I know it does work using both flies, but I personally prefer single fly with careful attention |
Posted By: waitakidan
Date Posted: 27 Feb 2009 at 6:10am
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But you are devoting all your attention to one fly. The only one you can see. I don't have a problem striking too early when blind fishing a dry. My reactions have been suitably dulled by trying to live like a rock star for a few years, that I can react as quick as I can, and the fish has still had plenty of time to turn and shut its gob  . I have more problems striking early when I can see the fish start to come up. You start to anticipate it, and the excitement kicks in.I don't know about the nymph striking. Considering we are talking blind fishing here, the dry is the indicator. How else are you going to detect the strike? Generally, a dry would be placed a lot closer to the nymph than an indicator would be, so its about as fast "take detection" as you will get. When I can see the fish, I will go with what the fish does, rather than the dry though. But its whatever works for you. If you have been fishing a certain way enough, you get the confidence to know it works. I know that searching likely water with a small dry is effective, but I haven't done it enough to have confidence in it, so I find myself pretty much always tying on a small dropper and a nymph. Big terrestrials are my favourite way to search water at this time of year though, as you can cover so much water so quickly. Its amazing how far a fish will move for a fat cicada, and you can work through a run in half the time you can nymphing it. Dan |
Posted By: T T
Date Posted: 25 Apr 2009 at 8:55pm
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I'm very new to flyfishing (kicked off in Sept last year) but over the summer I was blind fishing cicadas, pretty exciting stuff as you never know when they're going to hit and it gets really explosive. Admittedly over four sessions I only had the four takes which resulted in a missed strike, a bust off from being taken into the bank by a gutsy fish, another missed strike (at the end of a very long drift) then finally success on that same long drift. I'm still pretty clumsy at getting around and sight casting so the fish I did see and cast to were pretty well onto me. Sometimes it best not to know they're even there, ha. It was cool to watch a rainbow drift down following my dry on one cast, I was sure he was going to hit it. This was all at the Waitahanui and TT. Fished the Wairau last weekend and managed my first brown, that was on a small H&C under a Parachute Adams dry which suited the low levels of the river. Only a small bugger around 25cm but was really good to try a new technique and have a pay off. I'll definitely continue to blind fish the cicadas in the future. Just something about the anticipation of the takes I really like. |
Posted By: bazza
Date Posted: 25 Apr 2009 at 10:39pm
Was rather intrigued Badger to find that tying off the back of
the hook is referred to as "tying New Zealand style" in the UK.
Would have thought such a simple procedure hardly deserves
any country putting claim to something so obvious & surely
far from an earth shattering innovation.
Cheers
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Posted By: TheBadger
Date Posted: 25 Apr 2009 at 11:05pm
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One of the reasons its referred to as tying NZ style is that most trout waters where you are likely to fish a dry and dropper in the Uk are single fly only (fricken annoying if you ask me). That and they are taught in their antiquated ways to tie using the dropper system, which just seems to cause tangles as there is no longer one linear length of line. The simplest innovations are often the most earth shattering Badger |
Posted By: Pole Dancer
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2009 at 12:28am
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It's not just the UK... it's known in the US as the "New Zealand Style" too and other parts of the world.
I think the main reason it is called the NZ Style is that it was invented and popularised in New Zealand!
  ------------- http://www.clarkreid.co.nz" rel="nofollow - www.clarkreid.co.nz FFF Certified Casting Instructor / Umpqua Designer Tier
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Posted By: Pole Dancer
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2009 at 12:40am
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Bazza,
It may not seem earth shattering but it was in popular use among the guides until the mid 1980's. It was the late 80's early nineties before the dry dropper really took off among the general flyfishing population.
Overseas people had used dry droppers and the old methodology was to tie your bloods and leave a long tag as the place to tie the dropper. This was ineffective for NZ for a number of reasons, the size of the fish being the primary cause. None of those knots have strength when the pressure is applied to the tag. They have their strength in the straight mainline pull. On the smaller fish prevelent overseas this wasn't so much of an issue as the knots were still not being pushed as hard as we would commonly encounter here. So when Kiwis started using the dry dropper technique it was quickly discovered by some of us that using a dropper off a tag was a great way to lose fish and two flies at a time. the obvious and simple solution was to tie of the bend of the hook and this put the pressure back onto the mainline section of the knot and remidied the situation.
You're right, it is obvious but it was the circumstance we have in NZ that lead to the innovation... as they say invention comes out of necessity... The reason we came up with it first? We needed a better system.  ------------- http://www.clarkreid.co.nz" rel="nofollow - www.clarkreid.co.nz FFF Certified Casting Instructor / Umpqua Designer Tier
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Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2009 at 8:19am
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I completely missed Cicada season this year, was doing other types of fishing and before I realised they were gone. Hoping to fish with them more next year.
Did catch my first trout on the Dry Fly a few weeks back, it was a 6lb brown patrolling a crystal clear pond. He sipped my little twilight beauty right off the surface. When fishing such clear conditions, I now approach the ponds crawling, or even on my stomach. Its the only way not to scare the trout instantly. Still have not caught anything on the blind dry fly, been fishing streamers and spinners a bit more this autumn. |