By far, one of the most rewarding ways to fish high water is by fishing dry flies. There is something exciting about observing a big brown emerging from the depths to nail your fly as it drifts naturally down stream. You may not catch as many fish as you would fishing nymphs or worms on the bottom but you will love the heart stopping action of fishing terrestrials on high water.Now, is the time of year (summer), when the terrestrials have begun to appear in abundance along banks of the streams in our area. When a strong wind blows across the river, insects are blown into the water. Since they are terrestrial and not aquatic insects, they are helpless in the current and are easy prey for trout. In addition, the larger insects, like grass hoppers, are very large bites and make a very tempting meal that can cause a large trout to move a significant distance to take it. In these instances, the take can be vicious.I generally prefer a nine foot six weight rod coupled with a matching weight forward floating line. Use a reliable reel with a smooth disc drag and plenty of backing. These are pretty big flies and the heavier rod does a better job of casting them. I use a seven and one half foot 4X leader with an eighteen inch 4X tippet. This gives me a nine foot leader/tippet combination. This is substantially shorter than I use for most of my dry fly fishing but necessary to turn over the large flies. If you have trouble turning over your hopper, shorten your tippet. I do not use fluorocarbon tippet or leaders because the fluorocarbon has a higher specific gravity than water and will sink. This could make mending a bit more difficult.My favorite terrestrials are grasshoppers. My go to patterns are the Rainey’s hoppers and Dave’s hoppers. The Rainey’s hoppers are foam therefore they do not require dressing and they float like corks. The Dave’s hoppers are made of natural materials and must be dressed. I prefer them in situations where the trout are a bit more selective as they are very realistic looking. They also come in a greater variety of sizes. In the beginning of summer the hoppers are small and they get progressively larger over the summer. Traditionally hopper season begins in June and goes on to the first frost. I will fish them much longer because I know for a fact that trout do not have the weather channel.I have also had a lot of success with ants. Yesterday, I took my big fish, a nineteen inch brown with a Chernobyl ant. I have a bit of problem seeing the Chernobyl ants in certain light conditions even with a quick sight spot on the back. I prefer to use an Amy’s ant or 747 ant. Both are western patterns introduced to me by Jack Dennis several years ago when I was guiding him during the Hooked On A Cure fishing tournament. Both have a white parachute wing (the 747 has two) and are easy to see in heavy water.Another fly that I keep in my fly box is the stimulator. This fly was designed to imitate stoneflies. Yes we have stoneflies and they should be hatching now. The stimulator is also a pretty good imitation of the hopper. I have had great success with clients fishing them, particularly on the White River.You can also use a dropper fly if you are not fishing Catch and Release water. Tie a two foot tippet to the bend of the hook on the dry fly and suspend a small nymph like a pheasant tail below it. Set the hook when your dry goes down.The basic tactic for fishing terrestrials is to cast them to the bank and have them drift drag free in the current. When the water comes up the fish generally move from the main channel to the bank. They can be as close as two feet from the bank. The real trick is that the current near the bank tends to be a bit slower than the current further out. There fore you will generally need to mend your line up stream in order to get the best drag free drift. The key to success is line control. You must have enough slack for the fly to achieve a perfect drag free float yet you must be able to set the hook. Be ready as soon as the fly hits the water. Remember, the take can happen at any time during the drift.The other problem that I encounter is that when the trout hits the fly there is a tendency to set the hook too soon. The adrenalin is pumping and the sight of the take is too much. Some of these takes will be particularly vicious. You need to wait a second for the trout to close its mouth before you set the hook. I call this the longest second in fly fishing.
If you want to add a new level of excitement to your high water fishing, consider hoppers.
