Mono-rig (Euro-nymphing) Report/Experience on Spillway Creek
May 10, 2023 6:03:51 GMT -6
gui, turfdawg, and 1 more like this
Post by jonbo on May 10, 2023 6:03:51 GMT -6
Hey guys, does anyone still look at this board? It seems to have up and died like one of my house plants. Anywho, for anyone who might care or notice, I thought I'd cross-post this post that I made at the North American Fly Fishing Forum about my latest experiences fishing with a "mono-rig" on Spillway Creek using a "drop-shot" system. Here 'tis:
I'm getting more comfortable with my the drop-shot system in the little area where I'm using it. Currently I'm running pretty heavy weight, like a BB shot to really plunge into the short, deep pockets. Doing that, I have a tag down close to the split-shot where I use the more or less traditional nymphs, hare's ear-type, pheasant tail-type, caddis larva, Pat's. They all work well. About 18" above that on another upper dropper tag I've been having good luck with a small emerger like an RS2. It ends up running about 18" below the surface. They seem to like it there, both larger and smaller trout. It's about 50-50 which tag gets bitten.
I want to second Silver Creek's (a poster at the NAFFF) promotion of the bead sighter. I discovered one in a bag of stuff I ordered about 2 years ago, then had put aside. While building a leader 2 weeks ago, on a whim I added it at the end of the regular old red/green sighter I was constructing from Cortland sighter material with tag ends and all that. Man! I don't even look at or notice the Cortland. That bead sighter is bright! I donno, maybe too bright, maybe scares a few fish. Those beads flash like little jewels. I recommend it if you're having any trouble instantly spotting or following a "regular" sighter. Mine's a Jan Siman. I imagine that the Hanak that SC mentioned is about the same. The next time I build a leader maybe I'll just run a bead sighter alone.
After having gotten used to, I don't know, less thin(?), medium(?) mono-rig leaders of, say, 12 or 15 lb MaxCham, I've recently started running 6lb green Amnesia. Overall, I think I like it. I need to be able to reach pockets about 20 feet across from me. The micro-rig really sticks in those pockets well without dragging to me, much. It still does, a little. I doubt that can be entirely eliminated, physics and all that, but I find its performance that way quite satisfactory. The main problem I'm having now is lining up my backcast 180 degrees from where I want the forward cast to go. When my forward cast goes off in another direction from where I intended it to, as it often does, I can tell that it went right in line with my back cast. I can't figure out how to get my back cast lined up. I keep trying that oval thing. It's not really working. So, I'm only unhappy with accuracy, but I think that's a me problem. Another observation: I don't think I'd want a leader less stiff than the Amnesia. It wraps around the rod tip a little bit and otherwise gobs up occasionally if I haven't been careful. I don't like the idea of even softer material.
The other thing I like so far about using a drop-shot system, really like it where I use it, is reduced hang-ups. It's all boulders and bed rock in Spillway Creek. Hang-ups are constant. Well, when I started using jig hooks, they got less. Now that I'm running drop-shot, hang ups have reduced by another factor. It's bump, bump, bump down the stream, and no hang up! When I do hang up, it's often the shot that does, and I can pull the shot off the end of the rig leaving the tippet intact. In other words, I don't put a knot below the shot. I find the shot never comes off when I don't need it to in a hang up. So, a knot below the shot is not desired.
That's my most recent experience using a drop-shot rig!
I want to second Silver Creek's (a poster at the NAFFF) promotion of the bead sighter. I discovered one in a bag of stuff I ordered about 2 years ago, then had put aside. While building a leader 2 weeks ago, on a whim I added it at the end of the regular old red/green sighter I was constructing from Cortland sighter material with tag ends and all that. Man! I don't even look at or notice the Cortland. That bead sighter is bright! I donno, maybe too bright, maybe scares a few fish. Those beads flash like little jewels. I recommend it if you're having any trouble instantly spotting or following a "regular" sighter. Mine's a Jan Siman. I imagine that the Hanak that SC mentioned is about the same. The next time I build a leader maybe I'll just run a bead sighter alone.
After having gotten used to, I don't know, less thin(?), medium(?) mono-rig leaders of, say, 12 or 15 lb MaxCham, I've recently started running 6lb green Amnesia. Overall, I think I like it. I need to be able to reach pockets about 20 feet across from me. The micro-rig really sticks in those pockets well without dragging to me, much. It still does, a little. I doubt that can be entirely eliminated, physics and all that, but I find its performance that way quite satisfactory. The main problem I'm having now is lining up my backcast 180 degrees from where I want the forward cast to go. When my forward cast goes off in another direction from where I intended it to, as it often does, I can tell that it went right in line with my back cast. I can't figure out how to get my back cast lined up. I keep trying that oval thing. It's not really working. So, I'm only unhappy with accuracy, but I think that's a me problem. Another observation: I don't think I'd want a leader less stiff than the Amnesia. It wraps around the rod tip a little bit and otherwise gobs up occasionally if I haven't been careful. I don't like the idea of even softer material.
The other thing I like so far about using a drop-shot system, really like it where I use it, is reduced hang-ups. It's all boulders and bed rock in Spillway Creek. Hang-ups are constant. Well, when I started using jig hooks, they got less. Now that I'm running drop-shot, hang ups have reduced by another factor. It's bump, bump, bump down the stream, and no hang up! When I do hang up, it's often the shot that does, and I can pull the shot off the end of the rig leaving the tippet intact. In other words, I don't put a knot below the shot. I find the shot never comes off when I don't need it to in a hang up. So, a knot below the shot is not desired.
That's my most recent experience using a drop-shot rig!
