Dry for trout on a gently flowing chalk stream in May and June is considered by some as the purist form of fly fishing. The floating fly imitates the actual insects the fish are feeding on. Dry for trout in its purest form is always upstream and therefore cannot be practiced in fast flowing upland rivers since the fly would be back at your feet in a jiffy! In the mayfly hatch this is relatively easy since the imitation mayfly is a quite large fly which you can see with ease and often taken with gusto-hence the term ‘duffer’s fortnight’ for the height of the mayfly season.
When you are dry for trout the fly is cast upstream of the rising fish. The fly chosen should imitate those flies that the fish are feeding on so the successful dry fly fisherman needs also to be an observer of the insect life of the river. Flies vary from the large mayfly down to tiny midges-some mimic land insects like daddy long legs which are often blown into the water from the surrounding water meadows. Choosing the flies to buy gives great pleasure to the dry fly fisherman and a well stocked fly box is a sign of many years shopping! Dry flies have to be kept dry-hence the false casting to throw off the drops of water. Also the dry fly fisherman will need a can of special spray to coat the fly with water-repellant.
But like all the good things in life, good dry for trout is in relatively short supply. There are only 3 main southern chalk streams, the Test, Itchen and Kennet. These rivers are tightly controlled, stocked and managed- hence the dry for trout here is rather pricey. The banks are cut, trees trimmed and coarse fish removed. When dry for trout it is worth checking what is stocked as some beats now only stock Brown Trout. The‘stockies’can weigh as much as nine pounds but at this weight cannot sustain this by feeding on insect life so they actually lose weight unless there is a good supply of small fish such as dace and minnows. When planning your dry for trout trip, remember that trout feeding on small fish rarely rise to the fly. In among the stocked trout there will be the wild trout which have been hatched in the stream. These will be smaller- a good one is a two-pounder-but they will rise to the dry fly.
When dry for trout dry flies work in the quieter, slower parts of northern rivers such as those flowing through the Yorkshire Dales and also in the quieter stretches of the big salmon rivers such as the Tay. These will be free-rising wild trout. There are many opportunities to dry fly fish for trout in the rivers of Wales and particularly in the rivers and streams of Ireland which on the whole are gently flowing.
When planning trips for dry for trout and grayling in England it is worth considering the upper regions of the Hampshire Avon and its tributaries, the Nadder, Wylye and Bourne-and also the Dorset, Frome. There is no where as neatly manicured as the Test, and it can produce good fishing. It’s also worth investigating opportunities to dry fly fish for trout in the Cotswolds – which has the chalk streams Coln and Windrush that are Thames tributaries.
Even Norfolk has its spots to fly fish for trout in its own chalk streams-the Nar and Wissey which flow westwards into the Great Ouse and the upper reaches of the Bure and Wensum which flow in a southerly direction into the Yare system.
As this site matures, we plan to feature fishing available for those wishing to dry fly fish for trout-this will be a free service to owners and managers of fisheries-so keep visiting us to find out what’s available.
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