SWING that Soft Hackle

"MAN this is fun", I exclaimed after nabbing a few fish on our way back downstream from our usual day of walking "UPSTREAM", and attempting to get our best dead drifts from either a tandem nymph rig or dry fly. My partner muttered "well it gives you something to do on the way back to the car!"

I'd like to give it a little more credit than that. In the past year I've realized how much slightly agitating a nymph or caddis fly can really "set off" a fish rather than just attempting the perfect dead drift every time. The same holds true with the standard down and across method that most of us are taught when using some of these of these partridge and "whatevers." It's kind of an idiot proof way to enjoy your day on the water and look at the scenery that surrounds you rather than watching a indicator or heavily hackled dry fly.

I told myself this season I was going to fish this style a little more. If nothing else, when fishing a crowded stretch of water, it almost always seems that most fisherman attempt a jaunt upstream, this gives us another option in that same stretch of water. Don't forget about it, just another trick in the bag, and I need all the tricks I can get.