So for the most part I’ve never swung soft hackles for trout. I did one time while I was wading back to camp after a long day and it quickly opened my eyes. There really hasn’t been a reason why I haven’t, I just havent.
Well this week that kinda changed and I’m pretty excited. So I was out in the national forest cutting firewood for the pizza oven/fire place. I had brought my 3 wt glass rod in case I had enough time before I had to get home for school pickup. I ended up having about 2 hours and went to a run I fished almost daily when I lived 10 minutes away. I fished maybe a 1/2 mile upstream with various dries with no eats. Normally you can catch a dozen 4-8” fish in this zone, but it was low, clear and about noon so I wasn’t expecting much. On the way down, I said fuck it and I’ll try to swing a soft hackle. Man was that fun. I ended up catching problem 18 fish in the 30 minutes it took me to get down. I would see the fish turn and swim 15 feet after my fly. Will I turn exclusively to swinging wets? Probably not. But it’s great to have another tool in the box. I think my copy of Dave Hughes Wet Flies comes tomorrow
Well this week that kinda changed and I’m pretty excited. So I was out in the national forest cutting firewood for the pizza oven/fire place. I had brought my 3 wt glass rod in case I had enough time before I had to get home for school pickup. I ended up having about 2 hours and went to a run I fished almost daily when I lived 10 minutes away. I fished maybe a 1/2 mile upstream with various dries with no eats. Normally you can catch a dozen 4-8” fish in this zone, but it was low, clear and about noon so I wasn’t expecting much. On the way down, I said fuck it and I’ll try to swing a soft hackle. Man was that fun. I ended up catching problem 18 fish in the 30 minutes it took me to get down. I would see the fish turn and swim 15 feet after my fly. Will I turn exclusively to swinging wets? Probably not. But it’s great to have another tool in the box. I think my copy of Dave Hughes Wet Flies comes tomorrow