Re: [VFB] dry fly or wet fly/nymph "Which catches more fish ?"

[Dan Crowe]

I know I've seen studies where they have found that they vast majority or a trout's diet is subsurface insects. Something like 90%. I wish I remember now where I saw that so I could give you the reference.   I suppose that if that is the case, it makes sense that more fish would be caught with subsurface flies. However, I have two observations:   1) It is a whole heck of a lot of fun to catch fish with dry flies. 2) On a number of occasions, I have been successful catching fish on wets on virtually every cast, and then like a light switch, all of a sudden, nothing. I find that is the time to switch to a dry, and usually I will begin catching fish almost immediately. There have been days when the only two flies I have used are a parachute Adams and a BHPT, just switching back and forth. That tells me that it is more important to fish with what they are looking for than to try and play the odds and go with what, on average, catches the most fish.   Please keep in mind when reading this that I am wholly incompetent and not to be trusted in comparison to most of the folks on the list. I just know what works for me (occasionally).   Dan Crowe ----- Original Message ----- From: ed carlin To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 5:52 AM Subject: [VFB] dry fly or wet fly/nymph "Which catches more fish ?" I've been reading  "A Trout& Salmon Fisherman for 75 Years" by Edward Hewitt. On page 151: " Now as to the comparative effectivenes of the wet and dry fly in taking trout I would like to say that I have given this matter lenghty and serious study. When fish are rising to surface insects freely, no way of fishing is better than the dry fly or will catch more fish. However, over most of the trout season these conditions do not prevail, and trout get most of their food from organisms below the surface of the water." "In order to test this out, I tried for several seasons fishing a piece of water up with a dry fly and again back down with a wet fly. One day I would go down first and the next day I would come upstream first so that each type of fly would have first chance at the water in turn. I found that for the whole season the wet fly would take about twice as many trout as the dry fly." Any thoughts on this ?  As most know I like a dry fly- I have never had the time or persistance or opportunity to fish one piece of water over and over again. So I have never tested one piece of water: like Mr. Hewitt. I guess this should make dry fly fishers start using more wet flies. Ed Do You Yahoo!? New! SBC Yahoo! Dial - 1st Month Free & unlimited access