Floating Line Techniques

Advanced techniques that will bring results

Tom Jarman

One of my favourite ways to fish Tasmanian lakes is with a floating line and a team of small wet flies or nymphs. The sensation of the line tightening as a fish eats my fly whilst I am retrieving never gets old. Also, casting a floating line from the boat or bank is a pleasure and makes for a nice change after fishing intermediate or other sinking lines earlier in the season. By late spring, trout across both highland and lowland lakes will be looking up and feeding high in the water column or off the top. This can be to a variety of insects including mayfly, midge or caddis. This is a great time to be targeting trout on a floating line, and you will find being prepared to fish a few different styles of flies and techniques will increase your success rate.

When to fish a floating line?

The ideal scenario to fish these techniques is when they are rising fish. Both the wet flies and nymphs will work, however, you will find that on some days and lakes they prefer one over the other. The best part about having rising fish is you can present the flies to the fish and see their response. Sometimes they will charge over to eat your retrieved wet flies as they fish through the surface film, and other days they will completely ignore them. The mood of the fish often dictates which way I will fish. If they are moving quickly and seem aggressive then I like to retrieve a team of wet flies and cover as many fish and/or as much water as possible. If they aren’t willing to chase then I find slowing down and presenting the nymphs to be the best way to go.

If you do not have rising fish and are forced to search through the water fishing blind, then reading the conditions will help you decide whether to fish wet flies or nymphs. There are so many different factors that influence my decision making, however, the main ones are the wind and cloud cover. In windy and overcast conditions, I like to fish a team of wet flies. Retrieving your flies gives you more line control and keeps you tighter to your flies when there is a wave on the lake. Typically the fish are also more confident and happy to chase in windier weather so this lends itself perfectly to fishing traditional wet flies. In calmer conditions, or when it is bright, I tend to lean towards fishing a team of nymphs. This is because you can fish with more control over your flies as there is less wind and can offer a more subtle and precise presentation. This is important because particularly in bright conditions the fish can be quite touchy, and may not eat the fly with as much confidence.

Gear and leaders

The gear required to fish these techniques is very simple and is interchangeable. I like to fish a six weight rod preferably in 10 feet, a floating line with a tapered leader and then my tippet. Leader setups can be a very personal thing, what works for one person may not be what works for another. The most important thing is that you find a leader set up that you find comfortable and enjoyable to fish with. I use a 9ft tapered leader in 3X or 4X and shorten it so that it is only 5ft long,

I then tie a tippet ring onto the end. I use a tippet ring is so that I don’t eat into my tapered leader each time I change my tippet sections. I like a fluorocarbon tapered leader, as I feel it allows me to achieve a little bit of depth if I need it, however fishing a nylon tapered leader is absolutely fine as well. From my tippet ring, I then add 12 feet of 3X fluorocarbon (again nylon is fine also). I then tie two droppers onto this section where my top and middle fly will go. My top dropper will be attached two feet beneath my tippet ring, and my middle dropper will be attached five feet below my top dropper. Both of these droppers I attach with a triple surgeons knot. This results in a leader that is 17 feet long, with three flies spaced five feet apart. If fishing three flies is a bit hard to manage, you can shorten this so that you are only fishing two flies, five feet apart.

Retrieves

Deciding how to fish your flies on a given day is one of the hardest parts of fly fishing. Often the fish will eat a range of presentations throughout a given day, so being able to mix up your retrieves to find what is working, and then still mix in other retrieves once you have found out what is working is important. When fishing a team of wet flies, I like to rotate between slow, medium and fast retrieves along with a two-handed rolly polly. Adjusting the angle at which you are retrieving your flies in relation to the wind is also incredibly important. As is not feeling the need to fish too long, the shorter you fish, the better line control you will have and the better take detection and hook sets you will get. When fishing a team of nymphs I like to fish them nice and slowly. Remember nymphs don’t tend to swim very quickly, and when I am nymphing this is generally because I am looking for a more realistic presentation. A figure of eight retrieve (hand twist retrieve) or a long slow draw is a great way to fish your nymphs. It is also good to mix up the depth at which you are fishing your nymphs, this can be done by adding a beaded fly to the point, changing the length of your cast or speed of your retrieve.

My favourite flies

As is always the case with fly fishing, technique and decision making is more important than fly choice. However, having a good range of flies that you have confidence in fishing whichever lake you go to can be a big advantage. So many of the flies we fish in Australia originated overseas and are very successful on our waters. This gives me confidence that if I have a few patterns that I like fishing and are successful with, I can take them to any water and can expect to catch fish on them. Some traditional wet flies that I believe to be must-haves on Tasmanian lakes include the claret dabbler, Kate Mclaren, zulu and bibio. Nymph wise, you could almost fish only with seals fur nymphs of varying colours and be very content. However, I find black and claret seals fur nymphs to be particularly good as are Bill Beck’s krystal flash nymphs. If you were to then add in some diawl bachs, a stick caddis and a hares ear, then you have a very complete nymph box.

Fishing with a floating line on lakes is such an enjoyable way to catch trout, it allows the angler to be versatile as you can fish a mix of techniques. With the use of the correct technique, you will be amazed at some of the fish numbers this style of fishing will produce, when most other techniques struggle. Get out there, fish with confidence and enjoy some of our great lakes and I’m sure you will be rewarded with some fun and exciting fishing.

As the weather warms, there will be an abundance of mayfly hatches. Col

Tom Jarman