Davy Wotton is here to break out a step x step guide to getting started fly fishing wet flies. We break down each step today in a systematic fashion so you know exactly how to fish wet flies like a pro.
Davy shares the perfect rod, line and leader as well as his top 20 wet flies of all time. Davy notes that the dry line is the goto line but that you should have an intermediate line as part of your gear.
Click below and listen to the Davy Wotton Podcast on Fishing Wet Flies:
Find the show: itunes | stitcher | overcast
(Listen to all Archived Episodes Here)
Part 1 – Davy Wotton was first on the podcast in Episode 35 and covered wet fly fishing here.
Sponsors and Podcast Updates
Show Notes – Fishing Wet Flies with Davy Wotton
04:20 – Check out the ultimate wet fly fishing blog post that includes many of the steps that aren’t written down in this blog post.
06:50 – Davy notes some of the wet fly fishing and tying group. The classic wet fly tyers group is one good example.
15:00 – Clear amnesia is what davy uses for building his leaders.
39:30 – Wet Fly Ways is the great DVD that covers all of Davy’s best tips on wet fly fishing.
1:24:50 – I had a great podcast with Dave Whitlock, one of Davy’s best friends.
1:30:50 – I noted the drift boat series that we have going.
You can find Davy at DaveWottonFlyFishing.com
14 Tips on Fishing Wet Flies for Trout
- You should either match the hatch or use attractors
- Understand how the fish are taking the wet fly
- Understand what the fish are feeding on so you can match
- Use rod movement and retrieve to make wet fly come to life
- 2 casts – upstream dead drift or slightly up and across
- The more you eliminate fly line off the water the better.
- Longer leaders help you keep line off of the water (at least 12’)
- Never allow your 3 flies to track in a straight line
- work on fish closest to you first
- Reading water is key based on time of year, water temperature, DO levels
- Types of wet flies – Imitative in nature vs attractor patterns
- spider vs soft hackle – body is the big difference with sparse spider
- Use the 3 turn surgeons knot and the davy knot. all you need
- Tie your fly off the lower surgeons knot thread
Resources on Fishing Wet Flies
Videos on Fishing Wet Flies Noted in the Show
How to tie the surgeons knot (aka water turn knot in UK)
Top 20 Flies for Davy Wotton
Click here to see photos of these 20 patterns
- March Brown winged or soft hackle
- Hares ear winged or soft hackle
- Black gnat
- blue dun
- dark Cahill
- lead coachman
- Coachman
- light Cahill
- Pmd
- Quill gordon
- wickham fancy
- ginger quill
- Parterigd and orange
- Green wills glory
- Peter ross
- Alexander
- water hen blower
- Muldler daddy
- Dunkeld
- Watsons fancy
Read the Full Podcast Transcript Below
“The more you eliminate fly line off the water, the better.”
-Davy Wotton
Conclusion – Fishing Wet Flies with Davy Wotton
Davy Wotton is here to produce another amazing podcast episode on fishing wet flies with a focus on caddis hatches. We find out how emerges hatch and how you can match this hatch under the surface.
Find out why a soft tip rod is key, why you need an intermediate line and the exact formula to create your leader and cast of flies. This is the ultimate wet fly fishing step x step podcast. We find out how to know how deep to go with your bug.
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Great show with Davy, as always a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from.
Thanks for checking in Greg and for the listen. I could chat with Davy all day long so hopefully, we’ll get him on again.
Davy is a leading authority on wet flies
and presentation. One of the very best teachers around today.
Right on Larry. Totally agree. Can’t wait to get him back on.
Davey what’s your tecipe for bluewinged olive sift hackle
Russell.
You have a number of options for this fly. Without a doubt one of the old north country spider patterns that is hard to beat is the Waterhen bloa. Waterhen is the name for a UK bird otherwise known as a Moorhen. Not easy to obtain here in the USA. It is more or less a dark dunny hackle taken from the birds wing. Not a easy feather to find here in the US. You can use more or less any soft hackle feather that is a gray/dunny shade. Hen hackle works fine.
Alternatively you can tie the fly with a dark olive thread body or use a very fine dubbed body ( mole is used for the Waterhen bloa ) on yellow silk, then a sparse wind of the hackle.
This fly is best fished dead drift in zones you see fish feeding , hook sizes 14 to 18.
Hope this helps.
Davy
Much appreciated Davy!
Thanks always for the great content. I’ve watched Wet Fly Ways multiple times and listened to this cast multiple times as well. Consistently, my biggest browns seem to come on the swing. I don’t know what it is, but browns just can’t seem to resist a well swung fly. Plus, it is the most relaxing way to fly fish in my humble opinion.