Drift

In skiing, it's all about the line. How do you find that perfect groove within a gigantic hill. In fly fishing, it's all about the drift. Early on, I focused on staying away from trouble -- snags, rocks, etc. Now that my skill set has matured, and I've learned more about the ways of fish, I actually chase the trouble. That 10 pound steelhead isn't likely sitting out in the middle of the river, away from sticks and logs.

Now that I fish several styles -- indicator, swinging, and bottom bouncing -- I have the tools to be able to think about the drift. How do I put that fly where it's most likely to incite action? And drift is (for me) a 3D proposition. I consider both the horizontal plane, as well as the vertical plane. Am I getting deep enough? Or, am I just slamming into bottom obstructions and snags? I think setting up a rig for swinging got me really thinking more about this in a whole new way. As I'm assembling sink tips with various lengths of T-14 and weighted and unweighted flies I'm considering the flow, depth, and configuration of the rivers I tend to fish.

At the same time, there's great adaptation for conditions. I don't fish chuck n' duck much anymore, but sometimes it's the only tool that works. For example, last Spring on a UP trip the water in the Manistique was REALLY low in the most productive runs. One attempted drift made it evident that indy fishing wasn't going to fly. So I grabbed the trusty chuck n' duck stick and had a fish on the second drift through!

Adding this knowledge and awareness to my skill set has been really cool. It's improved my confidence, and upped my success and enjoyment. But, as always, I want to grow. After fishing with some really talented guides and watching them I've come to realize that I could benefit from better skills reading water. I'm fascinated when we roll up to a spot and the guide says, "Lousy swinging water, but great for bottom bouncing". How did he know that? I suppose it's years of pounding that spot. But sometimes I feel like its more of an intuition formed by looking at the dynamics. Now, I just need to figure out better what those dynamics are.

-Sean-