The Wet Fly Swing
By Cameron Larsen, Thu Dec 8th

The wet fly swing sounds like something one does at the squaredance hall. Instead the wet fly swing is one of the oldest flyfishing techniques. It is used for all types of fish, where everthere is a current. Winter steelhead, salmon, big trout in bigrivers, and even striped bass, are all prey that often requirethe use of the’ wet-fly swing’.

When to use it

The wet fly swing is designed to get the fly down deep quicklyand swing it in front of the desired fish. Trout anglers use itwhen fish are holding deep, and not rising for any particularhatch. Winter steelheaders use it when steelhead loathe to movein the cold water and sit in between the feeding lanes or lie inthe pocket water. Striped bass anglers find the wet fly swingworks the baitfish imitations in the current, to give them alifelike presentation, that fools fish again and again. The wetfly swing is most often used with streamers, like the WoollyBugger or Muddler Minnow and sometimes wet flies, like softhackles or nymphs. It is used whenever the fly fisher wants hispresentation to appear to be swimming freely in the current.Preferably broadside to the current, while the fish will bewaiting either in pocket water behind big rocks, or in a seamwhere the current changes speed. It can also be used in tailoutsbelow pools.

Rigging

Most fly fishing anglers will use the wet fly swing with asinking tip line. The weight will depend on the species of fishand the size of the water. Steelheaders and salmon anglers willbe using 8 or above, and it goes on down for the other gamefish. The point is you will want to rig fairly big, as you willnot only be fighting the fish, but the current as well, andoften times current that is deep. The leaders tend to be shorterthan average, as you want the fly to follow sinking tip line,and not rise up in the current. As the take will be deep, youdon’t want to have to set the hook with a lot of slack leader.Depth is of importance, as generally this technique is used forfish lying deep. If you aren’t getting the depth you want, thantry adding more weight, a larger fly, or switching lines. I tryto avoid a sinking line, as I like the line to lie on the water,for ease of control, casting, and of course, setting that hook.

The Technique

The wet fly swing at its simplest is this. Find the water youwant, and cast across stream, to slightly downstream. Mend yourline immediately, usually upstream. This allows the fly to sink.Then follow your line with your rod tip downstream. Loweringyour rod tip as the fly swings across the current, so the flywill not have any drag. Some anglers like to impart action ontheir presentation with their rod tip, but if fishing in currentthe action is often done all by itself. When the fly has reachedthe end of its swing. Lift the line up, by doing a small rollcast, and then cast it out again. For deeper presentation, castfurther upstream,. for shallower presentation cast moredownstream. If floating lines are what you are used to, castingthe sinking tip line or even a shooting head line can take

alittle practice. Slowing down the entire casting stroke will berequired, and allow the back cast to fully extend. But with alittle practice, distance can be greatly improved allowing thefly fisher to reach water, unreachable by using other flyfishing techniques.

The wet fly swing is great for extending the season of flyfishing. When most other techniques prove to be ineffective, dueto high or cold water. One can still entice those hesitant fishusing this time tested technique.

About the author:Cameron Larsen is a retired commericial fly tier and fly fishingguide. He now operates The Big Y Fly Company.Http://www.bigyflyco.com. He can be reached atinfo@bigyflyco.com. The above article will appear in the Big YFly Fishing E-Zine atHttp://www.bigyflyco.com/Bigyflyfishingezine.html.