Hi-viz dry flies

[Part-time]

One thing that's made a big difference to me this season on rivers (and I'm still very much a learner when it comes to river fishing) is using dries with hi-viz wing posts etc. I never like the idea thinking it might spook some fish, however I did try one (the only one I had in the box in difficult light conditions a few weeks back and it made a big difference to seeing the fly and what it was doing. Caught a few fish too!

Since then I've coloured up the white yarn on a few other flies, mainly klinkhamers, and continued to get on well with them. Trouble is I still have a nagging doubt that these flies will be putting off some fish, probably just a confidence thing but I'm curious what other folk think - before I take a bright pink sharpie to all my flies

[Wildfisher]

Good call John. I use hi vis yellow posts on some of my parachutes and it makes a hell of a difference in rough / foamy water.

Only thing I found is that sometimes in very glassy, smooth water I get refusals with any kind of posted fly and often have to switch to very lightly dressed flies with no post at all. This has been especially  true with the sea trout I have been catching this season. Not an issue of course as even very lightly dressed flies are easy to spot in water like that.

A point this does raise though is it's sometimes better to take the trouble to change the fly design depending on what kind of water you are fishing. Means a bit of fly changing though and being a lazy bugger I don't always do this.  :lol:

[alba]

I'm the same, never used a coloured post in my life , I have zero confidence in them, personal choice. Can't say I wouldn't use them as I get older and my eyesight deteriorates tho  :lol: :crap

[haresear]

I use hi viz flies a lot. I find them particularly useful on windy days when the fly doesn't always end up where it should and I am fishing the water rather than casting to risers. :roll:
You know the situation...it's an upstream wind and you are trying to cast directly across the river. The fly line lands okay but a gust catches the leader and deposits the fly and leader upstream of the line and you frantically scan the water to spot your fly before a fish takes it unseen.

At least with the hi viz you can see where your fly has landed immediately.The other situations it comes in useful are at dusk and when casting a long line.

I do prefer to use the fluoro yellow rather than red, pink etc. as at least yellow is evident on natural flies such as yellow may duns. That said I have caught plenty of fish on fluoro orange posts too.

Alex

[Part-time]

Thanks for the reassuring comments - I'll be more confident using them now

I like the thinking behind the yellow being found in natural flies

Cheers
John

[corsican dave]

i've had real problems seeing small beetle patterns when we've been fishing for barbel & carp. the answer? a bloody ENORMOUS piece of fluorescent foam super-glued on top. did it affect how the fly sits in the water? no. did it spook the barbel? no.

for what it's worth....  :

[Lochan_load]

Have you ever tried them on real fish dave?  :worried :worms :tongue2 :crap

[corsican dave]

Have you ever tried them on real fish dave?  :worried :worms :tongue2 :crap

no  :

[Lochan_load]

 :lol: sorry couldn't resist!

[haresear]

I had a fish today on a hi vis black gnat. There were olive uprights, sandflies and loads of iron blues as well as lots of gnats. That fish seemed to be preoccupied with gnats, whereas the the other two fish I got were on sandflies and iron blues respectively.