Different ways to Skate a sedge

[scotty9]

They're great fish Rab, definitely no need to put them down! I just asked incase the lost fish were because of small fish grabbing hold, obviously not.

Last week I was sight fishing the river I'm talking about, absolutely shocked at the numbers of large trout. Have to admit I'm absolutely loving the low and clear conditions right now, sure it can be hard but that's what makes it more fun.

[Harpo]

When tweaking them they get pulled under & bob back up

I've read that loch fishermen use this sinking and then bobbing back up with big flies and it can be devastating  and the fish really react to it.

[Rabmax]

Rab - are fish those size unusual for the river? What time were you fishing?
I feel like going out now! Mind you I  usually manage to freak myself out at dusk never mind Middle of the night :gay4 

I have caught a few large trout from this river before.Quite a lot of these large trout are coming from slower river sections.I did know there were larger trout in these sections as i have seen the jumps before.Never had much success before so tended to pass by these river sections.Not anymore though .I have been fishing mostly from 5pm until just getting dark.Would fish longer into the night but the bankings are full of nettles & you would get stung to death.If you see lots of sedges on the water early evening 4-5 pm seems to fish well all the way till dark if mild weather.If theres not many sedges about seems to fish better the nearer it gets to darkness.That's what i have been finding so far anyway.Going to give it a try on some of the smaller rivers i fish with a slightly smaller skated sedge & see what happens

[Highlander]

I've read that loch fishermen use this sinking and then bobbing

Has a Sedge got a diving plane or aqualung?

Some of these "modern" writers talk a lot of pish.
If you can sink & bob a Sedge without modifying the fly then good luck to you.
It is certainly not something the natural will do.
Tight Lines

[Fishtales]

Has a Sedge got a diving plane or aqualung?

Some of these "modern" writers talk a lot of pish.
If you can sink & bob a Sedge without modifying the fly then good luck to you.
It is certainly not something the natural will do.
Tight Lines

I don't think it is really that rubbish Alan. The fly going under and then bobbing back up could be taken as a hatching fly. I know my Dry Fly,#14, sometimes goes under and bobs back onto the surface when it is well anointed with Mucilin and fish still take it confidently so they must see it as something to eat

[Highlander]

We will have to disagree on that one guys. Of course a fly can be inadvertently pulled under & bob back up. It has happened to us all at some time but to "actively work" a standard fly like that can not be done. Even festooned with floatant will soon be come waterlogged & cease to float at all. Only exceptuon I can think of is a stacked hair popper with a diving vane built in.  But we talk of Sedge not Poppers.
Sedge hatch from pupa, they do not do water aerobics or synchronized swimming . I am not saying it does or has not worked but it is not a normal occurrence in nature. If we can imitate or suggest nature with our creations then that will do for me.

Tight Lines & I will say no more on the subject.

[Fishtales]

It is strange how we look on things so differently Alan. I have watched sedges on the surface, they don't skate by the way they hop across the surface, and sometimes they get hit by a breaking wave, disappear below the surface and then pop back up again to continue on their way. There are also some which get drowned but also pop back up but stay stuck in the film, still on the surface but stuck and only struggle to break free. The pupae too are only sedges when they reach the surface and start to hatch and the sunk and re-surfacing dry must appear like those to a passing trout. We will never know of course but as long as it works I certainly wont knock it.

[Rabmax]

My modified CDC & Elk with hackle & little foam outboard thing at the front was very successful yesterday.The main river was chocolate brown so i fished a tributary.Got there about 5pm & started tweaking my modified fly.It skates better floats better less maintenance required.You can also still make it bob under if you wish my keeping your rod lower to the water when tweaking.Also less disturbance using a tapered leader as opposed to the furled leader.Only problem was if i tweaked it they wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.But fished dead drift it was game on.Caught well until about 9pm when catching slowed to almost a halt.Was going to go home but decided to give it one last go again with this tweaking.It was game on again & really drove the trout nuts.The last hour was mental often catching a fish every cast.Great Fun.Cheers All

[scotty9]

We will have to disagree on that one guys. Of course a fly can be inadvertently pulled under & bob back up. It has happened to us all at some time but to "actively work" a standard fly like that can not be done. Even festooned with floatant will soon we come waterlogged & cease to float at all. Only exceptuon I can think of is a stacked hair popper with a diving vane built in.  But we talk of Sedge not Poppers.
Sedge hatch from pupa, they do not do water aerobics or synchronized swimming . I am not saying it does or has not worked but it is not a normal occurrence in nature. If we can imitate or suggest nature with our creations then that will do for me.

Tight Lines & I will say no more on the subject.

I have to agree with this and also not saying that this action doesn't work, of course it does but I think the difference is that in my eyes the trout is reacting to something other than what the fisherman perhaps thinks he is imitating. Giving them something large to chase seems to bring out the best of their aggression, I do not believe for one instance that these fish are taking the fly as a sedge imitation, it's just something. Totally agree that I have never once seen a sedge remotely behave in the way our flies move on the end of our line, apart from when they are static dead drifting  :lol:

Ok this is total semantics, a bit anal and means absolutely nothing but I feel that the conventional wisdom that says when we get great smash takes on the surface it's all about the sedge fishing is questionable. How often do you watch adult sedges running across the surface and never getting hit? Me personally, all the time.

Rab - superb! Any pictures of your fly?

[Wildfisher]

How often do you watch adult sedges running across the surface and never getting hit? Me personally, all the time.

I'd agree with that, on lochs it's very apparent, although recently I did see a few nailed, but most of the time they appear to skate about unmolested.