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Thread: Adding weight to flies..

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    KZN
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    Default Adding weight to flies..

    Hey guys

    I always add weight to my nymphs,wooly buggers,streamers etc (stillwater patterns).Id like to know how weighting of flies can be detrimental to how a fly acts naturally in the water.
    Obviously we want our patterns to swim as close to the natural as possible and adding weight i guess would offset this.
    I generally add weight to get the fly down although i guess this may not be necessary when fishing a fast intermediate or sinker in dams.

  2. #2
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    Nov 2006
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    Western Cape
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    What nymphs and streamers are you talking about? woolly buggers and fritzes etc. are generic flies, and don't really imitate anything specifically, so its very difficult to make it behave like any natural, when they arent imitating a natural. The retrieve that you use will give it movement, and the depth that you fish at, is going to determine your success rate, so don't bother trying to imitate any particular natural, unless you know which natural you are imitating. If you fishing a damsel for instance, good to understand how a damsel nymph swims, or a tadpole, or a dragon etc. Also best to fish a decent sinking line for better results, but a beaded fly can actually give it better movement.
    Quote Originally Posted by saflyfish View Post
    Hey guys

    I always add weight to my nymphs,wooly buggers,streamers etc (stillwater patterns).Id like to know how weighting of flies can be detrimental to how a fly acts naturally in the water.
    Obviously we want our patterns to swim as close to the natural as possible and adding weight i guess would offset this.
    I generally add weight to get the fly down although i guess this may not be necessary when fishing a fast intermediate or sinker in dams.
    Disclaimer.... none of my posts are intended to be "expert advice"..just opinions from someone who is willing to help where he can.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Cape Town
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    I prefer weight, as it can make a wooly bugger or baitfish pattern dive, jig, dart, sometimes, just what you need to convince the fish to take your fly.
    Korrie Broos

    Don't go knocking on Death's door, ring the bell and run like hell. He hates it. (anon)
    Nymphing, adds depth to your fly fishing.
    Nymphing, is fly fishing in another dimension

  4. #4
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    Jun 2007
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    Western Cape
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    Alexandra fly is the best trout fly ever invented and it was weightless.
    What would the world be, once bereft of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, o let them be left, wilderness and wet, long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
    Gerald Manley Hopkins

  5. #5
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    Jan 2007
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    Cape Town
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kingfisher View Post
    Alexandra fly is the best trout fly ever invented and it was weightless.
    Yes, and it depends if you want to fish it with floating or sinking line.
    Korrie Broos

    Don't go knocking on Death's door, ring the bell and run like hell. He hates it. (anon)
    Nymphing, adds depth to your fly fishing.
    Nymphing, is fly fishing in another dimension

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
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    Western Cape
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    An ethical question then. Did Skues or Sawyer ever weight their nymphs?
    What would the world be, once bereft of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, o let them be left, wilderness and wet, long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
    Gerald Manley Hopkins

  7. #7
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    May 2007
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    Parys, Free State
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    Apart from copper wire I don't think so.

  8. #8
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    For my LM flies I like adding weight anything from 0.5g to 1g it's a no-brainer!

  9. #9
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    Jun 2007
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    Western Cape
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    Shame on you then, Beast Maimer
    What would the world be, once bereft of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, o let them be left, wilderness and wet, long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
    Gerald Manley Hopkins

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Cape Town
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    Quote Originally Posted by saflyfish View Post
    Hey guys

    I always add weight to my nymphs,wooly buggers,streamers etc (stillwater patterns).Id like to know how weighting of flies can be detrimental to how a fly acts naturally in the water.
    Obviously we want our patterns to swim as close to the natural as possible and adding weight i guess would offset this.
    I generally add weight to get the fly down although i guess this may not be necessary when fishing a fast intermediate or sinker in dams.
    Very few naturals (besides some species of snails) sink like a stone or move very fast. Fishing patterns with very slow to static retrieves can be a very successful technique, especially in KZN and NEC stillwaters which are often shallow and have good weedbeds. In the Western Cape most of our stillwaters are fairly deep and lack decent weedbeds which is why dredging with faster sinking lines tends to work well. So to answer your question you need a variety of weights, patterns and retrieves to fish stillwaters effectively.
    “Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people. If you show them enough times that their arguments are bullshit, then maybe just once, one of them will say, 'Oh! Wait a minute - I was wrong.' I live for that happening. Rare, I assure you” ― Lemmy Kilmister

    Reap the Whirlwind - WM

    Paradise = A 3wt Rod & a fist full of someone else's #32 parachutes

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