Advanced Dry Fly Fishing Class

These sessions are designed for intermediate to advanced fly fishers with existing practical dry fly experience that wish to advance their skills and dry fly techniques. It is scheduled to coincide with the key entomology hatches during the spring season. We will focus on the observations and learning from over 40 years of in-stream and under-stream observations of Gary LaFontaine, using his seminal work "The Dry Fly - New Angles". The course is an intense six-part series which includes four 3-hour classroom sessions. It also includes a 3-hour hands-on casting instruction of specific dry fly techniques including specific presentation casts (parachute, pile, reach mends, aerial mending, curve cast, etc.). The final session is on-stream with TVFF instructors to assist attendees with applying the classroom skills.

This course has required pre-requisites of completion of a TVFF Entomology class within the last five years, as well as a Fundamentals class. We will be talking and discussing dry fly techniques at a high level throughout the class so adequate knowledge is essential as a baseline.

Advanced Dry Fly Course Topics:

• Dry fly equipment including leaders with hand tied vs tapered
• Primary surface food and reading the hatch
• Feeding characteristics and identifying rises with trout vision and vision cones
• Reading the water, feeding locations, the rise process, and "The Take"
• Dry fly construction and importance of primary and secondary characteristics
• Dry fly categories (searchers, attractors, imitators- high and low profile)
• Anticipating the hatch with key dry fly strategies
• Proper fly selection according to hatch progression and when to not match the hatch
• Use of emergers vs duns vs spinners
• Use and construction of dry droppers
• Dry fly presentations and casting solutions
• Hooking and landing fish
• Angler and pattern failure; why flies and anglers fail
• Mayfly emergers, duns and spinners, stoneflies, midges and caddis patterns
• Terrestrial patterns and how to select
• Adjusting your dry fly fishing in different water types

Signups

Check our event calendar to see if this course is already scheduled. If not, please submit the interest form below. The club's Education Director will contact you when we receive enough interest to start another class.