If you are fishing dry flies, you want to be able to see the fly. Seeing a trout rise to our fly is what we all dream about. If you can’t see your fly, you miss out on the pinnacle of this pursuit.
Many dry flies are tied with white, pink, or orange indicators to help the angler see the fly on the water. On many days, these flies are easy to see and work well. Bright, sunny days with minimal glare are best for seeing flies tied with lighter-colored materials.
However, these white or bright flies are difficult to see under some light conditions. Sometimes, the surface gets a silver glare that masks white flies, making them almost impossible to pick up. To combat the glare, I have been tying dry flies with black materials for indicators and wings. A dry fly tied with dark indicator materials contrasts nicely against this silver glare, making them much easier to see.
Here are a few examples of dry flies I have tied for these low-light, high-glare scenarios.
Fishing during the evening or on cloudy days is when dark dry flies are easiest to see. Most cloudy days create an intense glare on the water’s surface. These days also make for some of the best dry fly days, so it’s important to tie flies you can see and take advantage of trout rising. You do not want to miss out on a fantastic dry fly day because you can’t see your dry fly.
See below for an example as I attempted to take a picture of the contrasting light conditions on my recent day of midge fishing.
On the left side of the photo, you can see the silver glare that often occurs during overcast conditions. On the right, the water is dark and does not have the glare.
I use black-and-white dots to show what our flies may look like on the water’s surface. While it’s not perfect, I believe it shows how much easier a black fly is to see in the glare compared to white flies.
Going into this fishing season, I am focusing on being prepared with various flies for different light conditions. I like seeing trout rise to my fly rather than guessing and checking because I can’t find my fly. Tying dark flies has helped me see more trout rise to my dry flies, and I hope it does the same for you.
Until next time,
Nick
