Spring Fishing in Clear Water

[hf]

Scenario .... spring time and the usually peaty highland river is now running very clear.

Question.... would the water running clear have any bearing on the type, size, or colour of fly that should be used?

Question 2... if the answer to the above is no, would that still apply if it was summer/early autumn

Just wondering (while I am waiting for my next trip out)

[sinkingtip]

Hi Heilanman -

"Type of fly" ? - no.
Tube, Waddie, Double or Single ..... whatever you fancy as it makes no difference to the fish IMHO.

"Size" ? - yes.
Highland river ? Probably spate with a reasonably quick run-off. In a situation like this I would feel more confident dropping the size of my flee from something in the region of 2" down to 1" with a further reduction to 1/2" depending on how quickly the water was dropping away.

"Colour of fly ?" Yes ..... and no.
I would feel just as confident fishing an "in yer face" Scandi style flee, albeit in smaller sizes as intimated above, but equally so with something a bit more subtle like a Black + Yellow, Executioner or Munro variants .... to name but 3.

Dinna get me started on colour ff's sake - colour is far more important to the fisher than it is to the fish ...... IMHO
yours aye
STip

[salmonking]

Hi ,,id tend to go with a small d/h,,floating line,,,clear polyleader
in either floating or hover,,possibly an inty if i felt the need,,,armed with a small size 14 or 12,,pattern?as tippy says whatever you feel confident in,,,,on a 10 or 12 ft leader,,this set up is what i use when the river is low,,minimizing the chances of spooking the fish.

[hf]

salmonking said:

Hi ,,id tend to go with a small d/h,,floating line,,,clear polyleader
in either floating or hover,,possibly an inty if i felt the need,,,armed with a small size 14 or 12,,pattern?as tippy says whatever you feel confident in,,,,on a 10 or 12 ft leader,,this set up is what i use when the river is low,,minimizing the chances of spooking the fish.

Hi SOCK eye king... thanks for the advice. Can I clarify one thing though? The size 14 or 12, would you use that in spring time? (if the water was very clear).



STip... I was afraid to even mention colour in the original question ;D Kind of know your thoughts on that one - the message is getting through. Thanks also for the advice on type and size.

[salmonking]

If its a spate river and the water is low,,without hesitation,,id probably opt for the 12 out of the two though.

[hf]

salmonking said:

If its a spate river and the water is low,,without hesitation,,id probably opt for the 12 out of the two though.

Fascinating... I wouldn't have thought of, or considered, using such a relatively small fly in spring. Thanks for that and I'll keep it in the armoury.