Chris Price’s Dry Fly Rig

Chris Price is the manager of Chile West, our mobile fishing operation in Chile.  In addition to working with us at Alaska West, Chris has been guiding and managing lodges in Southern Chile for years.  He spends summers on the Kanektok and lives with his family in Coyhaique when he’s not fishing his way down the Carretera Austral, the ‘highway’ that runs through Southern Chile.  Chris’s go-to dry fly setup is designed for making lots of quick shots, and is built around an overlined 5-weight rod.  “In my experiences in Chile, I have found that less false casting is best. We often float some fairly fast water, and you want to get your fly in the pocket before you float past it!”

The Summary

• Cabela’s FT 905 4 piece rod.  This rod is no longer available, but current fast-action 5-weights would work as well.
• Cabela’s Drake III reel
• Rio Clouser Weight Forward line in 7 weight

The Detail

• 100 yards of 30 pound Cortland Micron backing, tied to the spool with an arbor knot
• Rio Clouser 7 weight line attached to the backing with a nail knot.  “I like to overline the rod. This makes it easy to load the rod, allowing less false casting – you need to pick it up and lay it back down quickly. It will roll cast nicely also. This line is great for big dry flies as well as adding a heavy nymph dropper. And don’t forget, Patagonia can be windy. This line helps cut through the wind.”
• Butt section of 12 inches of 30 pound Izorline tied on with a nail knot and a perfection loop on the end. “This helps turn over the line when throwing big flies.”
• 6- to 8-foot tapered leader, tapered to 5 – 10 pounds, connected to the butt section using a loop-to-loop connection and another perfection loop. “If it’s windy and I’m throwing a big dry, I go with a 6 ft, 10 lb, 3X leader. I may add a couple of feet of 8 lb tippet.”
• Big (#4) foam beetle fly in black with orange legs, tied on with an improved clinch knot. “The foam keeps the fly from drowning and also will float with a heavy nymph dropper. My choice of nymph would be a beadhead hare’s ear with rubber legs #10-12 or a weighted brown stonefly nymph #6-8.”