In a typical river float with Chile West, anglers have the opportunity to fish lots of different types of water using many methods.
Occasionally there will be an area where the river dumps into a rock wall and makes a 90 degree turn creating a big backeddy. Here the current swirls around creating seams that accumulate debris as well as food for awaiting fish.
If the day is right and the eddy is big enough you can float around and around sight fishing suspended fish – they’re looking for small nymphs and dries that float down the seam where they pick them off.
This can be great sight fishing using very small nymphs under a dry fly. The nymph should be fairly heavily weighted and the tippet should be around two and a half feet long. Nymphs such bead head Caddis pupae or Brassies in sizes 18 to 22 are good choices.
Keep your eye on the fish and don’t rely on the dry as your indicator. Watch for the fish to open and close its mouth or make a sudden turn in direction – this is when it has taken the nymph. Very often they will take the dry fly as well and this take is almost always the classic, slow motion, rise up and sip.
Whether catching them on the dry or the nymph, this always great fun as you can watch the whole show unfold below the surface. It doesn’t hurt that the scenery is usually that of a towering canyon wall with a waterfall!
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