Now to fly fishers who do not chase after Atlantic Salmon, the Newfoundland phrase - riffle hitch - won't mean a hill of beans.
Nor will the British terms, dibbling or dapping or bob fly, ring very many bells in this neck of the universe.
So let's define them for you:
- The "riffle hitch" is a knot tied so as to cause the fly to make a wake as it moves across the surface;
- "Dibbling" is holding the rod high so a fly makes a wake as it moves across the surface;
- "Dapping" is holding a long rod high downwind so as to cause the fly to bounce and make a wake as it moves across the surface;
- The "bob fly" is the fly tied on a dropper above at least one other fly so it will make a wake as it moves across the surface when the rod is held high.
Do we detect a central theme developing here perhaps?
Riffling, dibbling and dapping are all tried and true techniques used to incite a fish into striking at a fly on the surface. They work, and they work well for a variety of species.
Riffling is commonly used in Newfoundland and Labrador rivers for salmon. Often, it's the only technique that will work.
Dibbling is used in what is known as Scottish loch-style boat fishing - drifting and casting in front of the boat on the downwind side. I've also seen dibbling used very effectively by Newfoundland trouters fishing from shore on windy days.
Dapping is used in Britain, once again from a drifting boat fishing on the downwind side to hook trout, seatrout and salmon in stillwaters.
The disturbance so created in the surface film first attracts the attention of fish, while the action of the fly serves to stimulate the predatory instincts of the quarry and incite a strike you may not otherwise achieve.
The trick requires at least two flies: one tied normally at the end of the tippet - known as the tail fly and other tied on a three-inch dropper about 18 inches from the tail fly - known as the bob fly.
The tail fly should be a nymph pattern weighted or tied on a heavy iron hook; and your bob fly a bushier pattern tied on a light wire hook, The trick is to use a short line, preferably downwind in the breeze, and, holding the rod high, draw the line towards you, shaking the wrist so that the bob fly dances in the surface film while the tail fly acts as the anchor. It works best with a fairly long rod (say minimum 9 feet) and a light fly line (say number 5 or 6) with the breeze at your back.
It's also great fun and effective enough that a fish will often, if missing the fly on the first try, attack it again a second or two later. The technique can be used on stillwaters from a boat, from shore, or in a stream setting.
The cast can be very short; thrown to one side and then pulled cross-wind with the rod held high so the breeze pushed the line away from the angler as he or she moves the rod tip, held high, from side to side. The path of the flies through the water is thereby extended.
With a longer cast, the technique is applied by raising the rod only on the last part of the retrieve. In fact, on English stillwaters, anglers will commonly fish with ultra fast-sinking lines to get their flies to the bottom quickly - but still dibble the bob fly right at the boat as the retrieve is completed in the knowledge that a fish has followed the fly from deep water will often take just as it sees the prey "escape".
A similar technique, developed by Pennsylvania angler James Leisenring, became known as the "Leisenring lift" and was intended to draw deep holding fish to the surface chasing after an emerging nymph.
Assemble the leader as follows:
- Take a four-foot length of tippet material and snip it roughly in the centre.
- Join the two halves using a double-blood knot and cut the ends so one end is about four inches in length. This is your dropper.
- Attach the tippet with the dropper to the leader as usual.
- Then tie a heavy nymph at the end and an emerging pattern on the dropper.
You might want to try the following duet patterns, or devise your own:
Tail fly: Pheasant tail nymph
Hook: number 12, heavy iron;
Tails: two, short, where two cock pheasant tail feather barbules are tied in;
Ribbing: gold or copper wire;
Body and thorax: cock pheasant barbules twisted into the tying thread then wrapped;
Wing cases: cock pheasant barbules doubled back and tied in at the head.
Hackle: dark brown hen hackle or grouse, short.
Bob Fly: Modified Hare's ear emerger
Hook: number 12 light wire;
Tails: two Mallard flank barbules, very long;
Ribbing: dark brown thread;
Body: dark grey rabbit, seal or muskrat underfur, dubbed on then picked out and clipped top and bottom;
Thorax: generously dubbed natural brown rabbit fur with longer guard hairs included
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