Tips for fly selection in high water conditions.
You've probably encountered a situation where you come to your favourite river and it seems that there is a bit more water in the riverbed than you expected. What does this situation mean for fishing tactics and fly selection? This is the question I once asked Jiri Klíma and now I will try to reproduce his answer freely. And I must point out that the answers have become more and more acute in recent years.
In the case of big water, the fish are “pushed” out of the mainstream towards the river margins. So the successful places to fish will be primarily the peripheral parts of the stream. This fact plays into the hands of anglers, as wading is usually very difficult or often impossible at higher river levels.
Water clarity is an important factor for fly selection. If we find ourselves in a situation where the water is high but clear, then we can stick with the same patterns that are effective on the river in normal water conditions, just increase the size of the flies. The reason for enlarging the flies is to make them more visible in high water.
If the water is high and cloudy, then not only the size of the fly but also its colour plays a role. In such a situation Jiri usually trusts a combination of two flies, with the colour of the first fly being very “wild” (pearl colours, fluorescent colours) and the second pattern being black. The “wild” pattern may not surprise you, but you may wonder why the color is black. The answer is quite simple. Try dipping two flies into cloudy water yourself - one tied with materials in natural colors (brown, green, olive, etc.) and the other prepared with mostly black colored materials. You'll see the difference in visibility at a glance, and just like you, the fish will see the black flies much better.
