middle water

[campfire]

While flyfishing a stream: When I nymph, I usually like to "get the fly down" using enough weight and adjusting the strike indicator so that the fly "ticks" or bounces on the bottom. When I fish with a dry fly I habitually put floatant on the fly, leader and line so everythking floats on the surface. Even when I fish a "dry and dropper" I don't think the dropper sinks more than a few inches. Depending on the size of the stream and the depth of the "hole" I might be fishing, it seams to me that I am largely ignoring a section of the water column ( the middle). I know I have caught fish in the middle of the water column ( mostly by mistake) so I think they at least occassionally take flies there. When fish are active and water is clear I don't know if it really makes that much difference, but at times of less clarity or when fish are not very active ( like now) I suspect that putting the fly in front of the fish is important. What is your experience fishing the middle of the water column? How do you like to fish it. What do you use to fish it? And when do fish actively feed there and how do you know they are actively feeding there?
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[ScottyP]

To fish the 'middle water' I usually just move the strike indicator closer to the fly or move the shot up closer to the indicator. Dry/dropper can fish the middle water effectively in slower water where the dropper has a better chance to sink down farther. Mend your drift to improve the dropper droppin'. Beadhead nymphs are good droppers to get down through the film a little better, but you'll want a bushier dry to keep it from being pulled under with the beadhead. I see fish feeding in that middle zone mostly in slower pools and thats where I go for the dry/dropper. In faster riffled water, I'll try to spot a fish. If I see it flash, that's usually from turning on it's side and taking something right off the bottom. If the fish is coming out of his lie more than a few inches to intercept something, I feel I have a better chance of him taking a fly that is higher in the water column.
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