Dead Drift Method : For Boat Anglers

If you have a fishing boat, the dead drift method allows you to
cover a huge patch of water in a hurry – and very effectively
also. The nice thing about a boat, of course, is that you are
floating in the water – generally at the same speed of the
current provided the wind isn’t blowing you around too much.

For this reason, it is possible for anglers to use a dead drift
method to cover huge segments of water with just one cast. To do
this, you have several options, depending on the types of water
you are fishing.

One way is to cast your nymph directly DOWNSTREAM of your fishing
boat, paying attention to the current seams (you want your nymph
to land in the same current seam that you’re boat is in, so that
the drift speed of the nymph will more or less match your boats
drift speed). As the nymph speed and float speed of your boat
should fairly closely match, little line mending or retrieval
will be needed. Instead, just let the nymph helplessly float down
the river, paying close attention to the strike indicator.

This method also works just as well by casting your fly
downstream and a BIT across from where your boat is. You don’t
want to cast TOO far across the river, as your fly may end up in
a different current than what your boat is in (leading to
frequent drag by the nymph). However, if the current speed is the
same, you can let the nymph helplessly float along the various
current seams in the river for great distances (current seams are
excellent habitat for large, finicky trout).

Finally, and somewhat less effectively, you can cast your nymph
directly upstream from your fishing boat. The reason this is less
effective is because your boat just went over the fish – thus
potentially spooking the fish. The trout will also see your fly
line (one reason the downstream method is so lethal is because
the trout sees the fly FIRST, not the fly line and leader first).
However, this method does have one advantage – like the wade
angler using the direct upstream method, you can simulate a
rising nymph by very gradually pulling in line and raising the
rod tip, which will bring the nymph off the bottom of the river
and closer to the surface.