Down, Across, Swinging

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Oklahoma Trout Fishing By Fly

The memory is still as fresh as yesterday.  It happened a good, good number of years ago however.  This angler's first trout on a fly-rod. 

The fish came on a down and across cast.  The sudden surge in the tippet was a tell-tale sign to a raw and fledgling fly fisher to do something.  Line hand went rigid, rod tip lifted, fish came to hand. 

As it is with Oklahoma fly fishing, the down and across cast can be very effective on all of our trout water.  On Blue River, when fly fishing, there are a number of opportunities to practice the down and across cast.  Some pools that come to mind include Seventeen, below Horseshoe Falls, the fast current at the top of Ted's Pool, the Riffles, and the sandbar at Dividing Line Falls, which is the northern boundary of the South Wilderness. 

With the down and across, we have several chances to encounter waiting trout.  By casting down and across, our fly can search the outer seam, then swing through the current, and penetrate the inner seam.  Most likely, a trout will nail this presentation at one point or another.  If not, and once the fly is in the inner seam, we can employ a slow or random strip. 

Flies that work well with a down and across cast include the streamer family.  Patterns such as Matukas, Muddler Minnows, Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, and the Black Ghost almost always produce well.