Dry fly fishing is conducted with line and flies that float. A tapered leader, typically made of fine polyamide monofilament line, is located between the line and fly. Unlike sinking fly (nymph) fishing, the "take" on dry flies is visible, explosive and intense. While trout usually get about 90% of their diet from below-water orhanisms, the 10% of surface-level consumption by trout is more than sufficient to keep quite a lot of anglers busy. In addition, new fly anglers normally opt for dry fly fishing owing to the relative ease of being aware of a catch and the immediate satisfaction of sighting a trout strike their fly. Nymph fishing may be more fruitful, but dry fly anglers soon become addicted to the surface strike.
Dry flies may be "attractors", such as the Royal Wulff, or "natural imitators", such as the elk hair caddis, a caddisfly imitation. A new angler may like to start with a fly that is highly visible such as a Royal Wulff attractor or a mayfly imitation such as a Parachute Adams. The "parachute" on the Parachute Adams makes the fly touch down as softly as a natural on the water and has the added value of {making|endering| the fly very visible from the surface. Being able to sight the fly is particularly useful to the beginner. The fly should land softly, as if dropped onto the water, with the leader fully stretched from the fly line. Owing to rivers having faster and slower currents often running side by side, the fly can over take or be overtaken by the line, thus confounding the flys drift. Mending is a technique where by one raises and moves the part of the line that requires re-positioning with the fly's drift, thus extending the drag free drift. The mend can be upstream or down stream depending on the currents carrying the line or fly. To be effectual, any mending of the fly line should not disturb the natural drift of the fly. Learning to mend is frequently much easier if the angler can see the fly
Immediately a fish has been caught and landed, the fly may no longer float well. A fly can sometimes be dried and made to float again by "false" casting, casting the fly back and forth in the air. Sometimes, the fly can be dried with a tiny piece of reusable absorbent towel or chamois, or put and shaken in a container full of fly "dressing"; a hydrophobic solution. A well known method to a dry fly which is inclined to sink is simply to substitute it with another, similar or identical fly until the original can fully dry, after going through a set of flies.
Dry fly fishing on small, clear-water streams can be especially bountiful if the angler remains as low to the ground and as removed from the bank as possible, moving upstream with stealth. Trout are inclined to face upstream and most of their food is carried to them on the current. As such, the fish's attention is usually focused into the current; most anglers move and fish "into the current", fishing from a position downstream of the fish's suspected lie. Trout tend to strike their food at current "edges", where faster- and slower-moving waters mix. Obstructions to the stream flow, such as large rocks or nearby pools, creates a "low energy" place where fish stay and wait for food without expending much energy. Casting upstream to the "edge" of the slower water, the angler can see the fly land and drift slowly back downstream. The challenge in stream fishing is placing the fly with deadly accuracy, within inches of a protective rock for example, not long range casting. Executed properly, the fly seems to be just floating along in the current with a "perfect drift" as if not connected to the fly line. The angler must remain vigilant for the "take" so as to be prepared to raise the rod tip and set the hook.
