patience running thin

[hillbilly rick]

If I had hair,I'd probably be pulling it out by now.
I've only been fly fishing about six weeks now, my first day I caught 11 keeper 'gills from the stream by me. I've been trying to catch smallies and am having no luck at all.
I can catch limits on crawdad lures with spin or bait casting gear, but, fly rod,nothing. I tried a crazy craw fly(#2) and a #6 clouser minnow, both in olive green, a color bass seem to like a lot. With a 1/8 oz jig, I can cast into the current and let it bounce along the bottom. With the fly rod, I cast out and the current puts such a bow in the line it is quickly out of the strike zone. I've tried going up stream and casting down into the current, but I think the fly is being held too high in the water column that way.
There is a swift, narrow and shallow run that drops off from about 2' deep to about 6' deep and creates a large hole of water with eddies on both sides of the current. The smallies tend to hold in the current, at the drop off, waiting for crawdads and minnows to be washed to them. Between the current flow, right to left, and the eddie left to right, it reeks havoc on my fly line, creating a lot of slack. The other side of the river is way too deep, so that's out, and I'm not going to buy a boat anytime soon.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Rick

[lancer09]

Add some split shot if you think the fly is riding to high in the water. And try swing the flies, cast across or slightly upstream and let teh current pull the fly through the strike zone. Keep working on it, it'll come. Just experiment with different weights and the such, if you have to pick up a sink tip for your lines, will help it get down as well.

[s fontinalis]

The best friend of any fly fisherman is a split shot (or two)....well placed and the at the right weight it will get your flies to the correct depth. As for the havoc with the line, i think you should just retrieve in slack line as you see fit that way you are still in contact with the flies if theres any takes.

Another thing you can include with the split shot is a strike indicator. This will also help control depth by limiting the distance between the indicator and the flies....the shot will get them down, the indicator keep them up off the bottom if that makes sense....

Its somewhat like a nymph rig i guess...i've included a pic of how i set up my nymph rig, if you think it could be useful, give it a whirl, hell, even if you think its rubbish, give it a whirl anyways, you might be surprised

Sorry for the back of the envelope type image...the best i could come up with at short notice...
You can also just fish one fly, allowing for greater movement of the strike indicator to help control max depth

[okuma]

Add some lead wire if you're tying lead headed clousers. The split shot is good also. If you don't keep them touching, you will get a slower sink rate...if you use more than one.

[Rip Tide]

You don't need gimmicks, you need to learn to "mend"

A Mending Primer | MidCurrent

In the Drift, Fundamental presentation techniques (Mending)

[gatortransplant]

What about an intermediate or sinking line? I don't have experience here, I'm just taking a stab.

[hillbilly rick]

Thanks for the tips,
I didn't know split shot was do-able, but more weight would help. I'm not tying flies yet, but if I find this method of fishing enjoyable, I will. Can lead wire be added to an already tied fly?
The main problem I'm having is, the current for 30' in front of me is moving upstream. The main current, down stream, is out past that for about 20'. Then another upstream eddie for 50' on the other side. Right now 40' is my max distance when standing in waist deep water and the first 30' of line is going in the wrong direction, pulling my fly out of the main current. I'll practice mending and find another hole to fly fish. This is one of the biggest holes in this section of the river, also the most complicated, sure are some big fish in it.
Thanks again
Rick