Do you Riffle Hitch a foam skater?

I prefer to riffle hitch all my surface flies. This gives the fish a broadside view of the fly and keeps it on the surface leaving the "V" wake which not only IMHO helps to excite the fish, it also makes it easier for me to see where and what my fly is doing.

1morecast said:

I prefer to riffle hitch all my surface flies. This gives the fish a broadside view of the fly and keeps it on the surface leaving the "V" wake which not only IMHO helps to excite the fish, it also makes it easier for me to see where and what my fly is doing.

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iagree

jesse, i riffled hitched yesterday and skeeted all over the place. hope that helps.

I put a riffle hitch on a weighted fly on sat. as it was the only one in my box with a pinched barb and I forgot my pliers in the truck..was actually really cool as it kept it up and moving between surface and sub..Kind of interesting what you can do with a riffle hitch..

Saints did a good job last night. Hitch anything you want.

jcalderon said:

As the title indicates, I am new to skating flies, I have the standard mudlers, some strung out skaters, and a few foam style skaters as well. When tying these foam skaters, do I need to riffle hitch? Logic tells me that I would just fish this fly with a loop knot, but I would like to hear from someone with experience.

Thank you.

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I am a little curious about the foam skaters you plan on fishing riffle hitched. Could you name them?

http://pacificflyfishers.com/Catalo...liesProdDetail/MorrishPomSkaterNightshade.htm

that is the fly I plan on fishing, I was asking if it should be riffle hitched.

Put a type 6 on and dredge with that thing.

Hyjack

Put a hitch on that sucker and it'll look like a hydroplane when you wake it. Go for it.

You could riffle hitch it if that is what you want to do. However, it appears to be designed to be fished with out being riffle hitched. Personally, I would probably go without one.

i've caught fish on that fly without hitching it. do people normally hitch bombers? just discovered the sweetness of bombers, one guy i talked to doesn't hitch, anyone say otherwise?

Hard to see but these already have the eyes bent for river right or river left! no riffle hitch needed!

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whether you hitch a fly or not should only depend on which way it will fish best.....its not that hard to cast it out there, and see if it skates or in that fly's case, wakes the way you want it to. In general, if it is staying on top and creating a nice wake, you are good to go.

The whole idea of foam skaters is NOT having to riffle hitch it to get it to skate. Foam skaters if tied correctly should not need a hitch

The information on that fly at the link provided says that no hitch is needed. Funny, today I received a small package from a gent (ralfish) who sent me some flies to try..."fish them riffle hitched" is all his instructions included. I'll be looking forward to trying them out. Thanks Ralf.

So the obvious question is, if fishing without a hitch, which knot to use: loop, improved clinch, uni-knot....?

Charlie,

I only fished BOMBERS with a hitch because I want them to act like a motor boat without a person manning the controls and I want it to stay on top for a long, long time without becoming waterlogged and sinking. I've got to tell you that I use BOMBERS as searching flies and hardly ever tie or fish them on anything other than a #6 Daiichi #2220 hook (1xheavy, 4xlong, down eye) hook. When I get a player and he doesn't hook himself, I switch to either a #6 or #8 GREASE LINER, or a #8 or #10 WAG'S WAKERm which more often than not brings him up for a solid hookup. I will also at times switch from the BOMBER once I get a player to a small wet (by small I mean #8 -#12 conventional dress, or #6 or #8 low-water dress).

I don't hitch my skaters...they float pretty good though. If they were sinking on the reg I'd probably tie a hitch on...Just have a whole bunch in your box and then you can switch em out as soon as they start sinking!