FLYMPH FORUM

Several days ago got out on the river. Put on a march brown spider and had 3 takes on my first 4 casts. After that, the takes became few and far between; basically couldn't buy a strike. I have given this some thought and I remember hooking a leave on a tree sapling on my backcast (this rarely happens, LOL) shortly after I started fishing. Consequently, my fly was gunked up with tree sap. Thought the sap would wash off with fishing so didn't change flies or clean up the tippet. Now, I am wondering if the sap had an effect on the fly and the hackle fibers were unable to pulse and move freely. This is the only explanation I can derive for the drastic change in effectiveness. Anyone have thoughts on this?

The sap won't wash off in water, and yes, I'm sure it would decrease the function of the hackles, dubbing and tippet.

Nice observation. I know I've retrieved after some effort a strayed fly from a limb or tall grass and after fussing around long enough I realized I have handled the fly dozens of times, breaking stems and leaves and stalks trying to decode it's situation. If you get your tippet straight and all seems right with the world, it seems just to fish the fly, but I have wondered if handling the fly so much has done something. Nothing like what you've described, which would certainly alter the behavior of the fly and tippet, and not with the empirical evidence of strikes and lack of strikes, but just a wonder all the same. I'll wonder now if the broken branch scent or juices of crushed leaves impart something. Might be. I'd be guessing, but it sounds like you've made a finding.

w

An interesting quandary, one I am not sure I have encountered..... mainly owing to the fact most of the trees that line streams here are Willow or natives like Beech that do not have a high bark pocket sap content like say, Fir do.
I would imagine if it were an evergreen like a Fir (lot of our exotic timber forest here is Fir or Pine) you backcast into and you were unlucky enough to pop a sap bubble like you find on Douglas Fir, then yes it will have gunked your fly with the most wonderful of sticky goop that would basically destroy any soft hackle action you had going on with the clean fly, it does not wash off in water and even most hand soaps struggle to shift that stuff off skin let alone the individual fibres of a fishing fly. Anyone who has felled fir, converted it to firewood or timber can vouch for this! It is messy stuff to deal with.
I dare say you may have had a miniature oil slick surrounding your fly as well once it hit the water. There is a high oil (turpentine) content in those softwood evergreen saps..... that is why the green trees burn so well in forest fires, often combusting before the fire gets to them proper, as the sap boils and vaporises due to intense heat trees literally explode before the flame reaches them.

Next time it happens, I suggest a quick swap out of flies before you continue, trying not to handle the gunked fly too much and getting sap on your fingertips.