Last month we touched upon the infamous vosi, which is an acronym for “Vertically Oriented Strike Indicator.” Several emails resulted on this topic.
In short, the vosi is the flyrodder’s popping cork.
Can using a vosi really improve your catch of speckled trout? Is eating 5 pounds of bacon the day before your cholesterol test a bad idea?
Twenty years ago, my feet just wet in the area of saltwater flyrodding, I made a trip to Port Sulphur with a friend who was using a Pete’s Popper as part of a popper-dropper rig for speckled trout.
This popper, created by Louisiana fly fishing pioneer Pete Cooper Jr., is made by cutting a styrofoam cigar float in half. Then each half is cut with a slit lengthwise, where next the shank of a threaded hook is inserted and glued in place. Then the body is painted, including concentric eyes (using dowels), and sealed over with waterproof 2-ton epoxy. Later a tail can be tied on.
It occured to me that using the popper strictly to attract specks had its drawbacks.
You couldn’t adjust the depth of the dropper. Further, the dropper section kept getting tangled in the popper hook.
So instead of making a popper, I simply took the half-a-perch-float-body, drilled out a concave face with a dremel cone and made it into the flyrodder’s popping cork.
I had just read where in England, a flyfisher was banned from a river for using a perch float. Fearing the wrath of the purists, I decided to call my little innovation the “Vertically Oriented Strike Indicator.” Kind of like “gambling” is illegal in Louisiana, but “gaming” is OK.
Seriously, the name refers to the fact that it hinges the tippet and a weighted fly into a vertical orientation, roughly 45 to 90 degrees offset to a floating fly line. The vosi sits horizontally in the water, but when a fish strikes, even just a nibble, it bobs into a vertical orientation.
Actually, this was only new to saltwater flyfishing. A weighted fly under a float has long been used in coldwater trout streams. It’s called nymphing.
Well, there are a few differences.
When fishing for specks, the concave end of the half-cigar-float faces the fly line. The plastic pin is inserted into the narrow end. A good hard strip causes the vosi to pop, enticing specks to investigate the fly beneath.
But making noise isn’t the only way a vosi initiates more strikes. On each strip, the suspended fly rises quickly, then falls. This vertical motion also generates a feeding response.
I spent countless hours (ask my wife) observing seatrout feeding in clear water. I noticed that nearly all the prey tried to escape from trout by propelling themselves up and away.
The conclusion was that speckled trout are vertically challenged. Present them a fly that moves in one direction, at constant speed, and occasionally they eat. Most of the time, though, they give it a thorough investigation. Or just ignore it.
But when the fly goes vertical, they get confused. And angry. If it reappears in their field of vision, they make a quick attack!
Most folks understand this principle. The problem they have is with the rigging.
Cormier’s 14th Law of Fly Fishing states, “To fish effectively with a vosi, you need a limp leader.” Leave the store-bought tapered leaders off. Make your own.
My typical vosi leader consists of 3 feet of 17- to 19-pound Rio or Orvis monofilament leader material for the butt section, about 2 feet of 14- to 16-pound mono for the midsection and 3 feet of 12-pound fluorocarbon for the tippet.
You want the fly to swing back down to below the vosi quickly after each strip is made. A light tippet made of higher-density-than-water fluoro does this best.
You want to make each “pop” gurgle. A limp, light butt section and midsection make this possible.
To keep the vosi from sliding down the fluoro tippet, as a result of any hard popping action, place the vosi just above the knot that connects midsection to tippet.
It’s important to remember that fluoro doesn’t stretch or deform, so traditonal knots like the surgeons are not recommended — they tend to slip and/or unravel. Instead use a double uni-knot for connections, and a Duncan’s Loop for tying tippet to fly.
The obvious question that arises from using a light leader and a weighted fly is “Won’t this cause a tailing loop and result in big entanglements during casting?”
Coldwater trout anglers have a similiar situation when using double-fly nymphs augmented by split shots (and yes, how is using a vosi less legit than that?). Their solution is to cast with a more open loop.
Casting with an open loop is best done with a moderate to moderate-fast rod. You won’t shoot a lot of line doing so, but that’s OK — unlike redfish, you can get pretty darn close to speckled trout. I catch most of my fish within 30 feet of my boat or kayak!
So once you’ve got your cast out, you want to make a strong strip, let the vosi gurgle water, then pause it for a couple seconds. Then keep repeating.
My good friend Glen Davis, who writes the flyfishing blog for the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger and is a strong advocate of the vosi, came up with with his own variation of the Speckulizer.
The “Speckulation” uses a section of 20-pound mono with Perfection Loops at each end, a vosi in the middle and plastic beads at each end to prevent the cork from slipping over the loops. The beads also provide some added noise. The float can then be left hollow (no pin), and this allows water to pass through, causing even more bubbles and louder gurgling.
I must confess that I haven’t used the Speckulation that much. But my older son thinks it’s the bomb!
One thing to note: Popping corks, whether on fly or commie tackle, work about as well in gin-clear water as the LSU football team in a 2-minute drill. I’m not sure why. But remember Cormier’s First Law of Fly Fishing: “Fish make the rules, humans don’t.”
With winter comes clearer water in the marsh. At some point, fishing a fly under a vosi might not work as well as fishing the fly “straight.”
Until then, let your inner child enjoy watching floats get pulled under!
Tippets
Speckled trout have invaded the upper estuaries, and clearer water in bayous, canals and interior lakes and ponds means flies have the advantage. Start off around sunrise with poppers, and continue until mid-morning. Or if overcast, as long as the action on top stays hot. The ol’ rattle-embedded Crease Fly is a killer this time of year.
Later in the morning, switch to either a Clouser minnow, Charlie or weighted Seaducer about 30 inches below a vosi. Best wing colors are chartreuse, yellow and purple for Clousers, chartreuse, pink or black for Charlies.
Low tides will expose reds, especially on calm days. Like with specks, throw poppers early and as long as there is low light for maximum fun. Then switch to attractors like Seaducers, Charlies or spoonflies. If the fish are selective, try a crab pattern or more realistic baitfish like the Gummy Minnow or Whitlock Baitfish. A Redchaser will arouse bigger reds.
Crappie start getting very active this month. You may still need to fish deep, but in some lakes the fish will move along bank edges feeding on minnows. Target these fish with a Fluff Butt under a tiny float.
For rainbow-trout enthusiasts, stocking goes full tilt on the Little Missouri and Mountain Fork tailwaters a few hours north of Shreveport. These fish will not acclimate to bugs as quickly as they would in spring, so a size 10 or 12 olive or black woolybugger is about all you need.