Nymph Training

[Jack Jones]

Okay....as I've said before in other posts, I've never had much luck nymphing. My set up seems fine. I use either the football indicators or the old-school teardrop/toothpick ones with a one or two nymph rig. I try to watch my line closely, but I never seem to be able to detect any action. Either (a) they don't like what I'm presenting (somewhat unlikely, but not impossible), or ( I just don't know when to catch the hook and fail to see the take (much more likely). Anyone out there have any pointers on learning to determine when to set the hook or how to detect strikes better when throwing nymph rigs? I want to improve, but I just find nymph fishing frustrating.

Also, maybe it's my eyes, but I truly don't see how people sight fish with nymphs the size of a 16-20 CJ or hare's ear. I lose sight of them in the water quick.

[Gavin]

There is a learning curve.....try to watch the indicator, line, fly, and the fish... If you cant see the fly try to visualize where you think it is...if a fish moves or opens its mouth in that general area...set the hook..Head to the trout park and fish a two fly rig till you figure it out...use a high visability fly like a glo-ball on top, and something small & drab about 18" below that.

Pay attention to how much weight you have on too...Add shot until you start catching fish... remove some if your getting snagged constantly. Good Luck.

[Nortrad]

I can relate, spent a lot of time learning to catch fish this way, a lot of time skunked. Make sure you are mending the line, throw a mend immediately after your cast sets down, then, depending on current and drift, you mend again, and possibly repeat, pulling in your slack throughout the drift.

I found it helped a lot to watch another person fishing/mending etc. Like Mr. Poppin sez, concentrate on the indicator, watch thru the water where you think your rig is drifting. Don't forget to adjust your bobber to find the right depth.

[Aaron J Scott]

Ditto on the weight. You want to be ticking the bottom. The problem I always have to be aware of is that I need to be fishing deeper than I probably am, so keep adding on weight until you get there, and adjust your indicator accordingly.

All of the beadhead nymphs I tie have tungsten beads--sometimes two--because I want them to get down fast. From what I can reckon, the naturals don't really descend through the water column--they are either rising to the top (which is why a lift is effective) or drifting from one rock to another (I've heard this called "behavioral drift"). So I want a heavy nymph that gets down quickly to the bottom and drift from there. Plus, with a tung-head, the fly is going to ride with more of the point up, which is going to help prevent so many snags.

IMO, I've gotten to where I don't use an indicator and either watch the end of the fly line or a mono sighter built into the leader. When you're fishing a two- or three-fly rig, maybe with some weight, the indicator is just another point in the line to foul up. Of course, I've never gotten really good at indicator fishing anyway ...

[mic]

Aaron, what is a mono sighter.

[Kayser]

Number 1 problem I've seen with my friends I've tried to teach to nymph fish is the drift- it normally has to be perfectly drag free and on the bottom. It was frustrating when I was learning, but now it counts for most of my fish. It also helped a lot on my dry-fly fishing (except for some caddis fishing). Mending, throwing some slack/s-curves in your line on the cast to get rid of drag. You need to do this because the water near the surface is flowing faster than the water on the bottom, due to friction/resistance from the rocks and gravel. This is also why the fish stick to the bottom- low current speed in the small pockets with access to the food in the current right over their head.

Try this out- http://streamsideadventures.com/media/mending-tips-video.html

Rob

[Justin Spencer]

Number 1 problem I've seen with my friends I've tried to teach to nymph fish is the drift

BINGO

Don't use your indicator to set depth either, unless you are fishing slower water. I think indicator fishing while wading is best done in the swiftest current (you won't even be able to start to see your fly or the fish so just watch the indicator). I put my indicator within 6-10 inches of my fly line and put on a bunch of weight. When that indicator hits the water make a big upstream mend and make your indicator lift off the water to know the mend was enough, then just keep mending as needed, it will take some practice to get your subsequent mends made without disrupting your drift, but don't worry if they do just do your best. If you have enough weight on you should know what your indicator looks like when you snag the bottom, this is also what it looks like when you hook a fish so if the indicator moves set the hook hard, if you miss, or if it is just the bottom the line is back behind you ready for the next cast.

While you are working on getting better drifts I would suggest a small white maribou jig type fly tied on as a dropper (one of my buddies came up with one tied with a #12 caddis hook a white bead, a little maribou and red thread), fish don't care how these are presented and will eat them no matter how they are drifted. There is no doubt in my mind if you fish this way in the fast water with enough weight to get to the bottom you will start catching fish.

[Aaron J Scott]

Aaron, what is a mono sighter.

It's the reason I have a giant spool of Mr. Crappie high-viz mono in with my fluorocarbon! I have a few friends who do the Euro-nymphing techique really well and I picked it up from them.

As far as I can guess, just about all the competitive fly fisherman use some type of Euro nymphing technique. And because competition fly fishing limits what you can put on your leader, the work-around is to tie in a short length of high-viz mono into your leader. That way you have something easily visible to watch if you don't already feel the subtle takes.

Since I'm nowhere near the level of a competitive angler, I primarily use it as a depth indicator because I'll know about how much tippet is below that, and then work from feel.

[Arofishing]

Awesome thread. I needed it. I'll write some of these tips down and take them with me to Sunburst in a couple weeks...

[stlfisher]

When I first started nymphing I was waiting for the indicator to move like a bobber would when I was bluegill fishing as a kid. What I discovered is sometimes the indicator will only quiver or stop...it may not acutally go down...especially if your fly is on the bottom You will get the hang of it...