Nymphing

[Ham]

I think one of the hardest things for trout fishermen to learn is that trout don't lie in direct current, but as close as they can get. Even a small rock can give just enough break from the current for them to use as an ambush point. you have to fish the breaks, especially the small ones.

There are the obvious current seems, BUT the multitude of current breaks formed by the irregular nature of the bottom of the stream are often impossible to see before hand. Drift that junk thru there and watch that indicator.

[Justin Spencer]

There are the obvious current seems, BUT the multitude of current breaks formed by the irregular nature of the bottom of the stream are often impossible to see before hand. Drift that junk thru there and watch that indicator.

Exactly right, if you get a chance take a mask and snorkel through a good riffle and look at all the places trout lie, pretty cool to do! It doesn't take much to hold a trout, and if you watch them in heavy current it is obvious that they can move in it with very little effort.

[Brian Wise]

Exactly right, if you get a chance take a mask and snorkel through a good riffle and look at all the places trout lie, pretty cool to do!

[Nick Williams]

I absolutely love this post. I'm still trying to learn this technique. I think Nick is from Oklahoma and it's a trip to get around here, but would anyone of the more experienced nymph anglers on this board be willing to maybe mentor and set up a sort of nymph teaching day down at Taneycomo? Maybe devote a few hours to impart your ancient wisdom onto us poor nubes?

Yeah, I am. But that idea sounds excellent. I am learning a lot from everyone, but it still can only go so far until I can see it on the water! Guess I'll have make a trip to the closest river tomorrow!

[Wayne SW/MO]

I have to disagree that you can't fish lies. You can find a lot of good lies by watching the current and most of our trout gravitate to shallow faster currents. If the water flow is disrupted there's a potential lie there.

Trout react differently, normally, when in deep water compared to a shallow flow. While deep runs work out well for people with a lot of experience on a river, like Brian and Justin on the NFOW, the average person will do better to fish what he can evaluate by sight.

You won't go fishless with an indicator and just letting it drift, but I much prefer to hunt them down in the pockets they lie in. If you're drifting a hot spot the drift doesn't need to be so long that everything gets bent out of shape.

[Nick Williams]

Report: Went down to the closest river Saturday, probably spent about 6 or so hours on the river at least. I tried multiple nymph rigs, indicator and not indicator, and different nymphs.

There was a ton of people on the river as well, so I got to just watch some people who were using an indicator as well.

I found that I really didn't care for using the indicator, I thought that it ended causing more surface area for the water to drag down the river and it made me work more for the mending. So most of the time I went without one.

The second thing I noticed, I enjoyed finding and fishing the runs more than the slack water. It was more of a challenge and a little less boring. I did watch one guy using an indicator, while I assumed he was nymphing I don't know for sure, but in the slack water he would lay the line out about 15-20ft from him and let it sit for a couple minutes. If nothing happened he would pick it back up and try another spot. He was catching trout doing this too! I couldn't figure out what the difference only that maybe he was using the right nymph?

My last struggle for the day, I could not get ANY of the trout that I stuck with my nymphs to my hand. They ALL came off. I tried strip setting when my line would move and also lifting my rod, but still never seemed to have a solid hook set. What am I missing there?

I ended up bringing to hand 0 trout on a nymph. However, I did catch a small brown on dry fly, so that helped make the day worth it!

[ness]

There there's a baby rainbow, Nick.

I know what you mean about the indicator causing its own set of problems. But -- the benefits can often outweigh the problems. If you're in fairly fast water and find the indicator dragging, make a series of little mends as needed to keep the indicator moving with the current. Try to be gentle with them, and keep in mind your doing this for the fly, so visualize what effect you're having on it. If you throw in a mend and it jerks the indicator -- well, you've also just disrupted the fly's drift below.

Sounds like you were fishing in one of the Parks?

As for not getting them landed -- don't let there be any slack in the line, but also don't pull too hard. You know, just right First off, keep the slack out of the line while your fly is drifting. As the fly moves past you'll want to lower your rod tip to give it the extra line it needs to continue downstream without dragging. If you can flick your rod tip to feed some line out, all the better.

If you get a strike, lift, but don't jerk, to set the hook. Immediately get any slack out of the line. I usually do that by stripping in, rather than cranking. It's quicker and let's me assess what I've got on the end before I commit to the reel and the drag.

[Wayne SW/MO]

It's a brown. Nick if you're sticking them I doubt it is your technique, but possibly you are hesitating to confirm that it's a fish. You wouldn't be the first person to fish with either a dull hook to start with, or with one that has had the point turned by a rock.

Pick up immediately when anything changes and then set if it appears to be a fish. Always sharpen your hook, especially if you're buying your flies.

[ness]

Dang -- it is a brown. I thought I saw parr marks in the leetle pic and quit thinking.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Orange spots Ness, orange spots.