Awesome Site Newbie Question

[newdrenalin]

I'm a long time lurker and first time poster. I just moved from Grande Prairie to Calgary a few weeks ago and decided to get back into flyfishing after a 20 year break. I have never fished with dry flies or nymphs and was wondering if someone knows of a good book for nymph fishing ? It sounds like that is the way to go on the Bow from what I've read. I grew up on the west coast in Terrace, fishing for salmon and steelhead with streamers. It sounds like dries and nymphs are way more technical, but i would love to learn.

 

Thanks for any help. This site is awesome and has lots of great info.

[cheeler]

The best way to learn how to nymph would be to get a walk and wade guide for the day - anyone in the sponsors section can help you out. DVD's or Youtube might also help, but it may be a case of information overload.

[Crogg]

http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=8249

[SanJuanWorm]

Wow that was a long time ago. I actually wrote something that was helpful. Those were the days before I had kids and had loads of time. Welcome to the forum.

 

Nymphing for dummies.

 

1. Get a 9ft 1X leader. Put a strike indicator on the top where your leader attaches to your fly line. Tie one one San Juan Worm on the end. To the shank of the hook tie on another nymph about 12 to 18 inches with 1X tippet. I usually start with an evil weevil or prince. (lately GOLDENSTONES) ((Note from Rick: I prefer 2 and 3X, but 1X will work as well. You will find there are lots of different opinions on this.)

 

2. Cast upstream at a 45 degree angle and mend your line according to the current. (Key is to make it float along as if it were not attached to a line NO DRAG). Let it swing all the way down past you until it is straight beside you. Give it 2 strips of fly line about 3 inch grabs before lifting it for your next cast. (You'd be surprised how many strikes happen here, I miss plenty)

 

3. Make sure your bouncing along bottom (this is key). I like to add split shot (the ones that are not removable and small). Set your hook when you see suspicious activity on your strike indicator (EVERY TIME i'm terrible but getting better at this)

 

4. Make your own grid system for casting. Cast one spot 3 to 5 times. If nothing, cast a bit further until you are sure there are no fish here. If nothing, move downstream or upstream about 10 feet and try the same thing again. (I like to vary my depths as well by wading deeper and deeper each time).

 

This should catch you at least 1 fish and help you on your way to nymphing the Bow River or any large river. I am certainly no expert but this is the way I learned how to catch fish on the bigger rivers.

[newdrenalin]

Wow that was a long time ago. I actually wrote something that was helpful. Those were the days before I had kids and had loads of time. Welcome to the forum.

 

Nymphing for dummies.

 

1. Get a 9ft 1X leader. Put a strike indicator on the top where your leader attaches to your fly line. Tie one one San Juan Worm on the end. To the shank of the hook tie on another nymph about 12 to 18 inches with 1X tippet. I usually start with an evil weevil or prince. (lately GOLDENSTONES) ((Note from Rick: I prefer 2 and 3X, but 1X will work as well. You will find there are lots of different opinions on this.)

 

2. Cast upstream at a 45 degree angle and mend your line according to the current. (Key is to make it float along as if it were not attached to a line NO DRAG). Let it swing all the way down past you until it is straight beside you. Give it 2 strips of fly line about 3 inch grabs before lifting it for your next cast. (You'd be surprised how many strikes happen here, I miss plenty)

 

3. Make sure your bouncing along bottom (this is key). I like to add split shot (the ones that are not removable and small). Set your hook when you see suspicious activity on your strike indicator (EVERY TIME i'm terrible but getting better at this)

 

4. Make your own grid system for casting. Cast one spot 3 to 5 times. If nothing, cast a bit further until you are sure there are no fish here. If nothing, move downstream or upstream about 10 feet and try the same thing again. (I like to vary my depths as well by wading deeper and deeper each time).

 

This should catch you at least 1 fish and help you on your way to nymphing the Bow River or any large river. I am certainly no expert but this is the way I learned how to catch fish on the bigger rivers.

Thanks for the tips guys ! I just finished reading the nymphing primer with your nymphing for dummies at the end, SJW. I think this info will help a ton. My next question is how far up from the first fly would I put a split shot.

[SanJuanWorm]

Thanks for the tips guys ! I just finished reading the nymphing primer with your nymphing for dummies at the end, SJW. I think this info will help a ton. My next question is how far up from the first fly would I put a split shot.

I usually run them right in the middle. between bottom fly and top fly. I haven't fly fished in a long time and yesterday I went out. Tossed my flies in and BOOM fish on, first cast. Subsequently snapped me off as I was too lazy to re-rig my gear. Make sure after a few fish you re-tie on your flies.

[newdrenalin]

I usually run them right in the middle. between bottom fly and top fly. I haven't fly fished in a long time and yesterday I went out. Tossed my flies in and BOOM fish on, first cast. Subsequently snapped me off as I was too lazy to re-rig my gear. Make sure after a few fish you re-tie on your flies.

Thanks a bunch. I'm gonna give this set up a go tomorrow. Any ideas on which flies i should be trying ?

[Fishslayer74]

I usually run them right in the middle. between bottom fly and top fly. I haven't fly fished in a long time and yesterday I went out. Tossed my flies in and BOOM fish on, first cast. Subsequently snapped me off as I was too lazy to re-rig my gear. Make sure after a few fish you re-tie on your flies.

I'm having a difficult time figuring what size of lead to put on and how many. Any tips on that?

[SanJuanWorm]

I usually almost always fish a san juan worm. That in itself is enough weight. If you fish 2 smaller flies then run enough weight to bounce off the bottom. If you aren't snaggin bottom then you aren't deep enough.

[alan2]

There is no need to use expensive 1X tippet. Just get a big spool of 8 lb monofilament and it's way cheaper. Works just fine.

[reevesr1]

Thanks a bunch. I'm gonna give this set up a go tomorrow. Any ideas on which flies i should be trying ?

I'd be fishing a golden stone, something small and dark in size #18, and caddis pupae. Bring some EHC and caddis emergers too. If they get on surface again today, you'll want to try that too. Any of the shops can help you with flies.

 

[SanJuanWorm]

There is no need to use expensive 1X tippet. Just get a big spool of 8 lb monofilament and it's way cheaper. Works just fine.

Yes that was written a long time ago. In my bag is big spools of 20lb, 8lb, 6lb and 4lb. I make my own tapered leaders.

[stein]

Yes that was written a long time ago. In my bag is big spools of 20lb, 8lb, 6lb and 4lb. I make my own tapered leaders.

 

I hate when toilet paper gets stuck on my knots

[SanJuanWorm]

Let me know how the fishing goes boys.

[Fishslayer74]

Yes that was written a long time ago. In my bag is big spools of 20lb, 8lb, 6lb and 4lb. I make my own tapered leaders.

Yeah, I ended up buying different size spools of Maxima mono. So I would just use 9ft of lets say 8lb to my first fly then 8"-12" of 6lb to my bottom fly with possibly weight inbetween both flies?

 

[reevesr1]

That would work. But don't get too fixated on the 9 foot part. If you know the water depth you are fishing, try to follow the 1.5 to 2x water depth. The faster the water, the more you can lean toward the 2x part, slower water I lean toward 1.5. Adjust your indicator according to the water depth and rate. But 9 foot is a nice place to start.

[newdrenalin]

That would work. But don't get too fixated on the 9 foot part. If you know the water depth you are fishing, try to follow the 1.5 to 2x water depth. The faster the water, the more you can lean toward the 2x part, slower water I lean toward 1.5. Adjust your indicator according to the water depth and rate. But 9 foot is a nice place to start.

I finally got out this morning for my first time on the Bow. It was quite the humbling experience. I tried the 2 nymph set up described by Rickr and San Juan. Spent a ton of time trying to adjust my split shot and strike indicator. There is sure alot to learn about "nymphing". There were lots of caddis' flying around but nothing rising. I imagine this doesn't happen til the sun goes down. There river had about 3 foot visibilty down by Fish Creek/ 22x

[scel]

Fly fishing is kind of like handwriting. Everyone seems to find their signature that works for them.

 

My method is a standard 9' leader. I tie on 30cm of tippet. I place the splitshot above the leader-tippet knot so it does not slide around. I then tie a SJW or a stonefly to the tippet. I tie second fly directly to the eye of the second fly with 30-35cm of tippet. I find that I have less tangles than if I tie the second fly to the shank of the top hook. The second fly is tied on using a smaller diameter line. i.e if the first hook is 3x, the bottom hook will be tied on with 4x. In the event of a bottom hook snag, if the line snaps, you will only risk losing 1 hook instead of both.

 

Here is the thing that works for me: <Indicator>-------------------------<split>-------<SJW>-------<dropper>

I make the distance between the indicator and split shot approximately the water depth in slow and medium currents. In fast currents, I will place make the distance 1.1-1.2 times the depth. I really do not like putting a split shot between the sjw and dropper---too many bumps and dangles.

 

If I am using a heavy SJW or something like a size 6 Kaufmann's stone, I will forgo the split shot altogether and set the indicator to go to 1.1-1.3 depth from the the SJW.

[reevesr1]

I finally got out this morning for my first time on the Bow. It was quite the humbling experience. I tried the 2 nymph set up described by Rickr and San Juan. Spent a ton of time trying to adjust my split shot and strike indicator. There is sure alot to learn about "nymphing". There were lots of caddis' flying around but nothing rising. I imagine this doesn't happen til the sun goes down. There river had about 3 foot visibilty down by Fish Creek/ 22x

 

So I don't really worry at all about where in the string my split shot is. Not saying it doesn't matter (hell, everything matters to some degree), I just don't think it matters a great deal. Or I've never noticed it mattering. My point is, at this point just put it somewhere between the first and second fly, or just above the first fly and then don't concern yourself too much with it. You are better off keeping flies in the water than constantly adjusting the split.

 

I could make somewhat the same case for the strike indicator. While I strive for the 1.5 to 2 (and if truth be told, I'm quite often more like scel in slower water, ie, just over water depth), I don't change the position constantly. If I know the water depth is 2 to 4 feet where I'm fishing (as an example) and the water is moderately fast, I might set it to 5 or 6 feet and live with it. It's not like it's a rule. I caught a lot of fish when I just put my indi and 9 feet (or however long my leader was) and just left it there all day.

 

Don't stand still! I can't tell you how many people I watch just stand in the same position of a run and make the same cast over and over again. I wonder sometime if they think there is a line of fish just waiting for there hook to come by. Grid the water when you fish. Start close in, keep working out. Once you have worked that bit of water, walk up 5 steps and do it again. Do this through the entire run. If you didn't get anything, change flies and do it again. Or adjust your depth or weight. But do something different. Standing in one spot is no way to fish. Friends shouldn't let friends stand in one spot and fish!

 

By far, the biggest issue is drift control. By FAR. You have to learn to manipulate your line so that you get a drag free drift. Way, way easier said than done. Watch you indi in relation to bubbles. In a perfect world, your indi will be going the same speed. In reality, it will usually track a bit slower because the current on the bottom of the river is slower than the current at the top. Basically, if your line is not positioned properly and you impart any side motion, or slow or speed up your presentation in relation to the actual current speed you are fishing, you will not get nearly as many strikes. Once you start to figure this out, you will catch fish. Guaranteed. Assuming you are fishing where there are fish (which is probably the biggest issue, making my first two sentences in this paragraph an over statement!).

 

Finally, set the hook on EVERYTHING!! If you assume your indi drug under the water due to snagging on bottom, you will usually be correct. Except when you aren't and it's a fish. And if you don't set on everything, you will undoubtedly miss a lot of fish.

 

I remember one day I was fishing with a client of mine from work. Max Robinson was guiding my client, and I was fishing behind them. They finish up a run and I hear Max say "that was really good, but you need to start setting the hook on everything. You missed several fish there." Max then looks at me and nods at the run. They go to the bank for a snack and I go into the run my client just vacated and caught 5 or 6 nice rainbows. After that, my client cleaned up. If the indi bobbled, he would hammer it. And I had a blast supplying the object lesson! But all of us forget the basics from time to time. This lesson was driven home to me for about the 1000th time a couple of weeks ago when I flicked my rod to free my rig from a snag, when that snag jumped out of the water and was a brown in the 25" range. I think. Cuz he was only on for a second and I got to call myself stupid for a few hours.

 

Keep working at it newdrenalin, it gets better. If you have friends who fish the bow, follow them around a bit and watch. If not, pm me when the river starts down post run off. I'll take you out for a bit.

[newdrenalin]

Thanks you very much for all the replies. I'm going to go out tomorrow morning and give it another go.

[Fishslayer74]

I guess I have one more question being what is the max. and min. distance to cast when nymphing give or take.

[SanJuanWorm]

I guess I have one more question being what is the max. and min. distance to cast when nymphing give or take.

 

I'd say from 5 feet to as far as you can cast and still set the hook.

[Tungsten]

the farther you cast out into the current the less chance you have of getting a nice drift.

 

people often say a 6 wt rod is good for nymphing,yes if you want to cast to the middle of the river.

 

i've found that say you cast a 3 weight your not gonna cast as far so you tend to focus on closer in water,your rig will be lighter and you'll get longer drag free drifts.

 

remember a lot of fish are holding in water that you can easly wade in.

[scel]

I guess I have one more question being what is the max. and min. distance to cast when nymphing give or take.

 

 

Personally, I have found that the best distance to cast depends on the speed of the water and the weight of your rig. It is important that your nymphs get to the bottom.

A longer cast means a longer possible drift; however, a longer cast also means a higher probability of getting a bad drift.

So:

Fast current + light weight : you will want the longest drift possible (but you really have to be on top of mending your line)

Slow current + heavy weight: you can get away with really short casts (as long as you are not getting a thunderous splash when your hooks hit the water)