Newbie With Conflicting Results/advice On Nymphs

[Freshdub]

Hi all, just picked up fly fishing last season and have gone out tons since then. I really enjoy it, and has given me a new appreciation of living in calgary.

But, I truly suck. Trying to take in as much advice from shops and online as I can but my results seem to be conflicting what ive picked up.

I keep hearing that nymphs are the best way to catch trout around here, so I keep giving an honest effort to learn to effectively use em. However, ive never been able to catch anything with a true nymph and indicator setup deaddrifting. All of my hooks on a nymph come while ive dropped them from either a hopper, big stimulator or below a wooly bugger/leech (streamers have become my favorite way).

Just this weekend I hooked 7 trout on the highwood, all on my nymph, while I was doing something NOT correct.

They would hit while my line was totally downstream and had already risen to the surface and i was looking upstream for my next target, I had 2 hooks while I walked upstream not paying attention with my line dragging in the river beside me and then another 2 while I was stripping in my bugger.

I keep being told the key to consistent nymphing is a drag-free deaddrift, yet I only seem to get bites when im doing something that goes against all conventional wisdom. Whats your guys opinion on stripping/swinging nymphs? have I just been ludicrously lucky and should continue trying to do the typical indicator deaddrift (that ive had no luck on in 50+ days trying) or is it ok to embrace what seems to be working somewhat even if it "shouldnt" be working?

 

Thanks!

[ÜberFly]

http://flyfishcalgary.com/nymphing_primer.php

[BurningChrome]

If it works then roll with it, plus, hooking fish on the swing is way more fun than watching a bobber. A swinging nymph can imitate a hatching bug and fish like to chase things.

[BigFoamy]

Im a self taught hack and IMO, nymph fishing is by far the most PRODUCTIVE. May not be the most satisfying.

 

That said, at the end of your drift when your line tightens up downstream and your flies slowly rise because of line tension and water movement, which is what they do while hatching. Lots of hits at the end of the drift or while picking your line out of the water to cast again. Check out "Liesenrings Lift" (see spelling) it works!!!!!!

 

Stripping a Bugger sounds like a good plan to me, just saying IMO nothing better than a fishing slamming a streamer other than watching one take a dry off the surface or watching and feeling that strike indy go down because you have the perfect drift happening. lets just face it, fly fishing rules!!!! it just does

 

7 sounds like a pretty good day. if i where you I would keep doing everything "NOT correct" lol!!!!

 

Feel and everything just comes with time on the water man. Keep at it, its love. Thats why we do it

 

thats why i do it

[jtaylor]

7 sounds like a awesome day. I'm happy as long as I don't get skunked!

[Freshdub]

Ha. Dont be too impressed by the number. Only fully landed 1/7 and not any of em were of respectable size. After seeing size, was almost glad they freed themselves.

Im VERY used to being skunked, I just enjoy getting out and relaxing

[MattyTaylor]

Flyfishing has a lot of exceptions to the rules and hey, if you're catching fish whatever you're doing "works". If you're wanting to improve your dead drift nymphing some things that helped me were to keep the rod tip high and reduce the amount of line on the water, play with weight and depths (split shot and indicator position) and mend a heck of a lot. For me, because you don't have the immediate feedback of a dry fly, sometimes your "dead" drift isn't that dead and you might have movement you don't necessarily want. Like many, dries are my favorite but I'll often get nymphing if I'm not seeing rises or grinding to avoid a skunking. Good luck!

[Sage]

http://flyfishcalgary.com/nymphing_primer.php

 

+1

 

I was where you were last summer and Rick's primer and focused practice has really helped this summer. Now I struggle with quality presentation of dry flys LOL

[Frenchie]

Swinging wets and flies can be deadly, maybe not as productive than dead drift but certainly productive.

You could go all the way to fish traditional wer flies and work on the swinging.

Another way to fish nymphs dead drift is to attached them below a nice fat dry (hopper or big stimulator) instead of a bobber. Not the perfect official way to get your nymph low but a good way of practicing drag control plus the benefit of fishing 2 flies at once.

[TroutNV]

My guess you just aren't mending enough - make sure the indicator is leading the parade and not the fly line

[Smitty]

Indicator nymphing is generally slack line presentation in terms of the indicator playing the role of "suspension device". Any tight lines by the angler has a tendency to pull the nymph away from the fish zone. Indicator does generally lead the drift, semi tight semi slack between indicator and tip of the rod.

Conversely, you can drop the indicator or swap it for a sighter, go full on tight line approach. Generally this is called the "European" school of thought, whether it's done Czech, Polish, French, Spanish, Italian, or Luxemburg. The point is to lead or slightly drag the flies through the water, maintaining contact and feel. Generally, flies are heavily weighted and sparsely dressed or the cut through the water column quickly. More fishing by sight AND feel. But you do maintain contact. Kelly Galloup at the Slide Inn has a little disdain for the descriptor of "Euronymphing" cause American Anglers like him, and Charlie Brooks before him, did use tight line nymphing methods before the Euro craze caught on. One method of Charlies was to use heavily weighted flies but eschew the long Euro leader and swap it for super high density sink tips with short leaders and heavily weighted flies. Takes are heavy. Great for whitewater boulder fishing in the Madison. Kelly's method of dropshotting uses more lightly weighted nymphs with heavy drop shot off a tag to keep flies on the bottom. Usually fished with 2 or 3 flies. Check regs.

The bottom line is that there are no hard and fast rules. There are variations on everything. I am becoming a more tight line nympher, never got too used to indicators (Still use them though). Contradictory advice comes from anglers adapting and using their own favourite methods. Do whatever you like and whatever works. There's no question fish can be caught on swung or swimmed nymphs.

Here's a tip on mending line with the indicator system.

 

 

http://redsflyshop.com/blog/best-nymph-fishing-tip-ever

[Dangus]

My guess you just aren't mending enough - make sure the indicator is leading the parade and not the fly line

Make sure the fly is leading the parade

 

Still can be having a bad drift if your indicator is ahead of your fly. Small little lifts every few sections will improve your take detection and make up for the difference in current speed between the surface and bottom of the river.

[sldrose]

x2 on Frenchies advice with the hopper dropper, and a single nymph to learn

(just start with a big buoyant dry)

 

bobbers are great for a team of flies, but when you fish a dry fly, it is way more noticeable when the rig starts to drag.

 

Give it a shot, bobbers are definitely the preferred method for the bow and can support heavier/muliple flies for deeper runs, but

a dry dropper will help you nail the concept.

 

a big stimmi/golden stone and a sz16 caddis nymph on a 4ft dropper will get you nymphing right

(plus you might get a big smash on the dry soon)

 

Once you've had some success, definitely move to the bobber for the bow

[keet]

I began nymphing last fall and began with the dry dropper method. My biggest hurdle was the time I spent untangling the set up until I learned how to cast with a more open loop. Flies I used at the beginning were stimulators and brassies. After I spent more time fishing than untangling I began using the indicator set up. Now I am working on mending the line to get the proper drift while indi nymphing. Take my advise with a grain of salt I am still learning myself.

[Freshdub]

I went out for 2 hours around sundown last night and landed 2 browns in about 20mins once I found the right nymph.

Bron's suggestion of just slightly tugging upwards in a few spots through the drift and mending more than im used to (thanks for the mending video, ive watched all of red's videos but missed that one somehow) seemed to be the recipe for success for a more "conventional" approach to nymphing than ive been doing. Just a single nymph below an indicator.

 

I suspect that even though ive always kept my dryfly/indicator going drag free, my nymph below mustve been pulling in someway but never showed it up top. The pull up definitely made it get down to the bottom better. Im excited to get out once Im back from iceland and keep trying! Thanks for the help everyone, I take in every piece of advice