Nymph Help

[STACKS]

I REALY SUCK AT NYMPHING, I DONT KNOW WHAT I AM DOING WRONG . I HAVE READ ALOT ABOUT IT BUT STILL CANT TRICK ANY TROUT.

I KNOW THAT MOST OF THE FISHING IN FALL IS DONE EITHER BY STREAMER OR BY NYMPHING. PLEASE SHOOT ME SOME POINTERS TO NYMPHING THE BOW .

I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS TOO

 

-WHAT RIG ARE YOU USING?

 

-MONO OR FLORO??

 

-WHAT SIZE OF A FLIE?

 

-HOW FAR TO CAST UPSTREAM?

 

-FLOATING OR SINKTIP?

 

 

 

THANKS

[trailhead]

I will tell you what I learned. Use a 6 wt rod with a floating line. Use a leader/tippet that is at least 9 feet long with at least 6 pound test, some guys use 10 or higher. Whether you use flouro or mono is up to you, I have success with both. Tie a large wire San Juan worm on the end and take a 18 inch piece of tippet and attach to the bend of the worm and tie a size 16 dropper nymph to that, a prince, evil weevil or copper john are good choices. Put a strike indicator 9 feet up from the worm. Find some good holding water, a current seam or a drop off to a deeper pool. Cast slightly upstream but mostly out into the water. Mend your line, a trick shown to me was to make the strike indicator hop up right after it lands on the water. Then follow the indicator as it drifts downstream, keep a tight line. If the indicator stops, moves sideways or dips under, lift your rod tip. The indicator should be bouncing along the bottom, if you keep catching the bottom shorten the length between the indicator and the worm. The real key here is to recognize the holding wate,r and to recognize and be able to react to the fish taking the nymph. Oh make sure you have a good supply of indicators, worms and nymphs. I think I lost about four setups everytime I went out when I first started nymphing. The best thing is to get out with someone and you will really shorten your learning time.

[FlashGordon]

I'm definately no expert but make sure you're rig is rolling on bottom (use split shot) and set the hook on every twitch of that indie,set on everything and anything....and not just a little flick of the rod tip....set it hard!! most times my set turns into a back cast

[dude1125]

I too suck at nymphing but found using a thingy a bob as a strike indicator helped me a bit. They seem to be really sensitive and easy to see. I'm always surprised when I get one on the line while nymphing. It's still sort of like playing a VLT for me.

[maxwell]

stacks

 

are you using any weight?(splitshots, twist ons etc.)

 

are you striking on any subtle twitches taps or bobs?(not waiting for it too go down and stay down like a bobber and worms)

 

are you fishing 1, 2, or 3 flies?(shouldnt be too important)

 

are you fishing deep enough( bringin up stuff fm bottom occasionally)

 

how heavy is your tippet?(shouldnt reall matter as long as its 2x or less)

 

how big are your flies?

 

what type of water are you fishin?(chop, slow and deep, slow and shallow, really fast shallow choppy water)

 

are you mending? (controlling your drift speed)

 

the best thing i could say is start in close and fish you way out. if your indicator is doing nothing you need more weight too get your flies down. you should be fishing 7-8 feet too your first fly and your strike indicator. if you do not strike on every twitch, bump stall, pause on te indicator you will have problems hooking fish.. it will be fish or bottom but there is only one way too find out and its 1000 cast 999 strikes and 20,30 fish or more in a outing.. if you only strike one out of every 20 casts you are only giving yourself a chance to hook a fish 1 out of 20 casts...... common fly patterns right now for this month would be sanjuans and small beedheads size 16 - 20 like pheasent tails, prince nymphs, midge larvae and pupae, caddis larvae. i have bin using 2x tippet but u might find 3 or 4x better for you. you must mend according to your drift. sometimes even more than once. if you se line slack forming upstream mend down or if the line is pulling your indicator downstream mend up. sometimes it will be only once but sometimes 3 or 4 times in a drift. nymphing is work. i prefer to cast as far upstream as possible(i find downstream hooksets less productive on good hooksets) and move you feet once you have exceeded you max cast distance wade further out or walk 10 steps upstream and do it again.. cover water so you can find fish and strike on everything so you can drive the hooks in tehre jaw......

[dude1125]

When you mend the line how do you really know if the nymph is not dragging through the water. I think the biggest problem for me is the nymph must be dragging like a dry fly would at some point in the cast and I can't see when it is happening. Is this less of issue with a heavier nymph?

 

Thanks

[STACKS]

MY USUAL SET IS 9FT LEADER TO A PIECE OF TIPPET 12" LONG TO MY FIRST FLY, WITH A SPLIT SHOT AT THE KNOT OF THE TIPPET, SOME TIMES I ADD A SMALLER FLY FROM THE EYE OF THE FIRST HOOK WITH THE INDICATOR 7 TO 8 FEET ABOVE THE SPLIT SHOTS . I HAVE BEEN USING HOOKS IN THE 14 -18 RANGE. I TRY AND CAST AS FAR AS I CAN UPSTREAM ON A SEAM LET IT DRIFT BACK AND REPEAT A LITTLE DEEPER . I GET HOOKED UP ON THE BOTTOM ONCE IN A WHILE. I POP MY WRIST WHEN THE INDICATOR ACTS DIFFERNT. I FISH IN SLOW WATER ABOUT 3 TO 5 FEET DEEP. IAM STARTING TO THINK THAT IAM PUT THE FLY IN THE WRONG PLACES.

[maxwell]

i would say you need too try different surrent speeds, se the hook harder and make sure too mend.... you indicator should be drifting the same speed as the current if its draifting slower u need too mend down and if its drifting faster you need too mend up. goodluck and tightlines

[bowbonehead]

Line control,Line control,Line control ...... this will aid in a quicker hook set, you need some slack but only enough to maintain a drag free float and remember if you have to think about setting the hook you are probably too late it won't always be a obvious pull on your indicator,but remember it really gets down to putting your time in....

[STACKS]

thanks every one , iam going to get out friday and fish the nymphs hard.

[hydropsyche]

I think the three things that changed my success rate the most was:

 

Proper weight for the current and depth of the water. If you're not catching fish, change the weight until you indicator is twitching a lot but not hanging up.

 

Proper leader length for the depth. If you're not catching fish, change your indicator position both ways. Moving it up can actually result in less twitching because there's more slack in the line. Shorting it gets it more straight down and thus more sensitive. So don't think you always have to lengthen it.

 

Line control/mending. I try to keep as much line off the water as possible. You'll often see me doing a "Hial Hitler" (aka high sticking). If the line is on the water and dragging down stream of the indicator, it’s creating drag. Sometimes thats okay because you'll notice hits more if the current is slow. If it’s fast, you want to mend as much upstream as possible to put slack in the leader to allow it to get down. And then leave it. Try not to mend too much. Sometimes I mend to reposition the line on the water, others it’s to reposition the whole leader. The longer it drifts without having to mend it, the better.

 

It all comes down to getting experience on what that particular current and position of the line/leader is doing to your invisible fly. It’s the sixth sense, the culmination of experience, senses and visualization, that makes one person more successful then another....and a bit of luck.

[Gil]

Some good advise above. One thing I'd add is with the cold weather, fish tend to pool in deeper slower water than you'll find in summer. The takes tend to be much more subtile in cold water so pay very close attention. The other thing is the colder the weather the smaller the nymph. Most of my winter fishing is with #18 and #20. Good luck...

[SilverDoctor]

All good advice here. Another tip is with winter waters here downsize not only your nymphs but your indicators.

[timjorourke]

A tip I received on a recent trip to Montana that I have found very effective is to use a downstream hookset rather than a straight up and down hookset. If you think of the action that the flies take when you flick set straight up and down you may in fact be pulling the flies away from the fish whereas when you do a downstream flick set you are more likely pulling the flies towards the fish's mouth. Seems to have increased my nymphing effectiveness...makes me think of how many fish I have pulled flies away from with a straight up and down tarpon hookset. Also of note is that this downstream flick set only applies when walking and wading...hookset up and down when drifting...Does anyone else do this?

[toolman]

Downstream hooksets will usually place the fly in the hinge of the jaws, where it is very secure. Lift sets will most often place your fly up into the top and front of the lip and can sometimes hinge out very easily, especailly if you are upstream of the trout. Downstream hooksets, from below the trout if possible, are what I shoot for when w&w nymphing.

[pkk]

timj you speak of a " a straight up and down tarpon hookset " could you please elaborate. PK

[timjorourke]

timj you speak of a " a straight up and down tarpon hookset " could you please elaborate. PK

 

What I mean by that is a hookset that is straight up and down (vertical plane) that is way too hard. The tarpon reference was for emphasis on the too hard part.

[pkk]

What I mean by that is a hookset that is straight up and down (vertical plane) that is way too hard. The tarpon reference was for emphasis on the too hard part.

 

Thanks for the clarification. (I have been taught that a stripset is the proper way to set the hook on a tarpon.)

[Noud]

A lot of good stuff above....What I've noticed is that you have to get experienced in nymphing. As Max said you need to try to set the hook a lot more than you would think. When fishing a dry fly, most of the time it is quite obvious you get a take. When fishing a nymph it happens a lot that takes are very very hard to notice.

 

When I was fishing in Austria this september with Dutchdryfly, the first day looked like it would be difficult to catch anything dry. I told Rob that I wasn´t good at nymphing so I probably wouldn´t catch many fish. It turned out otherwise. During the day I noticed I even started setting the hook without conciously registering a take. A lot of fish were hooked this way. Only by putting a lot of time into nymphing you will get experienced and you will train your brain on registering the slightest difference in your drift that could mean a fish took (one of) your nymph(s). The only way to do this is by trying to set the hook on every deviation in the drift. This will train your brain to respond to these deviations in the right way and you will notice that you start hooking more and more fish.

[headscan]

During the day I noticed I even started setting the hook without conciously registering a take. A lot of fish were hooked this way.

Jedi nymphing!

 

[agbff]

Yeah man, max told me something like 1000 drifts and 100 hooksets will get you a max of 100 fish. more sets equals more fish. Setting on any twitch has given me some luck, more often then not its nothing or some weeds but once you get one its theee best. Big fish on a small fly is unbeatable

[robertrossi]

well ive been nymphing for quite a while but i have only been nymphing with success until i started treating the indicator like a dry fly in the sense that you really need it to be DRAG FREE! also play around with hook sizes and depths. a fish may refuse a size 16 but easily take an 18 of the same pattern. Also pay attention to the insects hatching and most of all as many of the guys before me said strike at any abnormal activity of your indicator. I hope you catch cause when you do it will become more clear to you . Good luck!

[Klaas]

So this is how i learned it.

First you must know how deep the water is and how strong te current is,make your leader(just 1 piece of mono i use) about 2 feet longer(about 50/60 cm).

When the leader is to long the fly will drag tomuch over the bottom and there will be a big curve in the leader,you will not see when a fish takes it,or to late.

When the leader is to short the fly wont reach the bottom,you will see a take but not much fish will take it.

When your setup is good but your stuck all the time on the bottom your fly is to heavy.

If you never get stuck on the bottom your fly is to light.

Cast upstream and start taking line back in imediatly,dont be afraid that you do this to fast if you do it to slow you lose contact with the fly and wont see or feel a take.

Just try to take line back in as fast as the current of the water,when the flyline is straigt or almost straight on the water your doing good,if your a lil faster a few times dont be afraid the fly will come lose from the bottom a few inches(cm) and makes it more attractive to the fish.

When fishing in some deeper pools just cast a few feet streamup over the pool,by the time the fly is deeper it will be in the pool.

When a fish takes the fly you will notice it,your indicator will stop or go under or you see the flyline make a short stop in the current.

Some ppl lift the rod then,i just give the flylne a good pull with the hand im taking in back the flyline,if its not a fish i can make the drift go on without casting for a new drift.

The rest is all practicing and by experiance you learn how long you have to make the leader and how heavy the flies have to be and where to drop the fly in the spots you wanna fish.

 

Klaas