The results of nymphing

Posted by rusty on October 23, 2007

     So let me begin with saying that if you are waiting for a hatch, your missing out.  My favorite type of fishing is nymphing.  The reason I enjoy nymphing so much is that at least 80% of the trouts feeding is subsurface.  Don’t get me wrong, everyone enjoys seeing that strike on the surface to a neatly placed dry that rewards you with a few fish, but when the hatch isn’t present a good bet is nymphing.

     Their are many ways of nymphing, whether it is with one fly or a tandem setup.  Highsticking is a great way to get you into trout in all types of water, especially pocket water.  When deciding on a nymph to fish, some may try an attractor pattern with a second fly dropper, this is a very effective way to cover water.  My favorite setup for any nymphing situation is probably a pheasant tail, hare’s ear, or caddis larva.  My reason for these specific nymphs are because the abundant range of water they inhabit, they are practically everywhere. 

     First off you want to make sure that you have enough weight on to get you fly to the bottom where the majority if fish feed.  Now, experiment with different flies or presentations until you get a strike or pick up a fish.  You can pretty much depend on further activity after that because you now know what they are interested in.  Well it’s not that easy.  Most fish will feed on a well presented nymph, but understanding why that fish took the nymph on that specific drift is the real question.  Was it at the right depth?  Was it the right size?  Or could it be that maybe a hatch could be starting?  We don’t have the luxury of knowing that for sure, but trying to understand why the fish took is a big plus when fishing nymphs.

     Basically what I’m saying is that when your dry fly fishing it can be a blast, but it’s pretty self explanatory, match the hatch and make a good drift.  While nymphing is similar, you can’t see you fly so you have to rely on your ability to nymph effectively, and the only way to get good at it is to tie on a nymph.  I think that if you give nymphing a honest chance, then several fish will visit you net.

     My good friend Philip is a good nymph fisherman.  He can pick up several trout when other around us are getting shut out.  Philip and I have been fishing together for about fifteen years now and I think we both fish very similar.  We usually have about the same luck when we fish together for some weird reason.  Probably because we fish the same setup most of the time, but whatever it is, the one thing that’s always a given, is that it’s fun.  We enjoy our time on the stream, especially if we’re nymphing. 

     And as for now and always “tight lines”

Rusty