Common mistakes anglers make when they are nymphing, and how to correct them, and catch more fish.
We have all heard it. A fish spends 90% of its time feeding subsurface. Why, then, do fly fisherman instinctively turn to dry flies? I hear anglers say “I really love the take on a dry fly” or, casting heavy nymphs feels ugly!” Psychologically, rises are all we can actually SEE, we only SEE fish take surface flies and emergers. I makes sense we would want to fish where we see fish feed. Its hard to ask a seasoned dry fly fisherman to give up everything they know, along with their favorite flies. Its especially hard when fisherman do feel adventurous and give nymphs a try, and nothing happens. “90% my ass, I haven’t had a hit yet”
The hard truth is, there are times you could try all the flies in your fly box, they are not going to tempt a trout to rise. Emergers are highly effective style of fly fishing, but there is a learning curve, just like when you surface anglers were learning how to dead drift an elk hair caddis along the edge of a perfect brook trout holding rock. Fishing emergers takes practice. Here are a few tips to help you figure out what’s going wrong with your nymphs.
Depth
Fish lie along the bottom, where the water is slower. It takes less energy for them. Nymphs live on the bottom. When a nymph misjudges a step, they can get swept down steam in the current, right along the bottom. Salmon and trout are not going to move a long ways for a nymph, you have to just about drop it in their mouth. If it’s higher in the water column, it doesn’t look natural, and just takes too much energy.
They say if you are not losing flies, you aren’t deep enough. So, when you are learning, use inexpensive flies, and aim to lose them. Put them right down onto the bottom. Let them bump and roll along the bottom and hopefully they will land in the mouth of a nice fish.
Hint: I usually fish a tandem nymph rig. I tie the bottom fly on with a smaller tippet than the upper fly. This way, when I do catch a giant Penobscot rock fish and it breaks me off, I only lose one fly and not my entire rig.
Match the Indicator, then the hatch
There are a ton if different strike indicators a person can choose from. I’ve used everything from putty to a thingamabobber. I even have a nymph line with an indicator tip, and orange section of line I can use as an indicator. My current favorite, is the Orvis Air Lock Indicator. Why? They are quick and easy to put on my line, and easy to slide up and down as the depth changes. (Yes, you should move your indicator when you change locations and adjust to the new depth). For skinny water, I use something a little more quit. Wool Strike Indicators are less likely to spook fish in calmer, shallow waters.
Subtlety
If you are using an indicator, you are not directly connected to the fly. You are not going to FEEL a hit. You have to SEE the hit. Fish are quick to spit out anything that isn’t a real insect. You only have a moment to recognize a strike and set the hook. When you are learning, it’s easy to see your indicator tap, jerk or pause and think it’s just the bottom or a random current. What you are just starting out, set the hook. Set the hook on every movement of the indicator. Nymph strikes can be subtle. In fact, if you are indicator fishing you are likely getting hits you never see. (Advantage Euro Nymphing – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Hint: It’s going to take time for you to learn to react to the indicator. It’s OK, you’re fishing. Relax and enjoy yourself, and, set the hook.
You Still Have to Drift
You still have to dead drift the indicator. The water on the bottom is slower than the water on the surface. The surface water will pull the indicator downstream faster than the flies. Once the indicator gets ahead of the flies, it begins to drag them faster, lifting them from the bottom, where the fish are. It’s important to manage your surface line to prevent drag. A dead drifted indicator is more likely to keep the flies on the bottom where big fish love the eat them.
Hint: The first thing I do after I cast upstream is mend my line. I take one good mend to roll the indicator a bit upstream. During the drift in continue to mend my line above the indicator. This should help me keep my favorite flies down deep in hopes of an aggressive strike.
Connection
I’m not talking about your significant other, I’m talking about your fly. Being connected to your fly, means you can feel the weight of the fly as it drifts along the bottom. When you use an indicator, you have no connection with your fly, therefor, you are bound to miss strikes, trout you never even knew hit.
This is where Euro nymphing comes in. Euro Nymphing, also known as Polish, Czech Nymphing, or apply named Tight Lining. This technique fishes heavy nymph flies with no weight or indicator. The goal being, to feel your flies and more excitingly, feel the strikes.
There are specialized euro rods, they are generally longer, over 10′ in length. They have soft tips to protect your tippet, and stiffer butts to help you wrestle big salmon. Visit your local fly shop and talk to the staff about a euro fly rod. They truly help with sensitivity, helping you feel the lightest takes.
Find Some Action
When I’m teaching, I bring my fly anglers to a spot where they are sure to catch fish. Sure, they are Fall Fish, but they are aggressive feeders. Catching a pile of fallfish or other species gives and fly fisherman the opportunity to practice recognizing strikes. When you are experimenting with nymphing or any other fly fishing style, find yourself a bunch of easy fish to catch. Y0u don’t have to brag about them to become a better fly angler.
All Knotted Up
A tandem nymph rig, especially with split shot and a strike indicator can make a huge mess. If you are lucky, your guide will just hand you another rod to fish with, while they cut the mess and and tie on a new rig. If you are fishing on your own, you are done catching salmon for awhile. How to prevent this mess? Please, do not try to false cast a heavy nymph rig. As a beginner, don’t even back cast a nymph rig. There are two methods I could prescribe for launching nymphs back upstream. The first, is to drag the line upstream behind you until your fly rod is back over your shoulder, then flip the nymphs back upstream. The second it to use the water to load the road and use the bent rod to flip the line upstream. Click “water hual” to view a video in more detail.
Nymph Fly Patterns
I’m a fan of traditional patterns. I’m likely to have a copper john and a hare’s ear hanging off my tippet. I will often tie a larger fly pattern, like a black bead head stonefly nymph or a bead head woolly bugger, tied above a smaller fly pattern like a flash back pheasant tail. I really like the woolly bugger, because it can imitate a wide variety of sub surface fish fare. It can look like a leach, a stone fly nymph, damselfly nymph or even a dragonfly nymph.
The Egg Pattern
If you study the spawning patterns of fish, you might have a great day swinging egg patterns. Fish eat eggs so egg patterns can be a great choice. I’ve also had luck with an egg sucking leech. The egg sucking leech gives a bit more for a fish to chew on. Bigger fly, bigger fish.
What’s in Your Fly Box
I carry an entire fly box for nymphs because they are always present in the water. Any one of them could be the right fly, at the right time. I carry stone fly nymphs, may fly nymphs, midge nymphs and caddis nymphs. I carry woolly buggers, which can double as dragonfly and damselfly nymphs as well as leaches and stonefly nymphs, its a great fly. All of these fly patterns will catch salmon and brook trout.
Whether you are salmon fishing, or if you prefer to fly fish for brook trout or another species, consider working on nymphing. It may be frustrating at first, but salmon and trout respond to these fly patterns any time of day and even through the winter. Practice, and give yourself time to learn. In time, it will begin to pay off and once it does, you will find you can catch salmon and brook trout all day long, and all year long.
