Two nymphs and foul-hooking trout

[HCR]

I've been fishing two nymphs, a #12 pheasant tail (weighted) and a #20 caddis emerger (no weight) below it, tied to the shank of the #12.

Fishing water from 4 feet to 1.5 feet with an 8 foot leader and no strike indicator. Standing in middle of river, facing opposite bank, casting upstream and letting set-up drift by and below me.

Strikes have been hard--tip of floating line is pulled in obvious fashion. I'm snagging fish on the unweighted fly in their sides and even in the tail.

What do I need to change?

[JohnScott]

Two questions??

First of all, are you actually catching any fish with the size 20 emerger ?? If not, why bother with it ??

Second, are you catching fish with the p.t. ??

Sounds like the p.t. is attracting the fish to it, but they aren't interested in eating it. After they take a look and refuse it, they are getting snagged by the dropper.

I would think in terms of fishing a smaller p.t. and, if you still want to use the emerger, lengthening the tippet between it and the p.t.

Another thing I would consider would be going to a weighted caddis larva pattern trailing the p.t. rather than the emerger. It seems that down on the bottom, the fish would be more likely to go for a good larva pattern than a small emerger ??

[nick0danger]

Some longer tippet will produce alot less snags.

[JeffHamm]

Sounds like you may be striking a bit too hard perhaps? If the trailer is fouling the fish, then I would agree with John that your hits are on the PT. Then, it sounds like you may be pulling the hook out of their mouth and catching them with the 2nd fly as the rig pulls past the fish. As the flies drift back towards you, take in the slack line, then let it back out as it drifts past you. When you strike, it should just be a matter of tightening up on the line.

Of course, if you're already doing all that, then I'm wrong!

- Jeff

[HCR]

Thanks folks. Your suggestions provide excellent advice and I need it. I'm a dry fly fisher, but since I've extended my stay in CO. this year beyond mid-September, the only action seems to be subsurface.

Yes, I am catching trout on the #20 emerger--7 out of 8 yesterday with only one on the PT. But, now that I think of it, those foul-hooked on the emerger may have been snagged as I pulled the PT from the trout's mouth. Makes sense.

Yes, I do strike hard and will take the advice to be gentler.

My thinking on having the trailing #20 fly was that I wanted to keep it close to the bottom, hence only 12 inches of tippet from the weighted fly. I will use a longer tippet on the smaller fly.

The advice I received from an expert local was when he fishes the Rio Grande with nymphs he always uses two nymphs--one big and one small. That's why I ended up with the two fly rig. My only experience in fishing nymphs before was under a dry fly, but of course I got the occasional snagged fish then, but certainly not as often as with this two nymph setup.

I'm here for another 10 days, so will try out your suggestions tomorrow.

The Browns on the Rio Grande are feeding eagerly when the sun is off the water. Went this PM for an hour with a clear sky and the result was a water haul.

[lighthouse]

When this happens to me, I figure it is because of my late strike on the leading fly. By the time I set, the fish has already spit the first nymph so my strike sinks the trailer into its body. I HATE it when this happens but have found that better line managment allows me to set earlier and minimize foul-ups.