Czech Nymph Fishing

[Ray Kunz]

Looking into some of the details of Czech Nymph Fishing I get a little confused. The use of long rods, short leaders with next to no line and "dapping" instead of casting. Here is where I'm lost. Using this method, how can you ever wade in a stream and work your way upstream without scaring the fish into the next county? One account regarding the evolution of the technique even said that the leader was merely tied to the tip of the rod.
Can anyone bring this into focus for me? Thanks.

[okflyfisher]

I think its best success for that technique comes in riffles and runs(like out west) where you can get close to the fish with out sacring the scales off of them. It would not be efective in spring creek type water

[ausable_ny]

Adirondacks Sept 2008 035.jpg

water like this?

[Buddy Sanders]

Ray,

I've had really good success with this type of presentation.

But, you have to have the right water for it to be effective.

I use it on the Animas River in Durango.

It's pretty fast water. Lots of boulders/rocks. Where I fish it runs just above the knees to waist deep.

There are also sections of the upper pine river where it works well depending on water levels. Again, it's fast rocky water and works best when it's around knee to waist deep.

What makes it so effective for me is the absolute control you have over the flies. You can literally guide them into little pockets and behind the rocks. Follow the seams in the currrents. Not miss anything that might hold a fish within your reach.

It's surprising how close to the fish you can get and still catch them. I've caught hundreds of trout with this method, none of them more than a rod length away. And I've caught up to five in row without moving my feet at all. Some of these fish I'd swear came from the exact same spot only a minute before. I'd think that some of them were the same fish if it hadn't been obvious they were not.

It does force one to slow down and cover the water more thoroughly. Yet, if you are methodical in your approach and you can wade even moderately well, you can cover some water with it, knowing that you really covered it. And even without leaving the dry shoreline you can catch quite a few fish if the water is appropriate for it.

There's a stretch of the Animas where there is relatively steep shoreline with a fast currrent running through water about four feet deep. No way to wade it, as you can't get in anywhere near it. The fish hold right next to the shoreline...I can reach out from above, drop the flies in and guide them right into the little eddies along the shore. Lots of fish there that most anglers walk right by.

I think that many fly fishermen spend too much time with their lines in the air. I know I did before I tried this. We cast over a lot of fish that we might catch.

Plus, it's lots of fun to have a big fish hit right at your shoelaces and rocket out of the water within arms length...

Buddy

[Wm1]

Buddy,
Very interesting concept.
Thanks for sharing.
William

[CaseyP]

Ray,
in smaller streams, look for slots or deeper runs in the riffles and run your flies through there. to be honest, i think it's better for higher, less clear water, but it's true what others have said: the trout will bite 8 feet from your waders as long as you're not tap-dancing in the stream!

i stood on a rock in a foot of water one day and caught 4 fish on four drifts out of one 2 ft. deep run. (never done it again since, but that's not part of the story!)

[Max]

I have been observing this type fishing for over 50 years in "Pocket Water". It went by labels like "High Sticking" and "Flipping".

[fishingnewsman]

I learned this style of fishing last September at the Canadian National Fly Fishing Championship.

It is a different style of fishing for many. As far as high sticking goes, it is variation of it. You want to work your water in a grid pattern from one side of the stream to the other, disregarding where you think the fish may be holding. Start right at the waters edge in there inches of water (I kid you not) and work up and across casting no further than twenty feet. Drag/lead your fly passed you and down to the swing. Cast three time and shuffle two steps and repeat, all the way across the stream. On the other side walk up twenty feet and work your way back across, moving up stream in a grid.

The process is methodical, and boring, but is successful. Heavily weighted attractors work best, because this style of fishing is focused on strike triggers and aggression, rather than feeding.

Not my cup of tea!

[NJTroutbum]

As kids, we began fishing a flyrod for bluegills on stillwater mostly, as our skills built ot the point we felt confident on moving waters. Having begun as spinfishermen on streams, we quickly found the benefits of the flyrod on the trout stream as well. However, back then when the fish were "hitting the top" we tossed dry flies. And when they were not, we switched over to a 4' leader, splitshot, baitholder hook, and "worm of choice". It was a product of our self-taught skills and confidence

We simply reached out and bounced that splitshot along the bottom, through the seams, just like when we were spinfishing bait....only with more reach & a more direct sense of feel.

Later, we moved to nymph fishing & employed the same methods. We always called it "tight line" nymphing, because that's what it was called back then. Seems to be the same durned thing.....only now with a Euro flare to it

[owlman]

Hi NJT,
Thanks for your question because I am not sure what is meant by the term either. If as stated in an above post, it is the same as the "high sticking" and "flipping," then I have often used this method on riffles and runs effectively. In fact that is how I usually nymph, I seldom cast or false cast except perhaps on the initial cast when I start or when I move to a different section of water.