Simple nymphs

[fisher998]

Me and my father go fly fishing all the time but my father has got a very bad back latley and has had to improvise on the stream. So now dad positions him self in some current and fishes this way so he wont have to cast a lot. He has tried a lot of flies this way but he found the best to be medium sized nymphs. I would kindly appreacheat any help on this subject as i have allready tied some pheasant tail nymphs and hears ear nymphs.

Thanks Fisher998

[jim635]

Do a search on here for SWHAPF. That is a great fly and will catch bunches of trout.

[Thwack]

I've had decent luck drifting zugbugs under a strike indicator.

Paying attenion during the drift and especially when retrieving at the end of the drift. I get as many hits on the retrieve as I do on the drift.

When pulling it back in, I lift the rod slowly which raises the flyin the water column (as though it were trying to get to the surface though I don't care if it gets that high).

Then I lower the rod tip back to the water and bring in the slack. The current takes out some of the slack (this is on slow moving water) and the nymph sinks a little bit again of course.

Repeat until the fly is near you then adjust its position to get back in the feeding lane and start a new dead drift.

Keep an eye on the indicator during the retrieve. I've had trout pull the indicator under without feeling the usual tap of a hit.

[fisher998]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies, what would you use of an indacator.

[JeffHamm]

Hi Fisher998,

You can buy strike indicators of all sorts. Some are blobs of wool, treated with water repellant (silicon) that clip to your line, others can be a putty substance, or some sticky foam, etc. Some people just use a big bushy dry fly (like a big Royal Wolfe, or a humpy, or stimulator), then tie the line to the bend of the dry fly and dangle the nymph off of that.

A friend of mine taught me his trick, which was to get some egg yarn and spray it with a lot of water repellant (silicon) spray. When you need a strike indicator, tear off some of this egg yarn, and attach it to your leader. The way he attaches it is as follows:
1) fold the line over, so you have a loop (loop is down; lines are "tied" in an overhand knot, so if you were to let go with one hand, it would just fall down and straighten out; think of a "hot wheels" race track loop).
2) for the loop, one end of the line is "on top" of the other, with this "on top" section, push the section beside the loop in behind the loop
3) now push this section up through the loop, so you have a 2nd loop, one that sticks up out of the first.
4) stick your piece of egg yarn through this 2nd loop, and pull the two ends of the line.

The egg yarn prevents the loops from comming undone. To remove the indicator, just push the two ends together.

- Jeff

[Ray Kunz]

My example, I think, is really unique. On a really hot day I took a break by sitting on a rock in midstream to drink a soda. I let my line trail downstream with a Partridge and Orange soft hackle and when I reeled in the slack there was a trout on it. It can't get better than that.
At my age, I'm also quite a passive fisherman and like small Wooly Buggers, traditional streamers and various "fuzzy" wet flies.

[biot midge]

fisher998,
As Ray mentioned, soft-hackle wets can be very productive. Try several variations, such as hare's ear soft-hackles, and the Partridge series of soft-hackles, ie partridge and yellow, partridge and green, etc. Another simple nymph to try would be the Bird's Nest. Look in the FOTW archives and the Old Flies archives for these patterns and more.
Steve

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"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went"-Will Rogers

[kjackson]

One of the most-effective, simple nymphs I've fished is what I call the stick nymph. Wrap the shank of a hook (#8-#12) with thread followed by lead wire. Tie in three or four peacock herls at the tail of the fly, wrap to the head and tie off. That is it. In caddis country, it works quite well. If the simplistic pattern is too plain for you, take a turn or two of hackle (just about any kind or color but brown partridge is good) at the head. You can make the fly durable by coating the lead with cement and leaving a tag of thread at the rear of the fly to counter-wrap the peacock.


On strike indicators, John Gulley, an Orvis guide in Norfork, Ark., showed me a pretty simple one. Buy a roll of sticky-back mirror-backing (a foam tape) at Wal-Mart and tear off a short section. Wrap it around the leader to form a blob. It works great.

Keith

[JeffHamm]

Hi,
I've tied a similar "stick nymph" using coarse brown deer hair tips on a weighted hook (lead or copper). Tie the hair in at the hook bend, bring it forward so the shank is burried in the middle, and tie it near the front. rib with copper wire. With white floss, make a few turns at the head (to be the white grub sticking out of its stick case), add some "legs" sticking out of the head (i.e. marabou tips), and that's it. On my last fishing trip I tried this one out and took one in the 1 lbs size (which was about average for me on the river I was fishing).

- Jeff

[fisher998]

Thanks for all of the sugestions.

fisher 998