Nymph or streamer techniques

[slinger09]

I have very limited experience with trout fishing. When I first bought my fly rod last year a guy was kind enough to show me how to fish a nymph on a indacator rig. I have also caught a few with a dry fly on top. I would like to add a few more tricks to my bag, so I began reading Basics 101 on the main page here. He was talking about stripping a nymph which surprised me because I thought you always dead drifted them. Anyway I have played a little with woolly boogers and clousers and have yet to catch anything so I was wondering if anyone had other techniques I could try that would be good for a beginner.

[fishy guts]

try to make the streamer look like a fish in distrease. use several different techniques until one works. good luck

[Chris Dore 1]

Try swinging a double nymph combo across and down through the riffles. You can cover an aweful lot of water this way, and you just 'feel' for the take. Very effective, on either a floating, sink tip, or intermediate line.

cast across and slightly upstream, and maybe throw an upstream mend in the line to gain a little more depth if required ( simply a quick, upstream roll of the wrist will throw a small belly of line against the current for a deeper drift - the higher you initially lift your rod tip, the more line you mend). Keep a tight line and the take will often come as the line tightens at the beginning of the swing, as the nymphs lift off the bottom.

similarly, employ the same tactics with a streamer - let it swing before stripping it back along the bank below you.

[Fly Time]

Swinging streamers can be fun and effective. Cast upstream from the spot you are targeting at about a 45 deg angle from the bank. Throw a quick up stream mend so the streamer sinks some. The current will start to drag your fly line and will swing the streamer through the pool or spot you are targeting. As this swing occurs the line will tighten and the streamer will start to rise up in the water column. This seems to trigger fish to strike. I have had large fish hit at the end of the swing when I was just about ready to pull it out of the water.

Nymphs swim and move in the water so it makes sense to have some movement to them. If you are stripping a nymph you typically strip in much smaller increments then when stripping a streamer. Just a little movement to a nymph can be effective. Enjoy the learning ? hopefully it never ends.

[DaleW]

My absolute best times for streamers and nymphs has been in a light rain. The more beginning of the light rain, the better.


Dale

[slinger09]

My absolute best times for streamers and nymphs has been in a light rain. The more beginning of the light rain, the better.


Dale

I am in trouble then. It has not rained in two months.

[anglerdave]

On a recent trip to Colorado, I was catching fish on nymph under a dropper. The I took the dropper off and fished it more like a wet fly swing. Casting across and slightly down stream. At the end of the swing, I would raise my rod tip a bit. I caught more fish on the swing then under the indicator.

[Les Johnson]

I purchased a copy of NYMPHS TO THE TROUT, by Frank Sawyer (Crown, 195. Sawyer was a famous British river keeper and student of the nymph. It has been a delight using his techniques.
One interesting not is that Sawyer tied his "ballested" flies (weighted) by tying the entire fly with copper wiire of an appropriate weight. The action is more even on retrieve or swing than a bead head; hence quite realistic.
Anyone really interested in fishing with the nymph should give this book a long look if one should show up on a sale table at your local club. Mine cost $10.
Good Fishing,
Les Johnson

[Steven]

I have very limited experience with trout fishing. When I first bought my fly rod last year a guy was kind enough to show me how to fish a nymph on a indacator rig. I have also caught a few with a dry fly on top. I would like to add a few more tricks to my bag, so I began reading Basics 101 on the main page here. He was talking about stripping a nymph which surprised me because I thought you always dead drifted them. Anyway I have played a little with woolly boogers and clousers and have yet to catch anything so I was wondering if anyone had other techniques I could try that would be good for a beginner.

Slinger,

I just want to point out that the author of the nymphing chapter in Basics 101 was talking about stripping the nymph a bit after the fly was directly behind you, on the dangle, after the drift is completed. Presumably, this would help in your casting as well.

Probably, the most important thing I ever learned about nymphing came from one of the mags. If the nymph is on the bottom where it belongs, then the indicator, dry fly, line tip (whatever) will be moving more slowly than the current (bubble line) you're fishing.

If your nymph is on the bottom, it will be dragging across rocks, slowing the drift of your line. By definition, then, your indicator will be moving more slowly than the bubbles. Similarly, assuming you have a decent drift, if the indicator is moving at the same speed as the bubble line, then your nymph isn't dragging bottom.

If the indicator is moving at the same rate as the bubble line, move the indicator towards the line tip and/or add weight. If you get hung up on the bottom too often, move the indicator towards the fly and/or reduce weight.

Another tip to increase your take is to fish a tandem rig with a nymph/wet fly combo. Last month, I had a chance to fish the Lower Ruby River in Montana. Using a little yellow stone nymph on the point and a Starling & Herl as a dropper kept things interesting on a day when nothing was rising. The fish I caught were split evenly between taking the stone on the drift and the S&H on the sweep.

-Steven

[OLB]

I fish streamers 99% of the time I fish for trout. I love them! Bob Linsenman and Kelly Galloup co-wrote a book called "Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout", I can't reccomend it highly enough when the suject of streamer tactics comes up!