Useful tips form "Nymphing Strategies"
Following are some extremely useful quotes:-Migs
from:
Nymphing Strategies
By Larry Tullis
Remember that presentation accounts for 75% of your success rate.
Divide the lake water column into three levels. The lower level is of prime consideration to the angler. Ninety percent of a trout?s food is subsurface, and 90 percent f that subsurface food is taken in the lower third (depth wise).
Normal nymphing levels are from one to 12 inches off the bottom.
A trout?s reactions are about 20 times faster than our own.
Trout have two things on their simple minds ?safety and food.
Presenting your fly and yourself to the trout naturally is the best bet for success.
A nympher will discover that good triggers in a steamer are unnatural swimming motions (that is, motions that make the fly look like an injured or frightened minnow), the general shape of the fly and the streamer?s eye.
I believe that trout do see color but it ranks quite low on the list of priorities for matching natural foods? Don?t ignore color, however, because it does make a difference.
If you never make your presence known in the first place, the trout becomes much more vulnerable.
The lateral line is the part of a trout?s highly evolved sense of touch. Next time you catch a trout or other game fish, look for the faint, narrow line that extends the length of their body.
On reason people like bead head nymphs is because they work. The extra weight helps get the fly down into the strike zone better. The flash may help too.
I like to use weighted flies in fast water and unweighted flies in slow or shallow water.
In lakes and areas where retrieved nymphs are used, I weigh the head of the fly lightly.
My river system uses no extra weight in #16 nymphs and smaller. Nymph sizes 14 to 10 have some weight (lead under the body, heavy wire ribbing, or bead head), and #8 to #1 nymphs are fairly well weighed.
For most shallow, stillwater nymph applications, a Type I (slow sinking) or Monocore (?slime?) line is best.
Few people rig properly for nymphing. They set up once and never change. But adaptability is the key to nymphing success. The standard strike indicator system works everywhere? It is also effective in stillwater.
I seldom go below 5X tippet for nymphing.
Strike indicators should be medium sized or large. They should be pink, bright red, or orange if the water is fast and choppy, and white or chartreuse if the water is slow.
It is important to be able to move the SI up or down in the leader as the water type and depth change.
Keeping the SI rig adapted to the water you are fishing will likely double your hookup rates.
Lake lines and methods:
Sinking lines are the lake angler?s best tool.
The right fly-line sink rate is what gets you to the right level in lakes.
Sinking lines are employed by typical lake nymphers approximately 90% of the time.
Retrieves are plentiful and vary greatly. But the rod tip should always be pointed straight down the fly line, even if this means putting the rod tip under water during the retrieve.
Setting the hook is done slowly. If you set the hook too fast you?ll miss many trout, especially with tailed flies like the Woolly Buggers.
A typical retrieve with [Woolly Buggers, dragon fly nymphs and streamers] is and eight to 18 inch strip every second or two.
The medium inking (Type II) fly line is the Stillwater nympher?s mainstay. If you can only have one fly line to use in Stillwater, it should be this one. It can be fished effectively in three to 17 feet of water.
Slow sinking (Type I) fly lines are my personal favorite for fishing the shallow flats and weed beds common in productive trout lakes.
I often use SIs with floating lines in Stillwater. Set up with a long (10 to 15 foot) leader, a relatively small SI and a small (#18 to #10) weighted nymph. Bead heads work well.
End Lakes section
There was a time when your favorite fly or two were used 80 percent of the time and generally worked. Today? you usually need at least a dozen killer nymph patterns in your box to do consistently well in various waters.
Experimenting with new flies is fun, but most anglers get in a groove. If something is working satisfactorily, they quit experimenting. ?I like to ? change flies after every two fish I catch.
For nymphers, the standards might include the Gold Ribbed Hare?s Ear, Prince Nymph, Muskrat Nymph, Red Fox Squirrel Hair Nymph, Chamois Caddis, Pheasant Tail Nymph, Rubber-Leg Stone, Fur Bug, and Zug Bug.
Not one of the three fly types ?attractors, suggestives and imitators ? is better than another, because each can be the best choice in certain situations.
Fly presentation is usually first, fly size is often second, fly shape (in the case of a nymph) or surface impression (with a dry fly) might be third, and color or shade is often last. Many times trout see a fly pattern as a silhouette, a dark shape against a bright sky.
Dry fly anglers know that if a trout refuses a dry fly, the first thing to do is to tie on a smaller imitation.
In fast water or murky water, a fly should be a thick, buggy, dark nymph like the Gold Ribbed Hare?s Ear Nymph.
Remember to match the fly size to the water type for starters, then match the fly shape to the water. Slow clear, spring waters are generally not the place to plunk a #4 stone fly nymph. The appropriate nymph would be a sparsely tied scud, mayfly nymph, or midge, #16 or smaller.
Natural furs have been used so long for dubbing. Nature seldom creates flat colors.
I like a minimum of three colors in my fly dubbings, and five is better. Flash can be a great trigger.
Translucence also relates to nymph imitation. In fast, colored water, flies should usually be solid and appear opaque. In slow water, many of a trout?s foods are translucent.
I frequently add chartreuse to my smaller slow-water, clear water, or shallow water flies.
The triggers that occur on attractors are flash, iridescence, white, rubber legs, attractor colors, buggy colors, body profile, injured food look, and action or simulated action.
I?ve tested nymphs made entirely of Mylar flash material, and they can work well.
Underwater, purple is the closest color to black without being black. Few trout foods are flat black, and often purple imitations can trigger a better response than black in stone fly nymphs, leeches, and cased caddis.
Action built into flies can also be a good attractor. Soft marabou tails on flies like the Woolly Buggers are enticing.
I?ve been putting a dot of fluorescent yellow or orange T shirt paint on the backs of some small nymphs.
Try materials that are colored differently than normal.
Twist a couple strands of flash with your caddis larva or midge dubbing.
As a fly is being tied, ask yourself what type of water it will be fished in and what shape the nymph should be for that water. In general you should already know that bulky flies are ideal for fast water and slow water dictated sparse, delicate flies.
[This message has been edited by Migs (edited 06 March 2006).]
