I am going to be fishing a lake where I have been told that small 18-20’s sized nymphs and chronimids fished under an indicator work well. I have never fished like this. I won a Rio 5WT. Nymph line in a Charity Auction at a fly show and have rigged that to a fast action 4 wt rod & appropriate reel. This Rio Nymph line terminates in a 6-8 inch looped section of Bight Orange, high floating Indicator tip. My question is what do I now attach to this loop to start a leader for fishing a lake? Also, can someone please recommend a leader construction. Was told a two-fly rig is good. What is that all about?
I’m not all that into complicated leader formulas, but I would guess it depends on how deep you want to fish your nymphs? The simplest rig might just be start with a loop (to loop-to-loop connect to your high-vis section), have this section about 1.5 feet long, and connect a 2nd section about 4 feet long. When you connect the two, leave some of the upper section as a dropper. Tie one nymph on the top dropper, and the other at the end.
Cast that out, when it hits the water give a pull to straighten out the leader, then let it slowly sink until veritical in the water column. The breeze will move it around enough that you won’t have to impart any movement yourself. If you are at a river mouth, and there is current, you may have to keep re-casting and replacing. In this case, you might want to use a heavier weighted fly on the end, as this will get down faster. If you are in a still section, then you have all day for it to sink, and you fish all the depth of the water as the flies descend.
Note, the above lengths would certainly need to be adjusted to suit your particular spot!
First uses a standard tapered leaded and an indicator that I can easily change the position of on the leader. I will sometimes use this method when I know I will be changing depth a lot.
Second is similar to a right angle nymphing system often used on streams. I use a short tapered leader (0x, 1x, or 2x usually) that is tied to a yard indicator with a clinch knot. My tippet is then tied on to the leader with an improved clinch not so it hangs off the tapered leader at a right angle. The knot is formed up against the clinch knot to the indicator. My tippet might range from two feet and up. The longest tippet I have used is 14 feet. This is the method I typically use for fishing midge pupa and larva on California’s lake Crowley.
With the second method, you know your fly will be hanging straight down. With the first method, depending on where the indicator is on the leader, the fly may be shallower than the distanced between indicator and fly because the heavier tapered part of the leader arcs down slighthy rather than hanging straight down.
When fishing nymphs, I personally don’t worry about a tapered leader, if fact I would only use a tapered with a dry where presentation matters, and then I use Furled, but back to the subject
I use straight P-Line flouro in 4lb to 8lb.
Then I use the “Y” connection.
Flymaker, if it helps I usualy fish 3 flys if stillwater nymphing, Tie on about 6ft of 7lb nylon, then using a triple surgeons knot add another 5 feet 0f 6lb leader leaving the tag end long enougth to tie on your first nymph ( I like a spider or a chironomid about size 16). Then add another 5 feet of 5lb leader using the same knot and tie a nymph of a diferent colour to the tag end and finaly on the end of the leader add one more nymph, If you use a small beadhead patern it will help to slowly pull the other nymphs down a bit deeper. My favorit in the lakes of my area is a damsel nymph on the end, a hair and copper or a chironomid on the first (middle) dropper and a spider patern on the top dropper.
Hope this helps.
All the best.
Mike.
Fishing with chironomid (buzzers) is very popular here in the UK -
here are a couple of very good articles on the subject :-
Beginners Buzzer http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/buzzer/
If you are fishing chironomids imitatively then you will be fishing them static. If you are fishing static then you need to be careful about your leader setup. I would suggest that you want your flies to be as far away as possible from the main leader as possible. The best way to achieve this is to use a fairly long dropper but tie it in backwards so the dropper is facing the fly line. When it is in the water it will curve over but will be forced away from the main leader and make the line less visible to the fish.
When I fish Chironomids, I still use the “Y” so to speak I put one on the end of the leader and second one up 2 to 3 feet. I will also use a 30’ leader at times, and no, I can’t cast it well, just kinda lob it out and kick back a ways in my toon. That is if I am using an indicator, If I do the Chan, I just drop straight down, but the bottom fly always is weighted either wraps or tungsten bead.
Donald, last season you mentioned buzzers and the diawl bach. I tied some in red and some in black with red heads. This season when nothing else was working I tied a red diawl bach on . Viola! success! 20 inch trout gobbled them up like candy. It sure saved my trip having those in my kit. I wish to thank you for your suggestions as the Diawl bach has become one of my go-to patterns. Here In British Columbia you are restricted to only one fly per line. I use a floating line with a 10 foot sinking tip. Let it settle for 3 minutes by my watch then very very slow retrieve. Trout often smash the fly very hard, usually as it nears the boat so don’t lift the line to soon.
Hi GBF
The Diawl Bach has been one of the most successful stillwater flies in the UK for a number of years now, the amount of variations tells it’s own story.
Also buzzers and buzzer tactics have quite an old pedigree now, starting back in the 1960s, a lot of literature on the subject.
I shall post a list of writers and books when I can collect it together.
They should not be too expensive on the second hand market, but are very informative, even the older ones.
Thanks Donald. Very good read and thanks for the post of the image. A local rcommends a pattern called “Epoxy Backed Pheasant Tail” nymph, and that looks pretty much like the flash back Diawl Bach . I’m going to try a three fly rig…
Here In British Columbia you are restricted to only one fly per line. I use a floating line with a 10 foot sinking tip. Let it settle for 3 minutes by my watch then very very slow retrieve. Trout often smash the fly very hard, usually as it nears the boat so don’t lift the line to soon.