“The most effective technique is with nymphs”. “90% of the time, trout feed for insects on the bottom”. The classic phrases when we talk about trout streams are the truth:D
I have a problem…I am a dry fly guy…those little things dancing on the surface film waiting for an explosive rise:rolleyes: are like a drug:-(
I have some envy:mad: for those guys that are nymph-effective flyfishers. My nymphs are wet in the river is just 10% of the time.
I think I need a rehab!!
R.
Real fly fishermen don’t use nymphs…
If your purpose is to catch fish then use bait. It works better much of the time. If your purpose is to enjoy yourself then what could possibly be better than fishing dry flies? If the fish completely convince you that they will never come up for a dry, then you have a decision.
David
I love this book. It makes nymphing enjoyable:
http://www.amazon.com/Orvis-Pocket-Guide-Nymphing-Techniques/dp/1585745340/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334943435&sr=1-4Randy
Sometimes I get angry when I hear of people perceiving us fly fishers as elitist snobs. Other times I realize why.
after many years as a dry or die trout fisherman, i realized as i was getting older that the whole thing was about catching fish, my first love is difficult fish on tiny flies, but all in all its about catching fish, streamers, nymphs ,midges or dries. whatever is working i am doing it. i only got so many days left and half of those would be gone if i was waiting for a hatch that may or may not happen. just fish.
I rarely throw a dry. Only if it is a last resort. I really do like catching fish, thus, I nymph. I like nymphing but I dont think I would put down dry fly fishing, like the first comment to this thread. “Real fly fishermen don’t use nymphs”.
I can imagine where people get the idea we are elitist snobs.
I never get angry at that. Most Fly Fishers are. I just refuse to be…which is why I use a red and white bobber as an indicator, keep fish if legal and I want to eat them (on a metal stringer), show non-ffers how to fish if they want to, and protest whenever I can if FFers want to close a stream to the “regular” fishing almost all of us started out doing.
And, oh yeah, I can’t nymph to save my life. Have no idea what I am doing wrong, but the only fish I catch on nymphs are the suicidal ones.
I fish dries for trout just about all the time. No arguing that nymphs, streamers, etc are effective but I giggle like a kid even when I get a refusal on a dry; it’s all just for fun folks.
Regards,
Scott
Not quite. The 90% number is quoted as the amount of time that fish feed sub-surface; not necessarily on bottom. If you learn to enjoy wet flies and streamers, you’ll catch a lot of fish in between the surface and the bottom, without resorting to what most people think of a “nymphing.” I have nothing against nymphing, but it’s my least favorite way to fish, and usually, on my home stream, unnecessary. You’re going to not catch fish fairly often if you insist on using only dry flies, though.
I had never received a flame PM until I made my tongue in cheek comment and set out my full bowl of popcorn…
Two of you and likely many more need to stop taking fishing so darn seriously, if a person really dose enjoy dry fishing
only so what… I would never perceive them as a snob… I happen to enjoy nymphs , drys, worms or other its all in fun, sorry I ticked off three of you plus the
posters here , now I am going to pop another bowl, I am not setting any more chum lines on this one… geezers…
Well steve, why dont you call those PM meanies out by name? Anonymous is gutless. Chum line? get more than you can handle? Pop all the corn you need
I read yours as it was intended, tongue in cheek. No call for nasty PM’s though, even if it had been serious.
… on a lot of different factors.
For example, if you want to catch fish rather than just go fishing in Western Montana on January 1 …
… it certainly helps to know where and how to nymph effectively. Guarantee you that you would not have been able to get this New Years Day rainbow to come up for a dry.
On the other end of the spectrum, Northern Idaho was giving up lots of nice cutthroat to big dries yesterday …
… but this guy probably would have accomodated a number of “nymphers” and some of his buddies just downriver did, in fact, chew down …
… on a streamer last week.
Somewhere in this huge universe that we call fly angling, there’s room for lots of techniques and styles - and room for purists, us ordinary fly anglers, folks in rehab, and even some elitists !!
John
I have historically gotten really annoyed with those who get on a high horse when it comes to nymphing or indicators or other such “impure” excuses for fly fishing, but in the interest of some civil discourse, it suddenly occurs to me that in at least some cases, maybe it’s a function of where a person lives and/or fishes. Nothing would make me happier than if it were practical for me to fish with dries all the time, but in the places where I do almost all of my fishing, I just about have a better chance of winning the lottery than seeing a hatch of any kind. While fishing a hatch is the kind of thing I cherish like few other experiences in fly fishing, I literally couldn’t tell you the last time it happened. If I were to fish with only dries, I might as well cut the fly off altogether and have a nice day wading the river and taking in the scenery. What occurs to me this evening though is how much different I might see the world if I lived near or fished a river like the Au Sable in Michigan all the time, rather than visiting once or twice a year as I do now. There’s a place where it seems to me like there’s at least a 50/50 chance of experiencing at least one hatch every day, and even if you don’t, finding at least some fish looking up all the time in water that is frequently on the skinny side. I don’t think I’ve ever tied a nymph on up there, and certainly have never needed an indicator. Maybe if that’s the kind of fishing I was able to do all the time, I too would have trouble understanding why anybody would fish any other way. Just a thought…
I have historically gotten really annoyed with those who get on a high horse when it comes to nymphing or indicators or other such “impure” excuses for fly fishing, but in the interest of some civil discourse, it suddenly occurs to me that in at least some cases, maybe it’s a function of where a person lives and/or fishes. Nothing would make me happier than if it were practical for me to fish with dries all the time, but in the places where I do almost all of my fishing, I just about have a better chance of winning the lottery than seeing a hatch of any kind. While fishing a hatch is the kind of thing I cherish like few other experiences in fly fishing, I literally couldn’t tell you the last time it happened. If I were to fish with only dries, I might as well cut the fly off altogether and have a nice day wading the river and taking in the scenery. What occurs to me this evening though is how much different I might see the world if I lived near or fished a river like the Au Sable in Michigan all the time, rather than visiting once or twice a year as I do now. There’s a place where it seems to me like there’s at least a 50/50 chance of experiencing at least one hatch every day, and even if you don’t, finding at least some fish looking up all the time in water that is frequently on the skinny side. I don’t think I’ve ever tied a nymph on up there, and certainly have never needed an indicator. Maybe if that’s the kind of fishing I was able to do all the time, I too would have trouble understanding why anybody would fish any other way. Just a thought…
I think I made this comment once before, but since I can’t think of anything original here goes - If a person wants to use a 1 1/2 inch by 10 foot cane pole with 30 lb test dacron with a safety pin tied under a 4 inch red and white bobber using dough balls and worms for bait (and providing it’s all legal and ethical) and goes home at the end of the day having had a great time then why should anyone else give a rats furry bottom.
All I will say is, that when throwing a verbal grenade in a room full of passionate people be ready for casualties. Opinions expressed, joking or not, on techniques or styles will bring out emotions and either party cannot take those as personal attacks. There is no reason for hurt feelings or aggressive posts…Personal experience!
I LOVE catching fish on dries. But that only seems to happen about 3 months out of the year in the Rockies. Nymphing lacks the excitement of the rise and hit, but offers a lot of peaceful mind time as I watch my drift and any signals of a possible take.
Right On John Scott = To each their own and enjoy if for what it is. I took my first, and hopefully not my last, steelhead last fall on a nymph and will continue to try to land another one using all fly fishing methods!!
MW