Just when you think you’re getting the hang of it, I guess summer comes along. I thought I was doing pretty well - having my share of success during the spring with plenty of hatches, but now that summer has crept up, its like I’m back at square one. I fish alot of limestone creeks, which stay cold but I guess the top water in still pools heats up, which drives fish down. This has its advantages, most attacks on terrestrials are big, splashy and violent. The problem is that they rarely occur. The only other option is to go submersible. Can anyone give me a quick lesson on nymphing, because I am apparently not gifted in the nymphing arts.
I hear that cressbugs and small shrimp are hot items, but I float 'em right by and these fish seem, to say the least, very uninterested. Also, they could care less about the streamers I offer. Can anyone help? If its a lengthy explanantion, shoot me an email at pagop06@yahoo.com. Thanks!
Here are my thoughts on strike indicator nymphing, much of which has been recently learned from some terrific PA guides:
(1) Use a strike indicator that makes it easy to adjust the depth. I now use a ball and toothpick type indicator because it’s so trivial to change depth.
(2) Use small shot – 4 and 6 work the best. No BBs. Use several shot a few inches apart rather than one big shot.
(3) Add the shot something like 10-14 inches above the fly.
(4) Learn how to remove shot as well as adding shot to your leader.
(5) Adjust shot and indicator depth so that you are close to the bottom. Make sure you occasionally tick the bottom occasionally and lose some flies. You can start fishing shallow and then add depth below the indicator and/or shot until you hit the bottom – then maybe back off slightly.
(6) Use a long rod. With a 9’ rod you can check cast an indicator rig and fish the other side of the stream effectively.
(7) The indicator should drift slightly slower than the surrounding current. This tells you that the shot and fly are in the slower current along the bottom. On the bottom is the right place to be the vast majority of the time.
(8) Practice tying knots and working with shot so you waste as little time as possible fooling with your rig onstream. That way you won’t be so adverse to losing a rig on the bottom.
(9) I now tie my own nymphs in part so I don’t worry about losing $1.75 per fly when I’m hung up. I strongly believe that simple patterns work just as well as complex patterns, and I only tie a few simple patterns. The GRHE in color variations works great, although I now tie them with hackle fiber tails. The PT in variations, especially flashback, is a great fly IMHO.
You should never be without the trivial-to-tie green weenie – that is a recently learned lesson.
(10) You have to pick the right water to fish. Fast, rocky water is the best IMHO. Trout will hold and feed in amazingly fast and shallow water – even reasonably big trout. Now that I know better, I see guys standing in what I think is the best water to fish all the time.
A big rock in the water affects the flow for a surprisingly long ways downstream. I believe trout hold all along the current seam behind a rock because I’ve caught them there.
(11) Most of the time I fish one fly, although many guys swear by double fly rigs. With a double fly rig using an indicator, the two flies trail behind the indicator at an angle. The bottom fly rides up and fishes not all that differently from the top fly. The complexity of working a two fly rig has to be balanced against keeping your rig in fishable water the maximum amount of time.
I do think that tieing a second fly off the bend of the hook is a good idea and that’s the double fly rig I use the most.
You might consider using a two-fly dropper rig when you’re nymphing slower water or pools.
(12) Work an area systematically, never fish over water you haven’t fished yet. It now takes me some serious time to nymph a good spot. I make sure I’ve covered every possibility before moving on.
(13) Set the hook on every curious movement of the indicator. Sometimes the indicator moves on the ejection and not the take, sometimes you’ll set the hook when the shot ticks the bottom, sometimes you’ll just be slow – but you’ll catch fish.
Hope some of that stuff helps.
[This message has been edited by BigFlatBrook (edited 01 August 2005).]
As you are fishing ‘Marinaro Water’ perhaps reading something by him might be indicated?
It may also be as simple a thing as the fish are not feeding because of warm water and no hatches. Try at first and last light and see what happens before you start major changes and/or expenditures.
Varden
Letort,
I’d have to agree with lady Fisher,The man knew those waters intamately.
Also,Have you givin the excellent Warm Water a shot,I know the area is quite rich is Smallie water,Some great lake fishing can be found all over the region as well…
God I miss PA… 
Seems every time I get back home,There is no time for fishing and fam both.
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
Indeed Vince Marinaro was the man but he wasn’t one to comment often on his nymphing ability; in fact at times he denied doing it on the local streams. One Letort regular who did/does ply the sacred waters with weighted nymphs & scuds is Ed Shenk. You might try and seek out some of his books as well.
Nymphing on the Letort or any other South Central PA Limestoner can be challenging at best because of the weeds. Besides all the great advice given by BigFlatBrook I can offer one tip taught to me by one of the masters, Charlie Fox: look for trout rooting in the cress. The trout will swim into the weeds and shake their bodies to dislodge the cress bugs & scuds. They will then drift back to intercept the fruits of their efforts. If you can get into casting position without spooking the fish; make a cast when the fish drifts back and set the hook when you see the white of the fish?s mouth opening. It is a very tricky maneuver but it definitely works. I caught one of my biggest Letort browns that way. Any good cress bug or scud pattern should work with small sizes like 16 with an olive gray color being perfect. Check out Cold Spring Anglers in Carlisle, they have a great cress bug pattern and the dubbing to make it. They also have a pattern called Herb?s Zebra Shrimp that works well on the local streams.
Also in regards to streamers: the best time to use them on your waters is early in the morning and in the late afternoon & evening. Weighted streamers are best so you can get them down into the channels between the weeds quickly; Sculpin patterns, Clouser Minnows & Wooly Buggers are all excellent choices.
Good luck!
The previous replies pretty much said it all. I do want to add a few things though. Nymphing is a constant series of adjustments. If one thing is not working, try another. You might be to deep, to shallow. Your tippet might not be the right type or size. When I fished the Little Red and the White when I lived in AR, I found that using flouro. tippet while nymphing was a must. When I was not catching fish on 7x, I would switch to 8x. I still think that one of the most important things about nymphing streams or rivers other than fly selection is having a dead drift. Hope this helps! Scott
[This message has been edited by salovin (edited 02 August 2005).]
Hey all,
Vince also used hand carved wooden lures on his fly rods, In the lakes of PA,For pike,ski’s and Bass.He was quite adept at fishing for fish other than trout. I’ve read alot bout this man,not just the writeing’s he has done…But ppl who fished and watched him fish as well.
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
You should learn to do it without an indicator first. It keeps you more involved and you’ll catch more fish because some are indicator shy. When I use one (usually) I like to use a white indicator as it matches bubbles and foam on the surface. The longer you can cast the more fish you can catch, you have to consider that it takes your nymph rig a while to get down to where the fish are at, many people fail to realize that. The longer your nymphs are on the bottom, the more fish you catch. LEAD THE FISH! Lead them by the greatest distance you can and get a drag free drift through where you think or know they’re at.