Which are your nymphs in fast waters? How do you go down quickly with them? Lead wire, bead head, split-shots,…?
Regards fans
Waterfox
Dear Waterfox,
That is sort of a difficult question to answer because I use anything from a size 6 Golden Stonefly nymph to a size 16 Pheasant tail in fast water.
I weight most of the nymphs I tie for myself with lead wire and a beadhead, and I also use split-shot when fishing them depending on how deep I need to go.
Best Wishes,
Avalon 
Hello Waterfox, in my opinion, any nymph will work in fast water and personally, I don’t weight any of my flies anymore. A combination of mending and a good leader/tippet arrangement will get the fly down in the water column. Granted, weight and a strike indicator will help tremendously, but again, my preference is to use a nymph, good leader/tippet combo and mending.
Choice of nymphs would be a long long post, but if you learn which nymphs are present you can use those that match them. Size can be important so have 16’s thru 6’s or even 4’s. Color, well that easy, usually black to brown and colors in between will cover most with some gray ‘thrown’ in for good measure. I’m sure the gang will add to all this shortly. Good fishing !
Holiday Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Which are your nymphs in fast waters? How do you go down quickly with them? Lead wire, bead head, split-shots,…?
Regards fans
Waterfox
My answer is “could be, could be, could be”
Enough weight to keep them ticking along the bottom.
Or fish one heavy and a “lighter” dropper, etc.
( two flys = 2x the chance or a hookup )
Not that I experience active hatches all that frequently, but an unweighted nymph ( or emerger ) presented “in the film” could be an appropriate choice at that time
I like Pheasant tail nymphs because the natural color of the pheasant tail is almost always right.
I use a sinking tip line and mend mend mend. Seems to get the fly down. I use mostly #10 down to #14s
:lol:
When tying my flies, I try to use tungsten bead heads whenever possible. The tungsten gets the fly down fast. If I am fishing a very small midge I will use it either as a dropper under a tungsten zebra midge or I will use some tungsten putty (super small amount is all that is needed). Throw on some weight and mind your mending and you will be down where you need to be without any problems. I tend to fish small so I can’t speak to the large stones,etc. But the ones i have tied for friends going on trips I use lead for the underbody and have not had any complaints…
I am kind of new but how does mending get a fly down fast. I understand how it gives slack in the line for for the nymph to sink but it can’t sink any faster than its weight can take it.
I use mends in combination with shot. Nothing is more efficent at sinking a fly right away then shot. When I am trying to setup a drift I want my fly on the bottom for most of the drift. Sinking lines and mends take up too much of the drift before the fly gets where you want it.
Just my two cents
The main thing that I’ve done is learn how to do the tuck cast. It’ll cause the nymph/s drop straight down below your strike indicator (assuming you’re using one)…even without an indicator, this is the best way to get any nymph down quickly because they are going straight down and not out & then down at an angle. Does this make sense?
~Randy
I use mostly Copper Johns and Pheasant Tail that I tie with lead and a bead head. Most of the time I will drop a midge or emerger of the back, too.
I use most of the methods that have already been mentioned. Also, if i’m using shot with a very heavy pattern, i’ll use a short, straight leader, rather than a tapered. It cuts through the water much quicker. I also use fluro, which sinks faster than mono.