How do you weight your nymphs? Bead head? Bead head with lead wraps (how many). Lead foil? I have been using bead heads alone but think that maybe I should have a little more weight. Any shared knowledge will be greatly appreciated.
how deep of water are you fishing? throwing in fast current? i only use a beadhead but that is for stillwater
I use both beads and lead wraps. I usually wrap the lead until it is even with the point. It helps building up the thorax and making a nice taper… ie a Copper John.
Bead heads, lead wrap, and lead wire are about your only options. The only other things I can think of are:
-
using tungsten in place of brass
-
pinching a small split shot on your line about 12-18 inches up from your nymph.
FOR ME,
i usually just use a bead head
with occasionally a few(3-6) wraps of non lead wire jammed up against the bead to kee it in place.
the most you can do is to have a bigger beadhead on the fly
have lots of wraps of lead or non-lead wire
use wire for ribbing or for your bodies
and you can also use some split shot
i would say that you need not to go heavier but if you are fishing a river just keep your nymph at a DEAD drift and it will sink to the bottom where it needs to be
the heaviest nypmh i could think of would be a super heavy copper john where you would use a big bead head, lead underbody, and a colored wire body.
but that is pretty extreme 
hope that helps
chris
Thanks for the help. I fish both relative fast riffles and slower runs. I do keep a dead drift (pretty well most of the time :lol: ) Another thing that I have noticed is that I find myself fishing only bead head nymphs because they catch trout for me fairly consistently. My box is also about half full of unweithted nymphs. Under what circumstances might I find it advantageous to fish an unweighted nymph - or should I just stop tying the unweighted ones? - Didn’t really know what I was doing when I started so I just tied a bunch of everything :shock:
You can also slip a bead or two on your tippet before tying on a fly if you think the fly won’t be heavy enough on its own. Easier to do and it doesn’t pinch the tippet like split shot can do. You can crank the weight up as quickly as you can with split shot though…for steel heading, I’ve seen some pretty serious amounts of split shot attached. For normal nymphing, how much I add depends on how fast I want it to get down (which can also be affected by using various sinking lines instead of adding more weight to the nymph).
if you tie nymphs with lead or other weight that is hidden by dubbing and what-not use a different color thread so that you can tell a difference on the water. you better be able to see if it has a bead head. if it is not weighted just tie normally
Example
lead wire or non lead wire= red thread
Beadheads are easily seen= normal thread
beadheads with other weight= yellow thread
non weighted= black thread
use whatever colors u prefer or can remember. this helps tell the flies apart easily. you don’t want to have a big box of flies and you can’t tell which ones are weighted or not.
Keep on Tying
WWFF
I add weight to the tippet/leader using “Loons Soft Weight” and roll it on about 12" to 18" above the fly. It’s very easy to remove some or add some with the “Soft Weight” depending on the water speed and depth that you’re fishing in at any particular time. Even remove it when I’m done for the day and chuck it back in the container. Soft when in your hand or the container; but, hardens up quickly in the water. Doesn’t pinch the leader/tippet like split shot and lots easier to handle. I roll this on the tippet/leader and form a small torpedo shape instead of just a ball like a split shot. Believe it results in fewer bottom hang ups this way.