How to Tie a Nymph Rig

Ninety percent of a trout's food comes from under the surface of the water. They mainly eat subsurface insects and other aquatic organisms. Sure, it is great to catch a nice rainbow on the surface with a dry fly, but for the best odds of catching bigger and more fish on your fly rod, you need to learn how to rig up a pair of nymphs. It's not tough, but with so much variation in possible methods, it's easy to get lost.

Things You'll Need

  • Tapered leader
  • Floating fly line
  • Fly reel
  • Two wet flies
  • Tippet
  • Split shot
  • Indicator
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Instructions

    • 1
      A 5-weight setup with a 9-foot leader is fine for nymphing.

      Connect a 7 1/2- to 9-foot tapered leader to floating line loaded onto a fly reel. Stick with 5X leader for most trout applications. Use a heavier leader for bass, salmon or saltwater species.

    • 2
      Larger flies like nymphs or San Juan worms are ideal lead flies.

      Tie the larger of the two chosen nymphs to the line as you would a dry fly.

    • 3

      Tie tippet material, either equal to the 5X leader above or a lighter 6X tippet, to the bend of the hook and roll off about 12 inches of tippet material.

    • 4

      Take the smaller wet fly, typically a midge or small nymph, and tie it to the 12-inch section of tippet material as if you were tying a standard fly to the line. The distance between the two flies should run 6 to 12 inches.

    • 5
      There's no need to bring your tying bench to river's edge.

      Add a small piece of split shot or weight to the line anywhere from 6 to 10 inches above the lead fly to help the flies reach the bottom, where most fish will be.

    • 6
      For an indicator, pair bright-colored acrylic yarn with a tiny rubber band.

      Place an indicator near the beginning of the leader to monitor strikes. Adjust the placement of the indicator so that flies contact the bottom while the indicator stays on water's surface.