Nymphing Techniques

Trout rise to the surface of a stream to take their food only about 25 percent of the time--the rest of their meals consists of aquatic insects found along the river bed. To catch fish when they aren't rising, fly fishermen need to use nymphing techniques.

  1. Basic Gear and Strategy

    • Flies used in nymphing are designed to look like the insects that live on and under the rocks of the stream. They are usually some shade of brown and emulated by flies such as the Pheasant Tail nymph, usually called a PT nymph. Turn over a few rocks to see the size of the bugs in the stream you are fishing and try to match it with your nymph.

      The main goal when fishing a nymph is to get it down to the stream bed and floating along at the same speed as the current. To get your nymph down you may need to add a B-B or two of weight about a foot above the nymph. And because you cannot see the fish take the nymph, fly fishermen often use small stick-on strike indicators, or tie a little yarn to their line. Otherwise your dry fly rod, reel and leader setup need no changes.

      Getting the nymph to drift at the right speed is often a problem because surface water and water in the middle of the stream travel faster. To solve this problem, you need to mend your line immediately after casting by giving a quick upstream jerk to your rod, flipping a few feet of fly line upstream into the faster water. Whenever your line "catches up" to where the nymph is floating, mend the line upstream again.

    Techniques

    • The easiest technique is to cast directly across the stream and let the nymph and fly line float in the current until it is straight downstream from you. But without mending your line, the nymph will look very unnatural for most of the drift.

      You will be more successful casting across stream, or a little upstream, and then mending your line to keep it above the area where the nymph is floating. Mending will put slack in your line, however, and it will be difficult to detect strikes. Add a floating strike indicator to your leader high enough above the nymph so your fly will still bounce along the bottom of the stream.

      Another technique to try is casting directly upstream. The nymph will immediately start floating back to you. You need to pull in excess line or you will not be able to set the hook if you get a bite. Use a strike indicator.

      In streams with small, fast pools and runs, fly fishermen use a "high sticking" technique. Cast the nymph up and across the stream, then keep as much fly line as possible off the water by lifting your fly rod high above your head and stripping in line. With little line on the water, the nymph gets a more natural drift. Use a strike indicator.

      Another good technique is to use a two-fly setup. Tie a buoyant dry fly on your leader; this will serve as your strike indicator and might also induce a bite. Then tie additional tippet to the hook bend of the dry fly. Measure out enough tippet to get the nymph to the bottom of the stream and tie on the nymph.