How do you fly fish with a Nymph?

Question

I think it has something to do with letting the nymph sink to the bottom, but then wouldn't i need a seenking line?

Answer 1

fishing a nymph can be one of the most productive fly-fishing techniques. you can fish a nymph with a floating line but you don't cover as much of the different depths as you would with a sinking line. i do use a nymph and floating line often when I'm fishing streams. still waters you would need to have a full sinking line to properly present the fly. i like to cast along a drop off and count as i let it sink that will give you a rough idea of where the fly is when you strip it in on the retrieve. varying the amount of time you let it sink will allow you to fish different depths and when you find where the fish are you can count out and get your fly back into the same basic depth.
good luck

Answer 2

There are two main ways to fish a nymph in a river:

1. Have the fly down on the bottom bouncing along totally drag free

2. Use the nymph as a dropper, hanging about 12 to 18 inches below a floating dry fly.


The first way with the nymph down along the bottom simulates nymphs in their natural state, down where they live until it is time for them to leave the water and hatch out. The vast majority (90%?) of a fishes feeding time is spent looking for nymphs down on the bottom. There are two ways to get the nymph down like that. The first one is the easiest to learn, then second one takes more time to learn. For myself, I use the first one.

A. (for most Western rivers) Rig up a weight forward floating fly line with a 9 foot mono leader, placing a strike indicator on the leader up near where the leader is tied onto the fly line. This indicator has to be adjustable up and down along the leader to adjust to the varying depths of the river. At the end of the leader, tie on a short length of fluorocarbon tippet. If the leader is a 4X, tie on a 4X tippet, about 12 inches or so. You will most likely have to add some fish friendly (non-lead) split shot, if you do then apply it to the mono leader and not the fluorocarbon tippet. At the end of the tippet, tie on your first nymph. Usually you use your largest nymph that you want to fish with that day, which is also usually your heaviest nymph (barbless). Onto the bend of that fly, tie on a piece of 5X fluorocarbon tippet. The idea here is that this tippet should be one size smaller so if it snags then you only loose your dropper fly and not the whole rig. Make that tippet about 12 to 16 inches. Tie on a different nymph, usually a smaller and lighter nymph. Depending on the depth of the water and the speed at which it is flowing, the rule of thumb is to have about 1 & 1/5 the depth of the water below the strike indicator. As you start fishing, if you do not see your strike indictor showing that you are hitting bottom every few feet, then you need to either lengthen the leader below the strike indicator or add a little more weight, another split shot. The idea is to have the nymphs drifting along just above the bottom, touching it every now and then.

This system has to be fished drag free, that is an absolute must. If there is drag on the flies, meaning if they are not flowing freely along with all of the other muck in the water, the fish will shy away from them. If they flow drag free or freely with the other stuff in the water, you will get hits. Most of the time, to achieve drag free drifts requires you to mend your line according to how the water is flowing. You will see when your strike indicator is drag free and when it is drag free so are your nymphs. You watch your strike indicator and when it does something it shouldn't, like stop or bob under a bit, you set your hooks.

B. A more time honored or traditional way of working a nymph along the bottom is to only use the weight of the nymphs to get you down to the bottom and to maintain just enough control over the line so you can feel the takes without so much control that you don't drift drag free. This method takes a while to learn.


The next method was using the nymph as a dropper off of a larger dry fly. Use fluorocarbon tippet on your nymph. When you do this, you are fishing the nymph like it is an emerging nymph, coming up to the surface to hatch. The dry fly is your strike indicator. If a fish takes the dry you will see it. If the dry fly slows, stops, or goes under, then the fish took the nymph and you need to set the hook immediately. It has been suggested that the fish see the dry fly and start heading up to take it then they see the nymph and they take it instead. For a trout, the choice is to go after the dry which can fly off or go for a sure thing, the nymph which can't avoid the fish at all. The trout usually takes the sure thing. Naturally, when fishing this way you don't use a really big nor heavy nymph as a dropper, because you want your dry to stay afloat and for the nymph to sort of drift around.

Larry

Answer 3

MOST NYMPHS ARE FISHED FLOATING...
TOP WATER....

THATS WHAT FLY FISHING IS ALL ABOUT..

OTHER WISE BAITCASTERS AND SPINNING REELS WOULD BE USED FOR CRANKBAITS AND SPINNERS....

Answer 4

You get her to hold your rod......you did mean nympho didnt you?