Any tips on fly fishing with nymphs?

Question

I have a few in my fly box. I have a Griffith's Gnat, a Pheasant Tail, and I have some dry flies.

Answer 1

It depends on where you are going to fish (river or stream or lake).

The Pheasant Tail is a great fly. You can fish it down near the bottom in the rivers or as a dropper off of a dry fly in either the rivers or lakes.

In the rivers, if you are fishing deep where the fish are, you have to be right down to the bottom, but not with so much weight that it stays on the bottom, it has to float along drag free so play with the amount of leader below the strike indicator and the amount of split shot to find the right combination. One smaller split shot is usually all you need, sometimes two or one larger. The amount of leader below the strike indicator is usually one and one half the depth of the water, but you may need to adjust that.

If you are fishing a smaller stream then you will mostly be casting with out a strike indicator and you will practice on keeping the nymph drag free by just watching it. Mend the line as necessary to achieve this.

For dry flies, when you see a fish working a particular spot, in either a lake or a river, then time your cast. In a lake fish usually work an area they feel comfortable in and will work in a pattern. Watch the rises and try to anticipate where to cast to. Don't cast right to where you just saw a rise. The fish isn't there anymore. Most of the time the fish is down deeper where it is safe and it comes up to take an insect it spotted. As soon as it grabs that insect it turns and goes down again. So, look for a pattern and mentally time the rises, that will give you a good idea on where to place your dry fly and when to place it.

The same rule sort of holds true in most rivers. A fish picks a spot it feels safe in, be it a ledge or a rock or whatever and it stays there. As food comes by, it rises or moves over and takes the insect, then goes back to it's hole.

So, for dry flies, watch to see where a fish rises several times and remembering that as soon as it grabs the fly on the surface it goes back down, get your timing and location to cast to upstream and make your cast. It is best to cast upstream onto the seam the fish is working and let the fly drift down drag free over the area of the fish. Make some casts and if nothing happens and or the fish still rises but ignores your fly, then switch flies and try again.

Larry