Fly Fishing With Nymphs

Welcome! If you're looking to significantly increase your catch rate while fly fishing for trout, mastering the art of nymphing is essential. Nymph fishing is widely regarded as one of the most productive techniques available to anglers, allowing you to target fish where they spend the vast majority of their time feeding – beneath the surface. While highly effective, success requires understanding some core principles, techniques, and gear.

This guide will take an in-depth look at fly fishing with nymphs, covering everything from the basics to specific rigging and presentation tactics, helping you approach the river with confidence.

What Exactly is Nymph Fishing?

At its core, "nymphing" is a generalized term for fly fishing with artificial flies that imitate the underwater stages of aquatic insects. In the natural world, many aquatic insects lay eggs in the water. These eggs hatch into larvae (like caddisflies) or nymphs (like mayflies and stoneflies), which live on the riverbed, clinging to rocks, burrowing in sand, or drifting in the current. These immature insects form a primary food source for trout.

While technically there are differences between nymphs, larvae, and pupae, anglers use the term "nymphing" to cover fishing any of these subsurface imitations.

Key Considerations for Nymphs:

1. Size Variation: Nymphs come in a massive range of sizes. You might encounter large stonefly nymphs requiring big, heavy imitations, standard-sized mayfly or caddis patterns, or incredibly small midge larvae (down to size 24 or even smaller!). Having a selection covering various sizes is crucial.
2. Weight is Key: Since these insects live near the bottom, your artificial nymphs need weight to reach the feeding zone. This weight can be built into the fly (e.g., lead wire wraps under the body) or added via a bead head (often made of brass or tungsten).
3. Variety Matters: Carry nymph fishing flies in different sizes, weights, and general colour profiles (dark, light, natural tones) to match potential food sources and adapt to water conditions.

Why Choose Nymph Fishing?

The simple answer? You'll likely catch more fish. Here's why:

• Food Abundance: In most healthy river systems, the vast majority of a trout's food is found subsurface. Fish actively feed on nymphs, larvae, and pupae drifting near the riverbed or in the mid-water column much more often than they rise to dry flies.
• Depth Control: Nymphing rigs, particularly those using indicators, allow precise control over how deep your fly fishes. If the water is two feet deep and you want your fly near the bottom, you can set your rig accordingly. If it's four feet, you simply adjust.
• Clear Strike Detection: Using an indicator (or specific tight-line techniques) makes it much easier to detect when a fish subtly eats your fly underwater.

Essential Gear for Nymph Fishing

While you can certainly start nymphing with your standard trout fly fishing outfit, some considerations and specialized gear can improve your efficiency and success.

• Fly Rods: A 9-foot, 4-weight or 5-weight fly rod is a great all-around choice for most nymphing situations. If you frequently fish very large, heavy nymphs (like big stoneflies), a 6-weight rod and line might be necessary to cast them effectively.
• Fly Lines: Your standard weight-forward floating trout line will work. However, if you primarily fish with indicators, consider a specialized "indicator line." These lines often have a more aggressive front taper designed to turn over nymph rigs and indicators more easily.
• Leaders & Tippets: A standard 9-foot tapered leader is a good starting point. You'll add tippet material to the end to attach your fly (or flies). Understanding how leaders and tippets work is fundamental to good presentation. You can learn more about understanding leaders and tippets for better fly presentations here. Fluorocarbon tippet is often preferred for nymphing due to its lower visibility and abrasion resistance.
• Indicators: An indicator is essentially a small float attached to your leader. Its purposes are twofold:
  • Depth Control: It suspends your nymph at a set depth below it.
  • Strike Indication: When a fish takes the nymph, the indicator will often dip, pause, twitch, or move unnaturally, signalling a strike. Indicators come in various forms (like yarn, foam, or plastic bubbles), sizes, and colors. Choose bright colours (orange, pink, chartreuse) for sunny days and white or neutral colours for dark backgrounds or overcast conditions. Use smaller indicators for calm water and larger, more buoyant ones for faster, turbulent water.
• The "Hopper Dropper" (Dry-Dropper): A popular and effective technique is using a buoyant dry fly (like a grasshopper or large caddis imitation) as your indicator. You then tie a length of tippet from the hook bend or eye of the dry fly and attach your nymph below it. This presents offerings at two different levels (surface and subsurface). Important: Always check local regulations, as some waters only permit fishing with a single fly.
• Split Shot: Small, removable weights (split shot) are useful to add extra weight to your leader (typically 6-12 inches above the nymph) if your fly isn't heavy enough on its own to reach the desired depth.

Rigging Your Nymph Setup

There are several effective ways to rig your leader for nymph fishing:

1. Single Nymph Rig:
   • Weighted Nymph: Attach your leader/tippet directly to a weighted nymph. Place your indicator on the leader above the nymph at the desired depth.
   • Unweighted Nymph: Attach the unweighted nymph to your tippet. Place split shot on the leader 6-12 inches above the nymph. Attach your indicator above the split shot.
2. Tandem Nymph Rig (Multi-Fly Rig): Check regulations first! Fishing two nymphs increases your chances by offering different sizes, colours, or weights, and covering slightly different depths.
   • Method 1 (Dropper Tag): Tie a section of tippet material off your main leader using a triple surgeon's knot or similar, creating a shorter "dropper" tag for your upper fly. Tie your heavier/main fly to the end of the main leader.
   • Method 2 (Tippet Ring - Recommended): Tie a small metal tippet ring to the end of your main leader. From the ring, tie one piece of tippet for your upper/lighter fly (acting as a dropper) and a longer piece of tippet for your lower/heavier fly. This makes changing flies and tippet lengths very easy.
   • Method 3 (Off the Hook Bend): Tie your first nymph to the leader. Then, tie a piece of tippet directly to the bend of the first fly's hook and attach your second (usually heavier) nymph to that piece of tippet.

Key Tandem Rig Tip: Always place your heaviest nymph at the bottom (the "point" fly). This helps the entire rig sink properly and reduces tangles.

Finding the Fish: Where to Cast Your Nymph

Success in nymphing isn't just about the rig; it's about presenting it where fish are likely to be holding and feeding. Look for these "high-percentage" water types:

• Drop-offs: Look for changes in water colour, indicating a change from shallow to deeper water. Fish often hold along these edges (seams) where the depth changes, waiting for food to drift by. Cast your nymph rig so it drifts naturally along this transition line.
• Structure: Trout love cover and current breaks provided by structure. This includes submerged rocks, boulders, logs, tree roots, and undercut banks. Fish often hold in front of, beside, or behind structure. Drift your nymphs close to these objects.
• Current Seams: The edge where faster water meets slower water is a prime feeding lane. Trout hold in the slower water, darting into the faster current to grab food drifting by. Focus your drifts along these visible seams.
• Slow Pockets in Fast Water: Often overlooked but incredibly productive are small areas of slower water found within or beside fast rapids or riffles. These pockets offer fish a resting place with a constant delivery of food from the adjacent faster currents. Target these spots carefully.

Always try to fish the closest water first before casting further out. You'd be surprised how many fish hold in shallower water near the edges.

Nymphing Techniques Explained

How you present your nymph rig is critical for success. The goal is almost always a "dead drift" – allowing your nymph to drift naturally at the same speed as the current, just like real insects.

Fishing a Nymph Upstream

This is often the easiest and most effective method, especially for beginners.

1. Cast: Cast your nymph rig upstream or up-and-across from your position.
2. Drift: Allow the rig to drift back towards you with the current.
3. Maintain Contact: This is crucial! Retrieve slack line at the same speed the current is bringing your rig back towards you. You want to maintain a relatively straight line (without dragging the flies) from your rod tip to your indicator/flies. This ensures you can detect strikes and set the hook effectively. In fast water, you'll strip line quickly; in slow water, you'll retrieve slowly.
4. Watch: Keep a close eye on your indicator (or the end of your fly line if not using an indicator). Any unnatural pause, dip, jiggle, or sideways movement could be a fish.
5. Set the Hook: At the slightest hint of a take, lift your rod tip firmly but smoothly to set the hook. Assume any unusual movement is a fish!
6. Mending: If you cast across the current, your fly line may form a downstream belly or curve due to differing current speeds. This will drag your nymph unnaturally. To correct this, make a "mend" – a gentle upstream flip or roll of the fly line with your rod tip – to straighten the line and restore a natural drift.

Fishing a Nymph Downstream

While slightly more complex, fishing downstream can be effective for accessing tricky spots or achieving very long, controlled drifts.

1. Why Downstream?: Useful when you can't approach a spot from below, or when you want to cover a long run without making repeated long casts.
2. The Challenge: You must feed slack line out at the exact speed of the current to achieve a natural drift.
3. Technique: Cast downstream or down-and-across. As the rig drifts away, feed slack line out through your guides, carefully matching the current speed.
4. Detecting Drag: Watch your indicator closely. If it starts moving slower than the surrounding current (creating a wake or "dragging"), you aren't feeding slack fast enough. If it speeds up unnaturally, you're feeding too fast. Adjust your slack feeding rate accordingly.
5. Strike Detection & Hook Set: Watch the indicator just as you would when fishing upstream. Set the hook firmly when you detect a take.

Combining Techniques: On long, uniform runs, you can often combine techniques. Cast upstream, manage your drift as it comes towards and past you, then begin feeding slack to continue the drift downstream.

A Glimpse into Euro Nymphing

You may hear experienced anglers talk about "Euro nymphing" (also known as tight-line nymphing or contact nymphing). This is a highly effective, specialized set of techniques that evolved in competitive fly fishing circles in Europe.

While a deep dive is beyond this article's scope, here's a basic overview:

• Concept: Euro nymphing focuses on maintaining direct contact with heavily weighted nymphs, often without using a traditional floating indicator. It emphasizes feeling the strike or detecting subtle pauses through a tight line.
• Gear: It utilizes specialized gear:
  • Long, Sensitive Rods: Typically 10 to 11+ feet long with sensitive tips to detect subtle takes and control drifts. A great example is the Echo Shadow II Euro Nymphing Rod.
  • Thin Fly Lines: Specialized level lines or even monofilament running lines that minimize sag and maximize sensitivity.
  • Specialized Leaders: Long, thin leaders often incorporating a brightly coloured "sighter" section of monofilament used for visual strike detection.
  • Specialized Tippet: Ideal tippet for Euro-style nymphing technique is multicolor indicator tippet
• Technique: Involves short, precise casts (often more like lobs or flips), keeping the rod tip high ("high-sticking"), and leading the flies through the drift with minimal slack line. Anglers watch the sighter intently for any hesitation or change in movement.

Euro nymphing is incredibly effective, especially in faster water and pocket water, but requires dedicated gear and practice.

Conclusion: Go Catch Some Fish!

Fly fishing with nymphs opens up a whole new world of opportunity on the river. By understanding the types of nymphs, the essential gear, effective rigging methods, where to find fish, and how to present your flies naturally, you can dramatically increase your success rate. Whether you choose upstream, downstream, or eventually delve into Euro nymphing techniques, the core principles remain the same: get your fly to the fish's level and achieve a natural drift.

Remember to always practice responsible angling. Handle fish carefully, minimize time out of the water, leave no trace, and respect the environment and local regulations.

Hopefully, this guide has equipped you with the knowledge and confidence to get out on the water and put these nymphing skills to great use. Good luck and tight lines!