Nymphing for Trout

Sawyer Nymphs Ltd

Which Dry Fly.co.uk

Nymphing for
Trout.co.uk

Nymphing
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Fly Fishing

Though it is now well over 20 years since my first book "Keeper of the Stream" was published, to be followed in 1958 by the initial version of "Nymphs and the Trout," and in 1970 by the second, I still receive a lot of questions even from those who have read all three books. So it would seem that, despite my efforts to write simply and with clarity, what I have tried to convey with the written word has not yet been fully understood.

Before my own books dealing with nymphs and nymph fishing were published there were several more, the classic examples being the work of Mr G. E. M. Skues. There have been others since. Yet it would appear that there is still some uncertainty about just how a fish reacts to an artificial nymph and the exact moment to tighten in order to get the hook home.

I believe there are a lot of fishermen who still think that fishing a nymph is similar to fishing a team of wet flies or stripping in big lures. Yet nothing is further from the truth and, if you really are to have success with true nymphing tactics, then the sooner the other kinds of fishing are forgotten, the quicker a bag will be filled.

Nymph fishing must be considered as an entirely separate art, and methods, to be proficient at it, must be adapted accordingly. This means that you must dismiss from your mind most of what has been learned with the dry fly, wet fly and lure-stripping practices, and concentrate on something which is quite different.

As I have said, and indeed written many times, once the penny drops, so to speak, nymph fishing becomes the most artistic way by which fish can be caught, or so I think.

Through the years I have explained and demonstrated nymphing to a large number of fishermen. Often, by not striking, I let pupils see just how quickly a fish can eject an artificial nymph. Though I have likened the float business to coarse fishing, there is a lot of difference. Coarse fishermen have the advantage of using natural baits, or edible baits, as one might call them, and fish taking these will hold them in their mouths much longer than anything that is artificial.

To give just one instance of what can happen I recount a few hours spent with one would-be nymph fisherman, on a series of small lakes. Other than to say that these lakes were stocked frequently with big rainbows, they shall be nameless. It was very obvious to me that a large number of fish had recently been introduced, maybe very early that same morning.

These big rainbows were cruising about in small shoals, taking anything which looked like food, or which showed some sign of life, and there was a slight ripple on the water. I greased line and leader and put on a Killer Bug. I would like to explain that my pupil had fished these lakes on five different days in the past month and failed to catch a fish, while many of the other fishermen had taken their limit of five. The reason was soon obvious. He had done quite a lot of dry-fly and wet-fly fishing and could throw a very fair line.

His first cast was a good one and the line and leader had barely settled on the water before I saw the draw down of the point, but my "Yes!" brought no response from my pupil. He had seen nothing. Two casts later another fish took. Again the failure to act. "Show me," he said. I took the rod, told him to watch intently, and made a cast. As I gathered up the slack and lifted the rod tip, so the greased leader slid beneath the surface. A flick of the rod and the fish was on. But it was another wasted effort - he maintained that he had seen nothing. It was two hours later and after I had counted 20 missed fish, that he finally saw what had been so plain to me. During this time I had caught another in a futile attempt to show him just what happens, and this left him but three for his limit. Maybe it was an extra hungry fish which took them, for the cast drew down in no uncertain way and he saw it and acted in a perfect manner. "Got it," he said. "Now I know." And he did, for without any further coaching or help from me, he took his last brace without missing a take.