Speaking of Contact

[AaronJasper]

Since I have been using the longer leader set up I miss less takes. I fished the Broadhead yesterday and had 11 takes and 11 landed fish. Almost all of the fish came in the first 5 feet of the drift. With the shorter set up I might have only hooked 2/3's of those fish at best. The long leader and high rod position puts you in contact as soon as those flies start fishing.

I cant wait till next week to use this set up on the North Fork of the White.

Loren, this might be the ultimate practice stream. Lots of small wild rainbows that pull hard and I am sure they can be harder to keep on!

Also, the one site lists the Hoover as a top producer there so I am sure you would like that stream!

[LorenWilliams]

The Hoover??? Really? My Hoover?

Yes, small rainbows (8-10 inches) are, next to small grayling, the hardest fish to keep hooked.

[kitsuné]

How long is the rig you are using?

If you are using what I would consider a long leader, 20'+, you are either really good at fishing long leaders, or you are doing something wrong when you are fishing short, or a combination of the two
Generally one of the disadvantages of long nymphing is the decreased strike detection. It could be possible that the takes you did miss did not even register and you just caught all the fish that made it clear they took. On the other hand, when fishing short it may seem you miss more fish as more takes register and less of them go unseen.

Since you are fishing in Arkansas you should go fish with John Wilson. He is really good at long nymphing. You should see him fish with a 25' leader and a low rod position! It may seem backwards but it works really well.

[AaronJasper]

About JW ... I am going to see Davy. He taught John all of this stuff.

About the long leaders, I must be better than I think? If you want to fish sometime, I would be glad to show you how effective it is.

[kitsuné]

The first part of my post was a joke

I'm pretty sure you either never even noticed the missed takes or you just ran into the right conditions for long nymphing. There are times it will be the only way to fish and at others fishing short is much more productive.

But, I would like to hear how long of a leader you used...

Also, it would not hurt to see John. John has competed in Spain where long nymphing is very important. Everybody has something new to bring to the table when it comes to learning...

I'm down to fish whenever you would like (in the State College area), just pm me.

[alanb_ct]

kitsune, you said "I'm pretty sure you either never even noticed the missed takes or you just ran into the right conditions for long nymphing."

What? I have fished with Aaron a lot, and I can personally vouch...he does not miss many strikes, using a short or long leader, or an indicator, or a dry dropper, or a dry fly...

[LorenWilliams]

kitsune: You have made a few remarks that beg discussion so that maybe we all can benefit from your experiences.

1. "Generally one of the disadvantages of long nymphing is the decreased strike detection." If one misses more takes with a long leader then why use it? Or perhaps I should ask: misses more takes compared to what?
2. "right conditions for long nymphing:" why would one use a long leader under the wrong conditions; and, what are the right/wrong conditions?

[kitsuné]

[quote author=alanb_ct link=topic=1857.msg12993#msg12993 date=1214620956]
kitsune, you said "I'm pretty sure you either never even noticed the missed takes or you just ran into the right conditions for long nymphing."

What? I have fished with Aaron a lot, and I can personally vouch...he does not miss many strikes, using a short or long leader, or an indicator, or a dry dropper, or a dry fly...
[/quote]
Takes can go unseen by even the best anglers. Fish can take and spit out flies very quickly (or take very softly), before the take even "registers" into the system (the leader won't move, etc.). It is very easy to miss fish and not even know it.

I think it all comes down to whether we are talking about missing takes because of angler error or missing takes because we can not see them (not necessarily the same thing).

Loren,

1: In some situations, it is very important to be stealthy. Obviously, you can't always fish under your rod tip. I would say you miss more takes fishing long than fishing short.

2: I use long leaders when I don't have to in order to get better at using them. Wrong time: general fishing conditions that you would see most of the year with the exception of low water in the summer. Right time: low water, very spooky fish, etc.

[LorenWilliams]

Thanks for the tips.

If a fish bites in the woods and no one is there to see it, did it bite?

[Gregorygob]

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