Czech or Polish Nymphing

[alanb_ct]

LopatNympher:

Welcome to the board, good question. I highly recommend you take one of our courses, but in the meantime, this is all you need to get started:

[Nymphmeister]

Nicely done Alain, you may have a future as a cartoonist .

LopatNympher-
In case you are not yet familiar with all the terminology, the "sighter" is just a short (maybe 6"-18") section of brightly colored mono/backing/braided mono tied into your leader as a visual strike indicator. Try 10-14# Golden Stren, fluorescent orange/chartreuse fly line backing (20# is okay, but 30# is even better), or a short piece of brightly colored braided mono (20#). Put loops in either end of the sighter, and tie the rig as illustrated by Alain below it, and then put some heavier mono above it- for starting out in the Polish/Czech style, use about a 4' piece of 15-20# Maxima or other mono of your choice in that diameter (.015-.017"). For the long piece below your sighter/above your nymphs, make it somewhere in the 3'-6' range, depending on the size & depth of the streams you are fishing. Go shorter for brooks/small streams & shallower water, and longer for bigger streams & rivers as well as deeper water. As you get comfortable with all this, I would play around with the length of the section above your sighter, the French & Spanish often use leaders totalling 20-30', and they are DEADLY with them. For this section ( between sighter & fly line) you can use a tapered leader, or pieces of mono stepped down from say 20# to 15#, anywhere from 6' to 20', not including the sighter & tippet sections below it. Definitely start with the shorter leader though, and get used to that before you go crazy experimenting.

[LopatNympher]

Thanks for the info Alan and
Nymphmeister. My "mentor" actually has me putting sighters on my leaders so I understood what Alain had drawn, somewhat. A question though, would it be wise to tied a loop into the line where the dropper is attached. My fingers aren't as dexterous as they used to be, in fact my fingertips can become quite numb in temperatures under 50 degrees. I think that this might help me out a bit.

[AaronJasper]

Who is your mentor if I may ask?

About tying the knots, you can use Climax tippet rings. You can use clinch knots to tie you droppers onto the line. They save time and eliminate the need for complicated knots. I don't use them because they are not comp legal but if they were I would seriously consider using them.
Also, we... TPO are holding a class on these techniques and there is one spot left if you are intersted. Its going to cover the techniques in depth.

[LopatNympher]

I would love to come to that class but due to budget restraints and a non fishing boss, I wouldn't be able to make it.

[Magnet]

LopatNympher I had to pull up my plaque and post it for you. The "old ball & chain" actually gave this to me as a friendly reminder.

[TroutAholic]

I love that plaque Bob. Like most things that are funny it is also all too true.

By the way, we've all heard that old "ball and chain" thing. Unfortunately, I learned, too late, that the wife is just the ball, the kids are the chain!

Steve

[Magnet]

Ha! the chain part is the college bills.

[SaboVT]

This may be a very naive question, especially since I haven't touched one of the braided "super" lines in probably a decade, and I've only recently been experimenting with polish methods. Has anyone tried these lines as part of their leader. I know they are used a lot in spinning tackle due to their low stretch and superior feel. It would would seem that because they are so strong, small in diameter, and stiff they would be a good material to use from the sighter to the the first junction, or possibly all the way to the flies in order to maximize feel and minimize line drag. The drawbacks I can see are the knots required for braided lines, casting (although probably not a huge deal in the polish style), and that the line isn't 'clear'. Any thoughts?

[BlackLabel]

I've used braid down to a tippet ring for short lining. I always use flouro down to the flies. I got some of the rio extreme tippet in 5X but I wouldn't use it in anything but the most stained water its really easy to see. I don't use it anymore though only reason being I started long lining and now when I want to short line I just reel in the top of my long line leader. To answer your question you do get a really good feel with the braid.