Euro Nymphing Setup

[Troutastic]

I apologize if some of this stuff is getting repetitive for you guys to respond to, I've been searching through the forum and trying to gather as much information as I can about this topic without having the opportunity to head back to Connecticut and take the Euro-nymphing class (now residing in Summit County, Colorado).

Anyways, I have found some promising water on the Blue River to test my luck at some Euro-nymphing here in Colorado. From what I gathered off the forums, the standard leader setup is a relatively strong butt section (approx. 5-6' ?), a sighter of about 4-6", and then the tippet section with the flies of choice. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Still unsure of how far apart the flies should be spaced, and if using 3 flies, the anchor fly is between the others, correct? I also would like to know a little bit more about the tippet loop, I think I saw a diagram somewhere but I can't find it now. Something to do with a Surgeon's Loop if I'm not mistaken (and is it even relevant to Euro-nymphing?)

Any help would be appreciated, including links to where some of my questions can be answered.

[AaronJasper]

First off, I would be using two flies. I generally put the anchor fly at the point. For short leader fishing I use a five foot butt section to which my tippet is attached to it. If you search youtube you will find out video of the Davy Knot for tying your leader sections.

For attaching the flies, use a surgeons knot and attach your flies to the tag end that goes towards your point fly.make sure that the flies are around 20 inches apart.

[Troutastic]

Jeez, you're quick with the response Aaron, thanks for the info! Watching the video on Davy's Knot now, looks interesting...

I'm probably going to invest in the 10' 3wt Greys rod when I get some birthday money and invest some serious hours giving this a whirl. I have a 4-5 wt Ross Rythm reel, curious to see if I could use that on this rod, or if I'm going to have to get a smaller reel.

[alanb_ct]

The Greys rod is very light, so that Ross reel will balance it fine for Euro nymphing. If you don't like the balance, wrap a little lead tape (from a golf pro shop) on the reel before your backing. The lead will add some weight and help with balance.

[BurghBum]

I still for the life of me can't attach tippet to 14lb mono. I keep watching the davy knot video and don't know what I'm missing. It is driving me insane. My garbage can is just full of line that I keep snipping off when it becomes warped :-\

[alanb_ct]

Make an overhand knot in the 14lb test. Tighten it down partially, but leave an opening. Insert the tippet into the opening from the overhand knot. Tighten down the overhand knot, over the tippet.

Give yourself about 6in of the tippet to work with.

Here's the key: if the Davy knot won't set up for you, simply use the overhand knot as a stop knot. You can easily make a clinch knot with the tippet AROUND the 14lb test and snug it down. The clinch knot can take the place of that part of the Davy knot. There are several ways to make this knot.

In all cases, the small knot from the tippet will be so small relative to the heavy mono, that the knot will not grow that much.

Hope this helps you.

[USCG716]

Trouttastic, keep practicing that knot, since I learned how to tie it, I find it to be much faster to attach tippet and build leaders.

I showed a buddy of mine how to do it and he was having problems whenever it came time to snug the knot. Turns out he was tying the knot correctly, but not cinching down hard enough on the overhand knot in the 14lb and the smaller tippet was just sliding through during the knot test...

[Troutastic]

I was messing around with it last night, finally figured it out after a few tries. REALLY strong, and I'm very impressed, going to have to try it out on the river. Burg, in Aaron's video I'm pretty sure he does the figure 8 twice for his Davy Knot, I could be wrong, might want to try that. Also, I did a little research and that knot was actually first designed to tie flies onto tippet quickly, so it will work great in that sense as well (still REALLY strong, experimented with that too).
http://www.utahoutdoors.com/pages/Davyknot.htm

I'm still skeptical about putting my Ross reel on a 3wt, its a 4-5 wt reel, I feel like it would be too heavy. Adding lead to the rod might be a good idea, I am just skeptical about modifying a rod like that as well. I might just pick up another Ross Rhythm in the next size down, unless there is a better "nymphing reel." Any pointers would be appreciated.

[AaronJasper]

I have a size three Ross Evolution on my three weight. If you look in the videos, you can clearly see that's the size reel that I am using.

[alanb_ct]

Trout: let me echo what Aaron said. I use a Ross Evolution 3.5 on my 10ft 3wt Greys Streamflex. I cast it all day yesterday and it balances perfectly for me. The new reels are quite light. If you are unsure, look at the quoted mass of the Evolution reels in size 3 or 3.5. The masses are 4.1 and 4.5oz respectively. Any reel you use on that rod of similar or equal mass should suit you perfectly too.