"Euro-Nymphing" the Farmington 3/31/08

[Nymphmeister]

Yep, I nymphed without an indicator all day yesterday, doing the Polish/Czech style nymphing, combined with some upstream indicatorless nymphing. Used my 10' #4 Sage, a brand new Rio Nypmh line, and a leader built with ideas from Loren, Davy & Aaron. Used 3 weighted nymphs on droppers, including some Czech style nymphs of my own design- all of which I lost to the bottom early on! Other than for a few minutes, I fished all day without split shot, using a combination of tungsten & lead weighted flies to get down.

The results? 7 nice trout, including a perfect 19" unmarked beauty with red spots and black/white edging on the fins. Wild? Dunno, maybe, either that or it was a Survivor Strain fish stocked as a 6-8" yearling that held over several seasons. The others ranged from mostly 14-17", some with dye marks (both blue and orange/red) indicating 2 year olds from both '06 &'07.

It was very fun & cool nymphing in a totally different way than I'm used to, I stepped outside my comfort zone and had success. I can see where is certain water types & spots it is the best method. Despite dragging bottom (as you are supposed to with this method), you don't get hung up that much. I felt all the takes, most were within 15 feet of me or even under my rod tip. By the end of the day I felt comfortable with the technique, like I was getting some good drifts and getting down to the bottom no problem.

One of the best parts was nailing the fish of the day on a Czech nymph of my own design. Guess they really do work. Of course, 3 minutes after getting the big one, I lost the only version of that nymph I had. Gonna tie 6 of them before next trip! Golden Stones & Tungsten PT's were working also. My buddy was indicator nymphing, and he tallied maybe 1 less than me. It seemed the fishing wasn't fast and furious, so I was very happy with my first Czech/Polish nymphing outing.

Water level was medium high & clear, very fishable.

I'll post some pix when I get a chance, it's been a hectic week for me so far. Fish Porn!

[Magnet]

Not getting hung up as much makes me wonder if its because with an indicator and shot , the leader might be on a plane much closer to parallel to the bottom than it might be with no indicator and weighted fly. Also do you think the line tension between the SI and the shot might incur more of a dredging affect as opposed to a floating bouncing affect when Czech nymphing. I don't know where I got these idea's. Maybe from other posts on this site. (It almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about.) LOL . I would, however, be interested in your analysis.

[LorenWilliams]

[quote author=Nymphmeister link=topic=1492.msg10598#msg10598 date=1207104954]
Despite dragging bottom (as you are supposed to with this method), you don't get hung up that much. [/quote]

Torrey: It could just be perception, but I'd be very hesitant to explain any of the Euro techniques as dredging the bottom. I do know, from experience, that when many guys start rolling nymphs (Polish Nymphing) they start with flies that are too heavy and make too much bottom contact. As you continue to play I am sure you'll end up with lighter and lighter flies.

When rolling nymphs you will feel takes, but in the Czech discipline (at least as we have been discussing here) you are leading your cast but not pulling it so takes will still be detected largely by sight.

Without watching you fish it's hard to tell but I suspect you met with success using more of a Polish system.

[AaronJasper]

I agree that was more of a Polish system. When I was on the phone with him I was going to say that but he was excited so why rain on the parade lol!

The Czech nymphing does not rely on heavy bottom contact. I think that since we are in a winter mose of sorts the Polish system might work better, especially given where and the water type you were fishing.

Also, as Loren said many of the hits in Czech nymphing as visual as seen through the sighter.

[FK]

Torrey,

Interesting variation from Ian Sorrel, the earlier USA distributor for AirFlo lines who had his office/warehouse in Torrington, CT. About 10-12 yrs ago he showed me a British? version of your discription for deep nymphing and bottom bouncing.

Ian used very small diameter GSP braid (about 6# test = equivalent dia of 1# mono) this was 12-15 ft long. the droppers with flys were of Flouro and about 12" long. At the end of the GSP he made a loop knot and attached some of the AirFlo Di-Do weighted putty stuff. This has two advantages,,,,,the putty stuff will hang up less than a weighted nymph, if it does hang,,,,you will loose only the putty gunk,,,not a fly. Secondly the GSP is very small diameter which is an advange wrt mono for less water resistance,,,,also the GSP has less stretch and the take is easier to feel or detect. He described the presentation in what I call High Sticking, short line nymphing. Upstream cast and the rod tip leads the fly and line (GSP in this case).

This is probably not allowed in the rules of the European contests.

Regards,
FK

[LorenWilliams]

FK: aside form the putty it is legal. I use something similar but be warned...the braid will lead to break-off in the hookset until you get discipline. I suggest putting a section of boiled mono ahead if it to reduce shock as you learn. Soft rods are really special when using braid.

That said, the braid-when long enough to touch the tip top--can telegraph a great deal. I use it sometime when bugging and when fishing "out there" in a Spanish style. Not fun to cast..not fun at all.

[FK]

One thing about the GSP braid that is not well known, it is multi fillament and if you do get hung-up and break it off,,,the strength is greatly reduced. Some of the fillaments will break in the bundle and the tensile strenght is reduced out of proportion to the number of strands. Very similar to Cortland Micron backing in 20#,,,,it has about 18 strands (if I remember correctly) fray one strand and the strength goes to 10-12#. The 30# Micron does not exhibit this weakness and is much better for backing.

The GSP does not stretch very much and will suddenly pop when forceable stressed. Like Lefty says "It is the jerk on the end of the line" that breaks off most fish. I like the softer TFO 11ft 5wt for this application.

Loren,

What is Spanish style?

Regards,
FK

[LorenWilliams]

Spanish is a very long leadered approach to nymph fishing very delicate tippets and small nymphs. It was designed around the fario brown trout of the Spanish Pyrenees and into Portugal. The rivers there are very clear and somewhat uniform from what I am told-not a ton of heavy water or pocket water. The fish are incredibly spooky so large flies and shorts casts will not work.

When fishing longer lines/casts and longer drifts it is highly advisable to drop the fly size and weight in order to make the cast and fish the entire drift without getting hung up. So, the Spanish start with a 12 or 15 foot tapered leader, attach a sighter about about 18" to it, then another 7 to 9 (or so) foot nymph rig made of 5X or smaller. The eliminates all fly line which would bow under it's own weight and blow in any breeze. It enables an angler to almost tightline nymphs 20 or 30 feet out from him-reducing surface disturbances and encroachment.

The sighter is used for both strike detection as well as depth maintenance. At distance, without a point of focus it is easy for an angler to lift the flies out of the strike zone.

Slow rods are needed to cast as well as to protect the typical fine tippets needed to get depth with the small flies. I use it in our country a great deal on large rivers or where there is a large expanse of water to fish but I feel that I cannot get close to it.

[FK]

Loren,

The "sighter" is a fly or bright piece of leader or ?

Regards,
FK

[LorenWilliams]

[quote author=FK link=topic=1492.msg10618#msg10618 date=1207158079]
Loren,

The "sighter" is a fly or bright piece of leader or ?

Regards,
FK
[/quote]

It can be both..but in the Spanish application it is two sections of colored mono. I like orange and green. I just picked up some pink Drennan to try.