Double nymph techniques

Taxman

Senior Member
Their are a lot of different views on where to put the heaviest nymph on a double rig. I have fished many variables and usually use a heavier beaded nymph on the point. While fishing a deep freestone crystal clear pool last week, I couldn't find a flashy #16 for a dropper. So I ended up with a 4mm bead sz 14 as a dropper and a sz 14 2.5mm bead on my Girdle bug point fly. I had thrown to a couple visible nice size fish with several cast and just watched them ignore the set up. After I switched up I could see the dropper drift by the fish and the point just floating naturally behind about what I guessed was 8" above the dropper. A nice 17"brown slowly inhaled that Girdle bug on the 2nd cast.

It is interesting how we sometimes adapt a method to a "standard" practice because of what is more often described by most people. It was very cool watching that bug floating and seeing that Brown swallow the bug.
 

trad bow

wooden stick slinging driveler
The biggest problem with my fishing is not adapting to the fish quickly enough. What the fish wanted yesterday doesn’t always translate to what they want today.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I've experimented a lot over the years with nymphing. It is the absolute best way to catch lots of fish, and bigger fish most of the time. I've tried a bit of everything, but I have pretty much settled into one method nowadays. I still do some indicator nymphing now and then, but 90% of the time I'm nymphing now, I'm tightline dredging with a setup somewhere between Euro-nymphing and the rig used by most of the old-timers around here who taught me in my younger days.

I never see my fly line on my nymph rig, unless I hook a big fish that gets into the reel. I run about 30' of 20lb Maxima brown mono off the end of my fly line, with a sighter section and tippet ring at the end of that. I tie about four-five feet of 3x to the sighter, then about a foot and a half of 4x tippet. I run a big, heavily weighted point fly, usually about a #10 or #12, with a heavy smaller beadhead #14 or so dropper about a foot above it. I clamp a #BB split shot between them. This is the vast majority of my nymph fishing nowadays. It works for me, day in and day out.

I probably don't cast to five fish a year that I can actually see. If I do, it's usually with a dry fly or soft-hackle emerger type fly.
 

Dub

Senior Member
Confession time.

I'd clicked the "new topics" box and saw this thread topic and thought we had a new forum....or a spin off variant from the political forum. :bounce:


Double nymph techniques


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Confession time.

I'd clicked the "new topics" box and saw this thread topic and thought we had a new forum....or a spin off variant from the political forum. :bounce:


Double nymph techniques


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
You gotta be careful consorting with those dryads and wood sprites. They can be mischievous and get you in all kinds of trouble. :bounce:
 

brutally honest

Senior Member
I went on a guided trip in Colorado a couple of weeks ago. We were using two and (mostly) three nymph rigs. The smallest fly was always the point fly.

I don’t do a lot of trout fishing, so I asked the guide why he set up like that. He said it was because of the leader. He had a stronger section of the leader tied to the biggest (top) fly. The dropper flies were tied with progressively lighter sections of tippet. So, if you got snagged, you only lost the point fly and not the whole rig.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I went on a guided trip in Colorado a couple of weeks ago. We were using two and (mostly) three nymph rigs. The smallest fly was always the point fly.

I don’t do a lot of trout fishing, so I asked the guide why he set up like that. He said it was because of the leader. He had a stronger section of the leader tied to the biggest (top) fly. The dropper flies were tied with progressively lighter sections of tippet. So, if you got snagged, you only lost the point fly and not the whole rig.
I think the main thing is finding a system that works for you and your way of fishing, then mostly stick to it. Consistency often brings both competence and confidence.
 

splatek

UAEC
I’ve found on the tail waters and deep pools I like the heavier pool at the point. But on smaller creeks, freestones, I like to switch up where I put the heavier fly.
Many times I like fishing the same weight flies under a dry or tight line and I can manage where the flies are by how I manage the drift and land the cast.
I like others am rarely casting to fish I can actually see.
 

Taxman

Senior Member
It was interesting to watch the fish on all of the different casts. Probably
6 overall casts to the same group of fish. I often see fish in the pools
because I will approach very slowly and from concealed position when
possible. Then I will sit and watch for a few minutes and try and figure
out how I am going to get a bug in front of them.

If not too spooked, they will flee from the tail out and wait at the bottom
of the pool. I have not figured out how to effectively and frequently drop a dry fly in the tail out and catch them because they are so alert. I find it difficult to get a natural drift in some of the currents from 30' away. Seriously, a heavy footfall on dry land and they disappear!!

Anyway, just the ramblings of someone who enjoys the hunt:))
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
It was interesting to watch the fish on all of the different casts. Probably
6 overall casts to the same group of fish. I often see fish in the pools
because I will approach very slowly and from concealed position when
possible. Then I will sit and watch for a few minutes and try and figure
out how I am going to get a bug in front of them.

If not too spooked, they will flee from the tail out and wait at the bottom
of the pool. I have not figured out how to effectively and frequently drop a dry fly in the tail out and catch them because they are so alert. I find it difficult to get a natural drift in some of the currents from 30' away. Seriously, a heavy footfall on dry land and they disappear!!

Anyway, just the ramblings of someone who enjoys the hunt:))
My uncle used to always say that specks would hit anything you cast into the water, as long as you didn't get close enough to the water to cast anything into it. :)

And yeah, long casts usually don't do you any good on small creeks with ten conflicting currents in every hole and run.
 
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