Choosing the right indicator is the first step to setting up and effective system. Balance between indy and weight is the key.

Continue reading Your Indicator Is Too Big at Troutbitten.

Choosing a fly rod that's perfect for the Mono Rig and euro nymphing starts with knowing your goals. How versatile do you want to be?

From the best all-around fly rod that's ready to handle nymphs, streamers and more on a long leader, to specialized euro nymphing rods and dedicated streamer rods, here are my favorite tools for fishing the Mono Rig . . .

Continue reading The Best Fly Rods for the Mono Rig and Euro Nymphing — My Favorite Rods at Troutbitten.

A friend of mine once described a truly slidable, easily movable, dry dropper as the Holy Grail of fly fishing. I suppose it depends on where your goals and interests lie, but if you like fishing nymphs under a dry, then you’ve surely wished the dry fly was easily re-positioned without tying more knots. There is a way . . .

Continue reading A Slidable Dry Dropper System at Troutbitten.

The biggest misconception in nymphing is that our flies should bump along the bottom. Get it down where the trout are, they say. Bounce the nymph along the riverbed, because that’s the only way to catch trout. We’re told to feel the nymph tick, tick, tick across the rocks, and then set the hook when a trout eats. With apologies to all who have uttered these sentiments and given them useless ink, that is pure bullshit.

Here's how and why to avoid the bottom, fish more effectively and catch more trout with a top down approach . . .

Continue reading Nymphing: The Top Down Approach at Troutbitten.

. . . Think of it like this: Tight line anglers should stick the landing at the end of the cast. Only the line that must enter the water should go under, while everything else remains above the surface and in the air. The leader should be tight, from the water’s surface to the rod tip, in a leading angle almost immediately. Stick the landing! Learn what angle the sighter eventually takes through the drift, and that’s the angle you should start with . . .

Continue reading Stick the Landing While Tight Lining at Troutbitten.

The best nymphing leaders incorporate a key principle -- limit the diameters of leader material under the surface. But sometimes, two is better than one.

Here's how and why it's done . . .

Continue reading Nymphing: A two diameter solution to a one diameter problem at Troutbitten.

I know, I know. You don’t like to fish with indicators, right? You think an indy removes the angler from contact with the nymphs. You believe a fly fishing indicator actually gets in the way of strike detection more than it helps the situation. Granted, there are big problems with the way most fly fishermen use indicators. And I know a lot of anglers who refuse to attach them to a leader.

But I also know many more good anglers who see the value of indicators, who reach for an indy (or a dry-dropper rig) when a tight line nymphing presentation fails, who recognize that an indicator is an amazing and useful tool that extends our effective nymphing range, balances out a drift and helps keep the flies in one current seam.

I think a lot of anglers miss the finer points of the indy game. Good indicator nymphing (or dry-dropper fishing) is not just a chuck it and chance it affair. Instead, careful attention to the indy itself, reading the water vs the position and behavior of the indicator, is a necessary skill if the tactic is to be productive.

Continue reading Nymphing: How to read a fly fishing indicator — What you might be missing at Troutbitten.

When nymphing or fishing streamers, I think most of us are trying to use enough weight to get the fly down and keep it there, and yet not so much that the damn thing snags a rock with every cast. You might think there’s a fine line to this, but honestly . . . sometimes […]

Continue reading Fly Fishing Strategies: Over or Under? Your best bet on weight at Troutbitten.

This August, 2016 Troutbitten article is retooled and revisited here. Bobber, cork, foam, yarn, dry fly. Those are my categories, but who cares? If you’ve been fly fishing and nymphing for a while, you’ve probably tried all of the above. You have your own categories and your own preferences, and that’s great. I don’t want […]

Continue reading It’s a Suspender — Not Just an Indicator at Troutbitten.

Anyone who thinks indicators are just for indicating is missing the point. And yes, it’s a bobber. Hatch Magazine published my article, “Your Indicator is too big.” It’s about the importance of balancing the size of the suspender with the weight underneath. — — — — — — . . . When we add a strike […]

Continue reading Your Indicator Might Be Too Big at Troutbitten.