New to tight lining? Then staring at the bright piece of colored line is a good place to start. But when you gain some skills for reading the angle and speed of the sighter, when you can quickly gauge contact with your nymphs by glancing at the sag of the sighter,...
Articles With the Tag . . . tightline
It’s a Suspender — Not Just an Indicator
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...
Beads are the Best
Hatch Magazine published my article, "Beads are the Best," with some candid thoughts on when, why and how beadhead flies work. Here's an excerpt . . . -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- . . . I’m not trying to catch all the fish on all the days anymore. More often,...
Holding a Trout — Their Heart in Your Hands
Fish pictures are the grand compromise of catch and release. An Instagram feed with a full gallery of trout is replacing the stringer of dead fish for bragging rights. And that's a good thing. They look better alive anyway. Would a trout be better off if we didn’t...
Trail This — Don’t Trail That
Last week, my friend sent the picture of a plump, wild brown trout, including the caption, “He took the Green Weenie off the trailer, just like you said!” And I immediately cringed. I never run the Weenie off a trailer — unless it’s very small, beaded and tied with...
One Great Nymphing Trick
Whether tight lining, nymphing with an indicator or fishing dry-dropper, the most critical element for getting a good dead drift is to lead the nymph through one single current seam. Remember, the nymph is always being pulled along by a fishing line. Even on the best...
Fly Fishing Strategies: Tags and Trailers
Sometimes trout are feeding so aggressively that the particular intricacies of how nymphs are attached to the line seem like a trivial waste of time. Those are rare, memorable days with wet hands that never dry out between fish releases. More often than not, though, trout make us work to catch them. And those same particulars about where and how the flies are attached can make all the difference in delivering a convincing presentation to a lazy trout.
Two nymphs can double your chances of fooling a trout. But there are downsides. Here are some strategies for rigging and getting the most from two fly rigs.
The Mono Rig and Why Fly Line Sucks
The Mono Rig is a hybrid system for both tight line and indicator nymphing styles, and for streamers, dry-dropper and dry flies, all while using #20 monofilament as a fly line substitute.
Tight Line Nymph Rig
The Mono Rig is a hybrid system for both tight line and indicator nymphing styles, and for streamers, dry-dropper and pure dry flies.
The Backing Barrel
A decade ago I learned about euro-nymphing, and I was impressed with the rig. I gradually made the switch from a Joe Humphreys nymphing style, worked my way through the short line tactics, then lengthened the leader and learned to fish at distance. I believe...