Last week, I published a video about how we can get the fly deeper. It’s a companion video that pairs with a widely shared article that I wrote a couple of years ago. Every angler who has ever sent flies under the surface quickly learns that trout are near the bottom....
I field a lot of questions about leaders and fly rods. Those two pieces of gear, along with fly choice, seem to make the top of the list for every angler. We all have our terms and conditions for comparing things like a fly rod. And one of the descriptions I find most...
Here’s my argument. The water haul has its place. It’s the perfect once-in-a while casting solution for tricky situations, and it’s a problem solver. But for day-to-day life on the water, it’s a lousy approach to fly fishing. Real quick . . . The water haul or water...
Here are two great things about nymph fishing: One, good drifts with a nymph catch trout in almost any river scenario. And two, there’s an endless set of variables to play with. The other fly styles — dry, streamer and wet fly, are easier to master. Dries, being...
A simple piece of Dacron, tied in a barrel, is a visible and sensitive addition to your tight line and euro nymphing rig. The versatile Backing Barrel serves as a stand-alone sighter, especially when tied with a one-inch tag. Better yet, it draws your eyes to the colored monofilament of any sighter and enhances visibility threefold. The Backing Barrel adds a third dimension of strike detection, with the Dacron flag just stiff enough to stand away from the line, but just soft enough to twitch upon even the most subtle takes . . .
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 . . .
We overweight to lead the flies, and we underweight to track them. But to guide the flies, we must find the middle ground, with enough weight to control the flies against the effects of the current but not so much that the flies cannot be permitted to drift at the will of that same current.
This may sound like a bit of hocus pocus. But in truth, it’s an intuitive process that becomes natural with trial and error . . .
Locate the strike zone, and unlock the mysteries of what’s happening underneath. Know where your nymph is, and stop guessing.
This is everything . . .
Nervous sighters and the line dip. Learn to better read the sighter for contact, then back off. But remember, until you are in touch, you can’t reliably and purposefully slip out of touch . . .
We can recover slack in three ways: by stripping, by raising the rod tip and by leading the rod tip downstream. And while these are basic skills, the heart of advanced nymphing is in the critical ability to recover slack in all three ways . . .