Last spring, I posted a story about my first nymphing success at a local, Southern Maine river (see article). Since then, I have continued to work on my nymphing tactics around the state, and have had some decent luck. I might even go as far as to say that I’m alright at it. True or not, I have really come to appreciate the challenge and simplicity of dead-drift nymph fishing. Simply stated, the angler is merely casting their fly upstream and letting it drift into a fish’s mouth. But recognizing the take while nymphing is where things get a little grey. When dry fly or streamer fishing, it is relatively easy to know when the fish takes your fly; you either literally see the trout eat the dry fly, or you feel a tug as you’re stripping in your streamer. So how do you know when your nymph has been taken?John Gierach’s short story ‘Zen and the Art of Nymph-Fishing’ in the book Trout Bum, is a great analysis of the technique, and I recommend everyone read it, if you haven’t already. In the story, he writes, “The strike to a deep, dead drifted nymph is signaled, if at all, by a very slight bump, jiggle, twitch, jerk, hesitation, wiggle (or whatever else you want to call it) in the floating part of the line or leader and/or by an equally slight movement, flash or shadow on the bottom.” Well said, Mr. Gierach. I think the key phrase there, and the part of it that makes recognizing the take so difficult, is the “if at all” part, and I sometimes find myself thinking of Gierach’s words when I am nymphing.So, there I was, again dead drifting nymphs at the river. It was a lazy Sunday and I had some guests arriving later in the afternoon, so I was hoping to fish only for a short time. The water was pretty low and the deep runs that existed the prior weekend were slow and much smaller. Nonetheless, I found some nice looking ones and began. On the third or fourth hole, I saw the bump / jiggle / twitch / jerk / hesitation / wiggle and set the hook. Fish on, but only for a split second; no solid hookup. I cursed as I knew that might be my only shot at a fish for the day. I worked my way around the river, drifting various nymphs through various holes, with no luck. It was getting late, so I started to work my way back downstream, toward the car, when I came to the hole where I had had the hit earlier. Cast after cast, I let my nymph drift through the riffle and into the slower, deeper water. No luck. I watched one cast drift through the hole and past me, and then I turned my head upstream to aim where I would put my next cast. I lifted my rod to cast and suddenly, somehow, there was a fish on. Startled, I realized what was happening, got my bearings and played the brown trout into my net. I chuckled as I held the fish and released him, perhaps just as surprised the fish was. I thanked Poseidon, called it a day and went home with a grin on my face. So after all that talk and thought about waiting and watching for the “strike,” mine came completely unnoticed; the fish caught almost on accident. I say ‘almost’ because I was fishing, right? Maybe not, but that’s another discussion.
Great story…Thanks for sharing.
Great tale … and i enjoyed the reference to John Gierach’s short story “zen and the art of nymph fishing” …. i can totally appreciate your position … as for me nymphing is one of the fly fishing methods i like best and absolutely one of the methods that had the biggest learning curve for me and one of the methods that intrigues me most and teaches me the most in regards to trout/steelhead fishing … for me .. dry fly fishing is fun, but it’s pretty easy in the sense that what you see is what you get and swinging streamers or stripping streamers is not that far of a leap from casting a lure on spin gear .. same concept just with flies … so, when i first started fly fishing the dry fly and streamer fishing was relatively easy to comprehend … and, for a long time i thought i was nymphing because i would tie on a prince nymph. but, what i never realized was that just because i had a nymph on my line, did not mean that i was nymphing. most of the time, i was simply swinging nymphs. then i was introduced to dead drift nymphing with and without an indicator … high sticking, czech style nymphing and all that good stuff .. and i realized that not only was i catching more fish .. but that there was a whole world of live and activity and structure and currents and variables going on UNDER the surface. still today, i find nymphing to be one of the most enjoyable methods of trout fishing because it’s not so much the ability to see the activity above the surface that interests me, it’s the ability to “see” the activity below the surface that interests me and always keeps me guessing … so, i hear alot of guys criticize nymphing and call it bobber fishing or whatever … and they must be too good for nymphing or something like that .. but, it’s cool to someone like you who appreciates and sees the method in its infinate complexities rather than just saying the cliche phrase of “i only like dry fly fishing” … or “there’s nothing like a swung fly” … whatever floats their boat i guess, i like it all and see every method as much unique in the sense that every method of fly fishing inherently has its own refined complexities and nuances. and for me, nymphing is no different … and for me, nymphing with or without an indicator was actually the hardest method to truly feel comfortable fishing. i still don’t feel totally comfortable with any method .. but, i don’t write any method off as better or worse than another .. to do so, just doesn’t make much sense to me … so, it’s cool to read a fish tale from a guy like you who also appreciates a somewhat “less than popular” method and its cool to see that a guy like John Gierach not only enjoyed the nymphing method but also refered to it as an “art” … cool stuff .. great tale … long live the nymph!
hey man, well said. there’s so much going on beneath the surface, and that’s what makes nymphing so challenging, and then so rewarding if you can get some hookups. so many different variables to think about: fly, fly size, depth, different feeding lanes, etc. christ, sometimes it takes me 10 minutes just to get my rig set up. with all that going on though, it’s ironic that all we’re really doing is trying to drift a little fly by a fish’s nose so the fish can see it. it truly is an art.
Quite a few years ago I would swing a nymph through body of water and called that nymphing. My most memorable catch was a hand bag that had been disposed of by throwing it into the river. My nymphing style changed after that but I was never good at it so I found it frustrating and avoided nymphing so as not to embaress myself. I began to improve after going after Steelhead with a good friend in New York. We are both stborn and it kills me when he is right about something as dinning on Crow has never felt good to me. Age doesn’t make you right it just makes you old and rigid. Since than my advise is ask someone who can nymph and catch fish, what else matters, old age pride? Since I learned some rigs and changed my technique, I have caught huge Browns in the dead of winter, Steelhead etc. I really appreciate what he taught me, but I won’t mention his name because I don’t want him to know he was right.
Glad to hear you are dialing in your nymphing game. After all lets face it, to catch fish consistantly here in Maine or anywhere else were water temps are in the thirties you will need to get that fly slow and low deadrifting. The reward to paying attention to your set up and reading the water well is the difference between a day of “catching” or just “fishing”.
Apply these tactics to the dog days of August here in Maine and you be catching fish when others aren’t…
Congrats
yes exactly. so simple, yet so complex. another thing i thought of in regards to “dead drift nymphing” is that in essence it is exactly the same as dry fly fishing. how? just like a dry fly, the angler has to cast above the fish and drift the fly perfectly with NO drag in order to present the fly naturally. essentially the same mending techniques and all of that stuff apply. so, the way i see it, the only small difference between dry fly fishing and dead drift nymphing is .. where the fish is…. if the fish is feeding on top, throw a dry .. if he is feeding on the bottom’ish, throw a nymph …… so rather than looking at things like one or the other … i see them as exactly the same …. the only difference is, with dry fly fishing we have the luxury of knowing where the fish are and with nymphing we have to use our instincts and rely on our ability to read water, rather than just seeing the obvious … so, next time your nymphing and the token “dry fly” guy tries to burst your bubble by saying, “i only like to dry fly fish” ….. consider saying, “of course you do, it’s easy and most beginners prefer dry fly fishing!” ….. that’ll keep him moving on his merry way and scratching his head … and you can get back to the “zen and the art of dead drift nymphing” … good luck!