wrote in news:1117554144.070862.287880
@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Sure, seems short to me too. But what about the slack question? Am I
just being paranoid thinking that I won't be able to tell if a fish
takes with 8'+? Or do I need to add enough weight that the line is
taut between the indicator and fly for much of the drift? Or...?



Just remember that if you're not getting the nymph to where the fish are,
you won't detect any strikes at all. Nymphing is all about developing
confidence in the method. There are tricks to getting the nymph down
fast, like a tuck cast, and I think you would be surprised about a strike
showing up at the indicator, even when there's slack in the line. You
don't want the line to be taut.

The key is to experiment. Take your best guess, and if things aren't
working, change something-- the weight or the position of the indicator.
Make sure you're ticking bottom every now and again. Nymphing can be
hard work if you're doing it right. If you want easy, then swing a wet
or three (very pleasant way to fish!!).

I think the best way to learn nymphing and get some confidence is to use
those maddening sporadic risers as test cases. Think of these fish as
fish that are actively feeding subsurface, and every once in a blue moon
they're nice enough to take something off the top, just to tell you where
they are. Resist the temptation to take them with a dry. Just keep dead
drifting along their lie until you take them, and if you're not taking
them after what you think are six or eight good drifts, change
something--indicator, weight, tippet, fly, often in that order. I've
worked fish for a half hour just like this.

If you want to maximize chances of having a nymph in the right place, tie
a nymph on a dropper about 18" below your first nymph, with no weight in
between. Often, I use a weighted nymph version as the first nymph, and
an unweighted as a second.

Last, but not least, remember that the current is having it's way with
your fly and leader. If all else fails, go down a size in tippet, and
keep your tippet long. The smaller tippet presents a smaller profile to
the current, and you won't get pushed around as much. I rarely nymph
with anything bigger than 5X, and if I have trouble, I go right to 7X.

Scott