On 1 Jun 2005 21:51:55 -0700, wrote:

Actually, Dave (or anyone), I do have a couple more question:

Do you worry that too much weight can somehow mess with the drift of
your nymph?

OK, obviously there's some amount of weight that is too much. But I'm
just wondering if I should always try to err on the side of extra
weight. As it is, I can't think of a time that I"ve ever put on more
than two 4's, or maybe one BB - and perhaps that's my problem. And
yes, I'm sure in general I don't do enough to tick bottom. But does
the upside of being down deep always trump the downside of possibly
having too much weight? (Sorry - that sentence came out as is, and
it's just too bad to change it.)

If it makes a difference - most of the situations when I'm
under-confident in my nymphing occur when I'm casting a ways, say about
20'. If I'm high-sticking, then I'm generally pretty confident. (And
part of what started all of this is that I noticed that I have a
markedly better success rate nymphing when I'm close enough and the
water is clear enough that I can actually see the take subsurface - a
much much higher success ratio - made me think I was doing something
wrong in other situations, just looking at my indicator.)

Tim, there are many ways to nymph. I favor the upstream method using
split shot to get the lure down to the bottom. If I don't get a snag
once in awhile I'm not deep enough. After awhile you'll have a
formula for how much weight in streams that you fish alot. You have
to "tune" your rig in a few ways - kind of nymph, distance to the
split shot (if you are using any), amount of split shot, and the
setting for your strike indicator (if you are using one). Nymphing is
more difficult than a dry fly or a streamer because you are working
with an extra dimension, depth. (FYFIA d;o) ) Believe me, you will
know when you have too much weight. I always seem to err on the
other side, not enough weight.

There is a spot on my favorite river where the current washes over an
old logging dam into a very deep pool. It is a wonderful spot to use
a dry or a streamer, but you have to adjust your way of thinking about
nymphing. To use a nymph, I simply cast about 10 - 20 feet with a
weight nymph, watch it while it sinks, and then use a L. Lift on it.
If I find the right pattern I can count on some very big brookies or
landlocked salmon.

Another method I've used with mixed results is the across and down and
raising the fly by raising the tip of your rod and moving the fly to
different parts of a riffle/run. I've caught fish like this, but
don't care for the method. High sticking without an indicator and
upstream without an indicator are my favorite/preferred methods. I too
love to see the "wink" when the fish turns a little sideways to take
the nymph. That's one of the bennies of fishing close to where you
are standing.

Like I've said, Tim, there are many ways to nymph. To learn more, I
recommend a book by Charles Brooks with illustrations by Dave Whitlock
called Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout. Also, read anything you can
get from Gary Borger on the subject. Peter Charles and I attended a
seminar given by him at a fly show in Toronto a few years ago. Very
impressive and helpful.

Dave