Help with nymph fishing

wrote

My first experiment with fly fishing was with a bait casting rod and
no reel. I cast it a bit better than I now cast a fly rod with fly
reel. It can be done. And can be fun to do.

Cool. Your story took me back to when I was about 11 or 12 years old. We
were a backpacking family, and summers would often find us in the eastern
Sierra. I think I was armed at the time with a 6 1/2 foot Daiwa spinning
rod and a reel better suited for surf fishing than for small creeks. Stiff
6 pound mono rounded out my rig. Tiny freestone streams are the norm in the
backcountry, and many were too small to fish with spinners. A favorite
technique was to tie on a dry fly (I remember going through a lot of royal
coachmen) and pull about six or seven feet of line off the reel. By
whipping the rod---and I mean really whipping it---it was possible to "cast"
a fly to a point about a dozen feet from where I stood. It may not sound
like much, but it was possible to approach the very turbulent pools quite
closely without spooking the fish, and I caught enough little trout to keep
my 11 year old brain occupied for entire days at a time. Of course, it took
another quarter of a century for me to finally buy a proper fly rod. Many
thanks for the flashback!

Cheers,
Bill

"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
I saw Lefty Kreh make about a 20 foot cast with a fly line using his arm as
the rod.
Dave

I have seen people cast the complete fly line just using their arm.
Ernie

Cool. Your story took me back to when I was about 11 or 12 years old. We
were a backpacking family, and summers would often find us in the eastern
Sierra. I think I was armed at the time with a 6 1/2 foot Daiwa spinning
rod and a reel better suited for surf fishing than for small creeks.
Stiff
6 pound mono rounded out my rig. Tiny freestone streams are the norm in
the
backcountry, and many were too small to fish with spinners. A favorite
technique was to tie on a dry fly (I remember going through a lot of royal
coachmen) and pull about six or seven feet of line off the reel. By
whipping the rod---and I mean really whipping it---it was possible to
"cast"
a fly to a point about a dozen feet from where I stood. It may not sound
like much, but it was possible to approach the very turbulent pools quite
closely without spooking the fish, and I caught enough little trout to
keep
my 11 year old brain occupied for entire days at a time. Of course, it
took
another quarter of a century for me to finally buy a proper fly rod. Many
thanks for the flashback!
Cheers,
Bill

You were lucky, my earliest memories of fishing for trout were with a rusty
old telescoping rod and a level wind reel which kept jamming. When I hooked
a trout I just dropped the rod and brought him in hand over hand.
Ernie

The main reason I go fishing is to succeed in a challenge. My challenge
is not to see how many fish I can catch. If it were, I might use a net..or
dynamite!! How you catch fish is, or should be, more important than how
many. If you argue against that, why aren't you using a net or dynamite?
Or even bait!! Straight-line nymphing is only one step better!!

Nymphing is what you do until the fish start rising.


"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
Anonymous writes:

Dave,
A lot of people believe that fishing with a fly rod, a bobber, 3 or 4
split
shot and perhaps a heavily weighted fly is not fly fishing

If you're going to throw that kind of hardware, get a spinning rod!


Three or four split shot? Seldom use more than one. Heavily weighted
flies?
Not the ones I tie, but bead-heads could be considerede "heavily
weighted". I
guess you're one of those "purists" who think that dry fly fishing is the
*only* way to go. I suspect you would be in the minority in most fly
fishing
forums. Although I do not endorse competitive fly fishing, the winners
for
that past few years have been nymphers. Something to say about that.

Why on earth would you be so stubborn to fish only dries when 90% of a
trout's
food comes from sub-surface nymphs and emergers? Is it because you don't
know
how? I admit it is a little more difficult to figure out than dry fly
fishing,
but hell, if *I* can do it with a whole helluvalot of success, *anyone*
can do
it. Just takes time.

If fish are rising, I will go to an emerger or a dry. I enjoy dry fly
fishing
more than nymphing (less work), but the fish don't always cooperate.

When I go fly fishing, the number one priority is to find peace with
myself
and my surroundings. I haven't failed yet. Catching fish is the second
priority and I will accomplish that whether I have to use dries, emergers,
nymphs, wets, or streamers. Again, I seldom fail.

Your life must be a boring one if you fail to investigate and explore all
forms
of fooling Mr. Trout with a fly rod.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html









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Dave LaCourse wrote:

John writes:

Why would it not work? Fly suspended on mono under a bobber. Whether
it's a plastic bubble or them fist-sized hunks o' yarn ya'll call
indicators on the Rapid--what's the difference?

Because it's not fly fishing. Fly fishing in the regs of most states I've
fished (where it says "Fly fishing only") required a fly rod/reel. Now if that
Californicator wants to put a fly reel on that spinning rod and use the *line*
to cast it, then *that* would be termed fly fishing. I didn't make the rules,
John.

Dave, I wasn't questioning why is wasn't allowed, only the statement "I
doubt it would work," which I took to mean it wouldn't catch fish.

BTW, Oregon has "fly fishing only" waters, where you need to use the
entire FFing rig, and "fly only" waters, where the choice of rod, reel
and line is immaterial.

JR

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 19:13:06 -0600, "Wolfgang"
wrote:


"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
Wolfgang writes:

Not much surprised to learn that you didn't make the rules.......if you
had,
one would expect that you'd know them.......which states require the use
of
a fly reel in fly fishing only waters?

Maine regs:
4. FLY FISHING means casting upon water and retrieving in a manner in
which the
weight of the fly line propels the fly. No more than 3 unbaited artificial
flies individually attached to a line may be used. (NOTE: It is unlawful
to
troll a fly in waters restricted to fly fishing only).

Although it does not say anything about a *fly* rod, or a *fly* reel, I'd
love
to see someone cast with a spinning rod/casting rod/etc, with fly line on
the
reel. Remember, the fly line must propel the fly.

So, in other words, you don't know of any rule anywhere that states you must
use a fly rod/reel.......it is in fact not the case that, "Fly fishing in
the regs of most states I've fished (where it says "Fly fishing only")
required a fly rod/reel.".....you just made that **** up, right?

Wolfgang
who does most of his casting with that portion of the line OFF the reel.


Salmon River, NY, fly fishing only regs.

"Tackle is restricted to a traditional fly fishing rod, reel and
line."

No mention of line propelling the fly as that would sound the death
knell to chuck 'n ' ducking. The locals buy a cheap fly rod, reel and
load it with floating running line, then attach cannonballs for
splitshot. They retrieve the entire line with the splitshot right at
the tiptop then "cast" with an overhand lob that looks a lot like a
bait cast.

Peter

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On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 17:33:55 -0700, Willi wrote:

[snip]
IMO, there are a few places and times where a flyline is better than
thin mono when nymphing but there are many where mono is MUCH better.

Interesting Willi, thanks. The only time I've ever really watched
someone use spinning gear and casting floats was when Mike used them
with streamers for seatrout. In that case the focus was on distance
and controlling the depth of the fly and drift wasn't a factor.
--
Charlie...

On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 05:03:46 GMT, "Ernie"
wrote:

I have seen people cast the complete fly line just using their arm.

Same here. Shoot, even I can cast 20' with just my arm.
--
Charlie...

Willi writes:

Did you even read the rest of my post?

I have now. ;( I missed it on the original post for some reason.

Again, interesting. I wouldn't have believed it, but as you put it, it does
make sense. I too use a long piece of tippet, normally 4x, and tie a 5x to
the end and use the knot for a split shot anchor.

Sierra fisher writes:

Nymphing is what you do until the fish start rising.

Exactly!

Net? Dynamite? Where would be the challenge of that? Nymphing, in my
opinion, is much more difficult than dry fly fishing. You have to be at the
right depth, the right speed, and the right distance (cast), *and* you have to
use what the fish are eating which you can't see as you can in dry fly fishing.

Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html