Nymphing - indicator-to-nymph MAX distance

On 31 May 2005 20:24:30 GMT, Scott Seidman
wrote:

I don't get this. I know you're up there with the best nymph fishermen I
know, but I don't see how a nymph without a motor on it can go faster than
the current, unless there's a faster current down below (or maybe a fish
took and for some reason is running downstream), and flow mechanics say the
closer you get to an bank or bottom, the slower the current runs.

If your strike indicator is going the same speed as the bubbles around
it (top current), so is your nymph. The water that the nymph is in
will be running much slower, but if the nymph is going faster than the
bottom current, a fish probably won't hit it. And, it doesn't need a
motor, inboard or outboard, to be going faster than the bottom
current. If my strike indicator (line) is going as fast as the water
around it, I add more split shot until it slows to a speed I think is
correct. And, you are right, if you get a belly in your line, the
strike indicator/fly will move much faster than the current.

Distance nymphing, like you would do with steelhead and salmon, or on
the Rapid River, is very dependent on mending. You don't mend
properly, you are going to get few hits, and every time you do mend,
the fly should go a little deeper. Most of the steelhead I've hooked
have been hooked right after I've mended the line. If you don't know
how to mend, don't go to Alaska for salmon or big rainbows, because
the whole game is mending *once you have the lure at the proper depth
by means of weight.*


Dave

"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...

If your strike indicator is going the same speed as the bubbles around
it (top current), so is your nymph...

Hm......

If you're fishing in shallow water with a weighted nymph with an eight foot
leader and the nymph starts out downstream from the indicator and in the lee
of a small pebble......

Your indicator can move nearly sixteen feet.....at the same speed as the
bubbles around it.....before the nymph moves at all..

Wolfgang

On Tue, 31 May 2005 19:11:51 -0500, "Wolfgang"
wrote:

If you're fishing in shallow water with a weighted nymph with an eight foot
leader and the nymph starts out downstream from the indicator and in the lee
of a small pebble......

Your indicator can move nearly sixteen feet.....at the same speed as the
bubbles around it.....before the nymph moves at all..

You are correct. But who nymphs downstream. Certainly not me.
And just because I am fishing with an eight foot leader, it does not
mean my strike indicator is eight feet from the nymph. In two feet of
water, it is probably three or four feet from the nymph. Or, more
than likely I am not using an indicator at all.

Dave

"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 31 May 2005 19:11:51 -0500, "Wolfgang"
wrote:

If you're fishing in shallow water with a weighted nymph with an eight
foot
leader and the nymph starts out downstream from the indicator and in the
lee
of a small pebble......

Your indicator can move nearly sixteen feet.....at the same speed as the
bubbles around it.....before the nymph moves at all..

You are correct. But who nymphs downstream. Certainly not me.

Well, I don't do much nymph fishing so I can hardly claim to be an authority
but, if memory serves, Jim Leisenring had something to say about it.
Besides, it stand to reason that fishing a weighted nymph downstream on a
taut leader is an excellent way to control the speed of the drift.

And just because I am fishing with an eight foot leader, it does not
mean my strike indicator is eight feet from the nymph.

True, true.

In two feet of
water, it is probably three or four feet from the nymph.

If your depth holds, that's good thing. But if you're working the tailout
of a pool or a run, things can get shallow in a hurry. If there's four feet
of leader between the indicator and the fly and the fly is ahead of the
indicator, your indicator can move up to nearly eight feet.....at the same
speed as the bubbles around it.....before the numph moves at all.

Or, more
than likely I am not using an indicator at all.

Your scenario, not mine.

Wolfgang
look it up.

On Tue, 31 May 2005 19:59:32 -0500, "Wolfgang"
wrote:

If there's four feet
of leader between the indicator and the fly and the fly is ahead of the
indicator, your indicator can move up to nearly eight feet.....at the same
speed as the bubbles around it.....before the numph moves at all.

Like I said, I don't nymph down stream. Some do. More power to them,
but I don't.

"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 31 May 2005 19:59:32 -0500, "Wolfgang"
wrote:

If there's four feet
of leader between the indicator and the fly and the fly is ahead of the
indicator, your indicator can move up to nearly eight feet.....at the same
speed as the bubbles around it.....before the numph moves at all.

Like I said, I don't nymph down stream.

O.k.......but you DID ask who does.

Some do.

Yeah, I believe Jim Leisenring did.

More power to them,

Well, he's kind of dead now.

but I don't.

O.k.

Wolfgang
who notes in passing that being invisible ain't what it used to was.

I thought the elitist principle of "upstream only" applies to dries
only, and that it's still acceptable for a snob to fish nymphs
downstream (G).

Seriously, though, you *never* fish nymphs downstream, even a little?
That's the first time I've ever heard that one. It takes a lot of
discipline to get that fly out of the water before it crosses that
line...

There are an amazing variety of techniques around and I know that yours
works for you so I'm not knocking it. I just can't resist being a
smart ass. ; -)

bh

On 6/2/05 12:46 PM, in article
,
" wrote:

I just can't resist being a
smart ass. ; -)


The ROFF motto, ladies and gents!

Bill

On 2 Jun 2005 09:46:58 -0700, wrote:

There are an amazing variety of techniques around and I know that yours
works for you so I'm not knocking it. I just can't resist being a
smart ass. ; -)


You could never be a smartass, at least not after you gave me that fly
box with those wonderful itty-bitty ties. Since you gave them to me,
I have taken more fish on your patterns than any other pattern. They
worked at Penns, Bighorn, the Rapid in Maine, and I will use them in
Kamchatka in August. Great flies, Bruce. They've inspired me to
think small with whatever nymph I tie - GRW, PT, GRHE, et al.

And, yes, I fish downstream with a nymph and I use the Leisenring Lift
at the end of the drift. Besides, you practically have to let the rig
go downstream so that the line straightens out for the cast upstream.
No false casting. I designed a caddis nymph a few years ago with a
"bubble" attached to it. I used a clear glass bead to represent the
bubble of air caddis have when they rise to the surface. I've taken
many fish with the pattern using the Lift at the end of the drift. But
try not to let it get out that I fish a nymph downstream. d;o)

Dave