Nymph theory

"salmobytes" wrote in message
oups.com...
When we put split shot next the egg, or used heavy glass beads,
we got more refusals than when we used an unweighted egg
and split shot on the leader, maybe 24" back up the leader.

But when we did that you couldn't so easily feel the strike.
We caught most of those fish when we saw a fish move near
the orange spot in the crystal clear water. Made me think
I've missed a hundred million nymph strikes over the years.
When you SEE them hit and still feel no strike, it makes you wonder.


That can be largely solved by having the weight (tool fly) below (at the end
of the tippet) and the target fly on the tag of the blood knot leader-
tippet connection.

Bob Weinberger La Grande, OR

Bob said:
"That can be largely solved by having the weight (tool fly) below (at
the end
of the tippet) and the target fly on the tag of the blood knot leader-
tippet connection."

Yeah, maybe. I use that rig when it's windy. I remember a trip from
Gray Reef damn down. That trip was the first time I ever fished
the Crazy Charlie for weight. My partner Wayne used split shot
on the leader and I used the Crazy Charlie. We both used itty
bitty blue bead heads on the end. Wayne's a better fisherman than
I am, but I was able to keep pace because of all the extra fish
I caught on the Crazy Charlie.

When it got windy I put the Crazy Charlie out on the end and I was
still able to fish, but the strike rate went downhill instantly. You
always
get the most strikes on the end fly, so you want to put the fly that
gets
the most strikes out at the end, if at all possible.

That rig (the Crazy Charlie used at mid-leader for weight) followed
by an itty bitty beadhead, is what I call the Gray Reefer, because of
that trip. Works great. But they're a bit hard to keep lit when it's
that windy.

I'm just rambling now, but I do remember something worth
mentioning. In my last post I mentioned a North Platte Wyoming
trip, below Gray Reef damn, where I used a Crazy Charlie for
weight and small blue beadhead nymph out on the end.

The other rig that really killed them that day (it was mid April and
the big
rainbows were active on shallow redds) was a Crazy Charlie
followed by a small, maybe 2" long red plastic worm from Wallmart.

That rig really drove my fishing partner nuts. I remember between the
two of us we caught close to two dozen fish at the put-in, before
sliding
the boat in the water. Those little red
rubber worms are hard to find. But they beat the hell out
of San Juan worms. Same concept, really. But way more effective.