Dark Side Instruction

So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.

On Sun, 6 Feb 2011 12:24:49 -0800 (PST), Larry L
wrote:

So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

Toe fishing w a bobber
Tie the line around your big toe and go lie down on the bank to sleep
You may have to chase your toe downriver

Just suggestin'
Fred

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.

On 2/6/2011 3:24 PM, Larry L wrote:
So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.


i rarely fish nymphs or wets...i hate the bobber/indicator stuff.
simple is me...and the simpler the fishing the better for me. the lack
of oppressive junk is what originally got me into flyfishing. a
bearable lightness of being.

i don't catch as many as most, but i don't know anyone who enjoys the
adventure more. i've fiddled with all the bobber styles, but have
settled on simply throwing bead heads and coneheads when i go under the
film. i've all but given up the dropper rig or tandem nymphs. i like
having a more direct connection to the fly, and i usually pay more
attention to the game afoot as well. watching the line, and feeling it.
fewer "things" between me and the fish. i'd say work on the weight
necessary to get the bug down to the fish, and work on a good sight/feel
for the take. you'll miss some fish...but, catching isn't really the
deal, is it?

jeff

On Feb 6, 1:34*pm, jeff wrote:

, and i usually pay more
attention to the game afoot as well. watching the line, and feeling it.
* fewer "things" between me and the fish


I think you're on to something here, Jeff

I'm going to start leaving the bobbers at home since 'immersion' ( not
in the Reid-sense ) is what I find lacking in the nymphing
experience .... I'll either force myself to concentrate harder, or sit
on the bank

on that second one, I saw some sort of Hawk fly by with a bird nearly
as big as itself in it's talons last time out

on the first one ... I keep meaning to suggest to Opie that he tie
some #16 Yellow and Partridge soft hackles for ya'll ( did I say that
southern enough? ) to try on your little cricks. When I did that
type of fishing a lot it was a favorite pattern ... I fished it
UPstream just like a dry but it sank, of course. You could often see
the fly beneath the surface, and you could almost always see your fish
come out of hiding to take it ... real cool ..... just as cool, it
worked great at times of day they were hesitant to rise ... also
really cool, you developed a sort of 'sixth sense' about takes you
didn't see ( the same type I'm now setting off to get nymphing, thanks
to you ;-)

thanks again, I do believe you hit the nail on the head .... we fly
fish to get rid of all the BS between us and the fish and that is why
bobbers just seem 'wrong' IF they can be replaced by concentration

On 2011-02-06 15:24:49 -0500, Larry L said:

So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.

A trout is an eating machine. I have seen fly fishermen sitting on the
grass *waiting* for *the* hatch. I went just above them (so as not to
disturb their spot on the stream) and caught 10 or so very nice
rainbows/browns on nymphs. On my walk back to my car, they were still
waiting. Hmmmm.

Trout are like women: Find out what they want and give it to them.
Most of the time it is sub-surface stuff. However, I must admit, there
is nothing quite as pure as watching a big brook trout or salmon come
up and snatch your dry fly.

Most of the time when I nymph, I do not use a strike indicator. If I
am high sticking a run, I find it burdensome to use an indicator. It
takes practice, but simply watch your leader/line connection where it
enters the water. You can see the strike no matter how subtle it is.
Further, I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of multiple fly set ups.
*KNOW* what they want and use a single fly.

I *do* use a strike indicator if I am long-line nymphing --- casting
more than 30 or 40 feet. It usually requires alot of mending, but it
often allows me to fish water that most would normally pass by simply
because they can not reach it with a "normal" nymph drift.

I often see fish "blinking." That is, they turn their head to suck up
a nymph. I will fish a spot like that until my nymph can no longer
fool them. I remember a run on the Zhuponava River in Kamchatka. I
was fishing a 7 weight with sinking line and a great big streamer on
it, hoping to lure a big (30+) rainbow. I passed a spot on the river
where there had to be at least two dozen dolly vardens "blinking". I
ran back to the raft, grabbed my 6 weight with a floating line, cut off
the Mouse tied to the tippet, and attached a size 16 Pheasant Tail. I
added one small split shot about 15 inches above the fly (tippet/leader
knot), and proceeded to catch char after char after char, some of them
in the 4 - 5 pound range. After about 10 fish the Russian guide came
over and asked what I was doing. He had never seen nymphing. So, I
turned him onto the "dark side" by teaching him high sticking. I left
him with my rod and went back to the raft for my 7 weight and back to
streamer fishing. He didn't stop smiling for several hours.

One thing to remember, Larry, regardless whether you use a strike
indicator or not: Your indicator, be it one attached somewhere to your
line, or just a spot on you line where it enters the water, should
always move slower than the current on top. That is the primary use of
the split shot. If your indicator is moving at the same speed as the
surface current, then you have a big drag problem. Add weight until
you no longer have drag. It is easy to get a fly down without the
split shot (weighted while tying, beadhead, etc), but chances are you
will still have drag. If you do, simply add a bigger shot. BTW, while
nymphing, if you do not snag the bottom every once in a while, you
don't have enough weight.

And, always remember, when the hatch starts, rip off the nymph and
shot, and put on that dry.

Dave (a dry fly fisherman who waits for the hatch by nymphing and
catching fish)

On Feb 6, 3:05*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:


And, always remember, when the hatch starts, rip off the nymph and
shot, and put on that dry.



I'm pretty sure I'll remember that part, Dave

I'm going to try a few days, indicator-less. I sight nymph that
way fairly often all summer, see a fish, or a bulge, or a blink, and
toss a beadhead in there and 'sense' the take with my eyes ... somehow
(blink. bulge, see fish move )

but, the amount of water here in the Stan is what befuddles me and
intimidates me. Next time out I'm taking a 10ft 5 wt I have and high-
sticking ... sticking to only water I can fish that way and feel it's
appropriate ...

FWIW, I'm sure your 'slower than the current' advice is something I
need to take seriously .... I tend to try and make the bobber drift
like a dry, i.e exactly with the current .... but I can 'understand'
that it needs to go slower .... need to progress from 'understand' to
'really get it' ... I guess

On Feb 6, 2:24*pm, Larry L wrote:
So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. * Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. * Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. * *MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. * the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. * Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. * I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. * * Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.

Don't fish with bobbers.....just don't.

giles
no charge for this one.

On 2011-02-06 19:08:02 -0500, Larry L said:


FWIW, I'm sure your 'slower than the current' advice is something I
need to take seriously .... I tend to try and make the bobber drift
like a dry, i.e exactly with the current .... but I can 'understand'
that it needs to go slower .... need to progress from 'understand' to
'really get it' ... I guess

Always remember that the current below the surface where the fish are
feeding is slower than the surface current. Your lure must not move
too fast.

Don't give up your nymphing efforts. In nymphying, like dry fly
fishing, there is nothing between you and the fly.

Dave

On Feb 6, 3:34*pm, jeff wrote:
On 2/6/2011 3:24 PM, Larry L wrote:





So I went out an hour or so each day, a couple days last week and
chucked a bobber, shot, and little beady thingies.

I didn't do well.

It finally occurred to me that IF I'm going to fish that way, maybe I
should really learn how.

I only ( or real close ) fish this style, here at home, and in the
'off season' aka now. * Here are a couple shots of water close to
home. * Let me point out that they don't do justice to the AMOUNT of
water involved. * *MOST of the water in both shots is WAY too deep to
wade and even the riffly looking stuff is deep enough to be a
challenge to an old fart like me. ( more than knee deep where I was
standing, to help ya judge )

http://www.kimshew.com/stangood.jpg

http://www.kimshew.com/stanrif.jpg

The guys that are catching the most are all fishing little tiny
nymphs, lots of weight and concentrate on a very few places. * the
river was written up in a national mag a while back and those few
places get hammered. * Even though "doing well" here would be "ho hum"
some places we're only a couple hours from the Bay Area

I simply find it impossible to maintain interest and confidence bobber
fishing. * I'm hoping for tips and encouragement to help me
improve. * * Do you guys just fish the same slots over and over and
over ( seems to be the style of choice for many I observe )? if so,
how do you 'know' when enough is enough at a given spot?

Anyway, here is your change to write an indicator fly fishing tutorial
with an eager audience awaiting your efforts.

i rarely fish nymphs or wets...i hate the bobber/indicator stuff.
simple is me...and the simpler the fishing the better for me. the lack
of oppressive junk is what originally got me into flyfishing. *a
bearable lightness of being.

i don't catch as many as most, but i don't know anyone who enjoys the
adventure more. i've fiddled with all the bobber styles, but have
settled on simply throwing bead heads and coneheads when i go under the
film. i've all but given up the dropper rig or tandem nymphs. i like
having a more direct connection to the fly, and i usually pay more
attention to the game afoot as well. watching the line, and feeling it.
* fewer "things" between me and the fish. i'd say work on the weight
necessary to get the bug down to the fish, and work on a good sight/feel
for the take. *you'll miss some fish...but, catching isn't really the
deal, is it?

jeff

A judgment call. Which is to say, no, catching isn't really the
deal...,..but not catching is the deal breaker nevertheless. For
most.....most of the time. The line is variable, and may be
exceedingly fine, but it is always there. Personally, I would never
fish with bobbers, a position hardly worthy of justification even
assuming it were possible without sacrificing the illusion of
integrity. And nymphs.....yeah, they are productive.....but then, so
are life insurance agents, telemarketers, and NFL owners.

giles
who may not be a winner......but is ahead on points (to the tune of
about ten) at halftime.

On Feb 6, 5:05*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:

Trout are like women:...

Hm.....

Perhaps if you bathed your fish.....or your women.....the similarity
would prove to be evanescent.

Just sayin'.

g.
who hastens to add (unnecessarily, one would hope.....but one knows
better) that no disrespect to the fishes of the world was
intended.....or should be inferred.