Thinking about Nymph Fishing
In the last twenty or so years, it seems to me that “nymph fishing” has come to mean but one thing: fishing two flies, weighted, dead-drift, with an indicator, and perhaps with additional weight on the leader itself. Nothing wrong with this, except that all other techniques for fishing nymphs have essentially been co-opted by this one method, to the point that today many anglers are unaware that other techniques even exist. I find this unfortunate, because it leaves some fascinating fishing completely beyond their ken.
When I think of nymph fishing, I generally think about something entirely different. I think about casting single, unweighted nymphs to fish that are actively feeding on nymphs, at or near the water’s surface. In places that have good insect hatches—all of the Yellowstone area qualifies here—this is a common occurrence, and makes for some interesting fishing for those aware of it.
Below is a sequence of photographs showing a fish that was well-suited to this tactic. (Click on View Full Post below to bring up the images.)
You can find fish feeding in this manner in all the waters of Yellowstone, but only if you are aware that it happens. And when you are, it can add a “new” dimension to the sport of nymph fishing as it’s so often practiced today.
—John
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Leader Length and Small Flies
Toward the end of last season, Bucky asked me if I would care to test out some new leaders. In particular, he had a 14', 5x sample in mind. At that point in the season I'd been engaged in week's worth of Baetis fishing, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to test a new leader. On to my line one of them promptly went, and off to the Firehole River I went.
It was late October and the Baetis fishing was in full swing. I chose a stretch of water near the Iron Bridge, and I could already see fish rising as I tied on my #20 fly. After just a couple casts I knew I had a problem: I couldn't see my fly. Not at all. I couldn't see where it landed, and I couldn't find it during the drift. That spelled trouble. (It's still possible to fish successfully without seeing your fly and without knowing approximately where it's drifting, but it's much more difficult. Invariably, you end up striking to rises that are not at your fly—likely spooking fish—and not striking at the rises that are to your fly. Neither is for me.)
What caused this lack of visibility? Was it the small fly...bad light...riffled water...poor casting? No, none of those. Had my eyes gone bad overnight? Not likely.
Turns out, it was the new leader. It was a different length from the one I had been using.
For weeks my leader had been 12' long, and it was exactly that length to which my eyes had become accustomed. They knew right where to expect the fly to land. And if I failed to see the fly touch down, they knew exactly where on the water to look to find it. As a result, my fishing had a precision to it that simply could not have been achieved without knowing my fly's whereabouts. But now I stood there fishing a leader that was two feet longer, with no clear idea of where my fly was ending up. I felt seriously handicapped.
The solution, of course, seems simple. Look two feet further out.
Well, easier said than done. When you're used to fishing a certain length leader, readjusting to a different one takes time. You have to retrain your mind and your eyes. I tried looking two feet further out, alright. But while my mind said one thing, my eyes did another. They were stuck in the past. They just could not commit—right there, right then—to the new distance. So I spent the next hour or so essentially fishing blind, my eyes struggling to focus on a point they were trained not to. Since I couldn't see my fly and didn't know where it was most of the time, I didn't catch much. I spooked many fish as I struck at what I thought were rises to my fly (they weren't), lined plenty of others, and failed to set on rises that were to my fly. Not a comforting feeling.
All of this highlights a key factor in successful small-fly fishing: knowledge of where your fly is on the water. Because most small flies are just plain hard to see, it is of immeasurable help to at least have a good approximation of where your fly touches down. (We can then watch that small area of water as it drifts downstream, striking at a rise that coincides with its passage.) Using a consistent leader length—no matter what that length may be—is a valuable step in establishing this approximation.
In addition to providing clues regarding when to strike, knowing where on the water the fly is also helps us judge the quality of our drift. That's important in any kind of fishing, but especially so with small dry flies on flat water. If you find yourself fishing a lot in such situations, you might make sure you're doing it with a consistent length leader. It will make your (fishing) life a lot easier.
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Redemption?
After I posted a picture and dour fishing report from Quake Lake the other day, my brother, Tom, accused me—jokingly, mind you—of throwing him under the bus. As the sole angler that day, it seems he took the failure personally (I merely attributed it to the conditions), and he would rather I had made up a glowing report reflective of his considerable skill. Well, what fisherman wouldn't want that? But the truth is the truth. (Wait, we're all fishermen here—can anyone reading this please remind me where, exactly, the truth can be found in this sport?...but I digress.)
So off we went yesterday to the Henry's Fork, near the area of Cemetary Flats. It was cool and windy, but just enough midges were on the water to bring a few fish to the surface. Tom did things right, and was rewarded with this fine early-season brown trout. So I say to him, well done. (But don't forget—every day is a new day, and still the bus lurks close behind.)
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It Ain’t Much, But It Is Water
A few days ago my brother and I decided to check out the status of the ice on Quake Lake. We found a small pocket of open water near the outflow, with just enough room to make a few casts. He employed a deeply sunk streamer for a half hour or so, but to no avail. Not even a bump. Such is the nature of early season.
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A day in the Bear Trap Canyon
Last Saturday Bucky talked me into spending our shared day off, Sunday, in the Bear Trap Canyon stretch of the Madison River. The forecast promised sunshine and 40 degree temps with calm winds. We met here and left around 10 a.m.; Bucky, his dog Sadie and I. We arrived at the parking area and pulled in next to another rig. As we began gearing up the driver of the vehicle walked his dog, ( a dead ringer for "Bengie" if you recall the old motion picture named after the star of the movie a fluffy dust mop looking doggie) over to us and we began talking about fishing, the light winter Montana is experiencing, and more. BRF's Bucky introduced himself to this guy who commented, "My wife's name is Bucky" as she smiled and waved while slipping into her hiking boots. I introduced myself to the guy who laughed and replied, "that's my name too!" So we began our hike up river in the Bear Trap traipsing along with Bucky, Bucky, Craig and Craig and three dogs all the while knowing we were in for a great day with all the great Karma floating along with us!
Along our planned 2 mile hike to favorite midge water we kept our eyes off the river knowing if we stopped and watched water we'd see fish rising and would never make our destination. Slogging along in full wader regalia we worked up a sweat but arrived at our spot with fish already rising. We took several trout on Bucky's Purple Midge and Scotty's Skittering Midge before the sun sank behind the towering canyon walls at 3 p.m. and we headed back to our rig. Just short of the parking lot we came on several more rising fish and felt we had to honor the risers by presenting a Zelon Midge to them. It worked on 4-5 more rainbows before all rising stopped, the temperature began dropping and we headed in for the day.
This week we might get a chance to fish but before we get do we have a few important meetings to attend. The first is tomorrow in Bozeman with the Yellowstone Park Foundation to decided how to develop a program to raise money to keep the Yellowstone Fisheries Initiative program going in the Park. Next we head to Ennis Wednesday evening to attend the first Madison River Rec Planning session. Stay tuned here. And, last week I went to Salt Lake to help the Greater Yellowstone Coalition with a fly fishing program and fund raising event to raise money for their ongoing work in the Yellowstone Cutthroat vs. Lake Trout program in the park. We had a tremendous show and raised some great bucks. Stay with us in this blog for ongoing information and more on our aggressive programs and how you can help us protect, preserve and enhance Yellowstone's native and wild trout for all of us and future generations to enjoy.
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