Articles in the Category Nymphing

Don’t Guess — Set the Hook and Set Hard

Here’s what I see: Too much guessing. Too much assuming that it’s not a trout rather than assuming that it is. So don’t guess. Set the hook. And set it hard.

If you’re trying to get long drifts, change that. If you’re trying to guess what’s a rock and what’s a trout, change that. If you’re trying to lift the nymph off a rock, and then you realize it was fish — bump buh-bump and gone — change that. I suggest a fundamental shift in your approach . . .

The Tap and the Take — Was That a Fish?

Using the riverbed as a reference is the most common way to know about the unseen nymph below. Get the fly down. Tick the riverbed. Touch and lift. This time-honored strategy is used across fishing styles for just about every species I’ve ever cast to. Find the bottom, and find fish. Better yet, find the bottom and know where the fly is.

But how do we tell the difference between ticking the bottom and a trout strike? My friend, Smith, calls it the tap and the take . . .

#8. The Strike: Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

The strike is the best part of fishing. It’s what we’re all out there waiting for, or rather, what we’re trying to make happen all day long. And the trout eats because we get so many things right.

We fool a fish, and we fulfill the wish of every angler.

When the fish strikes, we strike back. Short, swift and effective, the hook finds fish flesh. Then we try to keep the trout buttoned and get it to the net.

In the next article, this series concludes with the focus on putting it all together . . .

The Backing Barrel Might Be The Best Sighter Ever

A simple piece of Dacron, tied in a barrel, is a visible and sensitive addition to your tight line and euro nymphing rig. The versatile Backing Barrel serves as a stand-alone sighter, especially when tied with a one-inch tag. Better yet, it draws your eyes to the colored monofilament of any sighter and enhances visibility threefold. The Backing Barrel adds a third dimension of strike detection, with the Dacron flag just stiff enough to stand away from the line, but just soft enough to twitch upon even the most subtle takes . . .

#5. Finding Contact: Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Jul 26, 2021 | Nine Skills for Euro Nymphing, Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig

Nervous sighters and the line dip. Learn to better read the sighter for contact, then back off. But remember, until you are in touch, you can’t reliably and purposefully slip out of touch . . .

#4. Recovering Slack: Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Jul 21, 2021 | Nine Skills for Euro Nymphing, Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig

We can recover slack in three ways: by stripping, by raising the rod tip and by leading the rod tip downstream. And while these are basic skills, the heart of advanced nymphing is in the critical ability to recover slack in all three ways . . .

Leaders Relaunch in the Troutbitten Shop

Jul 19, 2021 | Announcements, Nymphing, Streamers, Tactics, The Mono Rig

Troutbitten leaders are back in the Shop. There are some unique features to Troutbitten leaders that make a big difference. These are hand tied leaders in four varieties: Harvey Dry Leader, Standard Mono Rig, Thin Mono Rig, and Micro-Thin Mono Rig. Standard Sighters are also available, and they include a Backing Barrel. The Full Mono Rig Kit contains each of the three Mono Rig leaders, three foam spools and a twenty-inch Rio Bi-Color extension.

All Troutbitten leaders come on a three-inch spool, making long leader changes a breeze . . .

#3. Sticking the Landing: Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Jul 12, 2021 | Nine Skills for Euro Nymphing, Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig

The goal is to stick the landing on the sighter — to end in the final position perfectly, rather than struggling to find it after the landing. The best anglers learn to adjust the amount of slack — and therefore, time to contact — within the cast. That’s the art of a good tuck cast. So we tuck and then stick the landing on the sighter at an angle and depth where we expect to catch that contact . . .

#2. Turnover and the Tuck Cast: Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Jun 27, 2021 | Nine Skills for Euro Nymphing, Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig

The tuck cast is a fly first entry. And it is the basic skill of tight lining. If you’re still lobbing, then stop it. And learn to cast. Because doing so opens up a world of new opportunities. And because a fly first entry sets up every necessary skill that follows . . .

The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Jun 16, 2021 | Nine Skills for Euro Nymphing, Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig | 14 Comments

Here’s an overview of the essential skills for tight line and euro nymphing. A good grasp and facility for these techniques prepares an angler for all the variations available on a tight line.

These skills are best learned in order, as none of them can be performed without the ones that precede it. So too, these are the steps taken in a single cast and drift, from beginning to end . . .

The Fundamental Mistake of Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Anglers

Jun 13, 2021 | Nymphing, Tactics, The Mono Rig | 20 Comments

The critical tight liner’s skills must be learned up close before they can ever be performed at distance. There are no shortcuts.

Your next time out with a tight line, be mindful of your casting distance. Stay within two rod lengths and find a rhythm. If you feel like you have to fish further away, then you’re in the wrong water. Relocate, get close, and perfect your short game. Even for advanced anglers who can stick the landing at thirty-five feet, if the action is slow, fishing short is almost always the best solution. Get back to the basics and refine them . . .

How the Bobber Hurts a Fly Fisher

May 16, 2021 | Commentary, Fly Fishing Strategies, Nymphing | 9 Comments

Don’t be a bobber lobber. Bobbers are an amazing tool in certain situations. But learn to cast it with turnover first. Avoid the lob.

Instead of using the bobber as a shortcut to getting the line out there, first learn a good casting stroke — with speed, crisp stops and turnover. Then, attach the bobber and see the supreme advantage gained when the fly hits first and the bobber comes in downstream, with the fly and indy both in the same current seam. Oh, hello dead drift. Nice to see you . . .

The Tight Line Advantage Across Fly Fishing Styles

Apr 5, 2021 | Dry Fly Fishing, Nymphing, Streamers, Tactics | 8 Comments

I first picked up fly fishing as a teenager, and I vividly remember the confusion. With time, I learned to cast the weight of the line rather than the weight of the lure, but I didn’t know what to do with the line after the cast. Sure, I learned about mending, but that never seemed to solve the problems at hand. Enter, tight lining concepts . . .

Troutbitten on the WadeOutThere Podcast

Mar 31, 2021 | Announcements, Fighting Fish, Nymphing | 3 Comments

I had the pleasure of talking shop with Jason Shemchuk of the WadeOutThere podcast. It’s a tactical but casual conversation that digs deep. I probably talked too fast and too often, and I got excited about the material, as usual. But those who know me will tell you that this is about as much DOM as there is anywhere on tape. That’s a tribute to Jason, because he’s easy to talk with and steers an interview with grace . . .

Leaders in the Troutbitten Shop

Mar 17, 2021 | Announcements, Nymphing, Streamers, Tactics, The Mono Rig | 20 Comments

Troutbitten leaders are now available in the Troutbitten Shop. These are hand tied leaders in four varieties: Harvey Dry Leader, Standard Mono Rig, Thin Mono Rig, and Micro-Thin Mono Rig. Standard Sighters are also available, and they include a Backing Barrel. The Full Mono Rig Kit contains each of the three Mono Rig leaders.

All Troutbitten leaders come on a three-inch spool, making long leader changes a breeze.