Why do trout hit flies? Because they are fooled into believing it is food, correct? Fly fishing nymphs is without a doubt the best way to put your fly in front of trout where they do ninety percent of their feeding. Although challenging, using nymphing tactics require certain skills to present the fly in such a manner trout mistakenly believe them to be their regular prey foods, this form of trout fishing yields more hooks-up than any other tactic.

What Are Nymphs?

The nymph is the larval aquatic stage of insects that have not yet reached maturity. When fly fisherman utilize nymphing techniques, they are imitating these aquatic insects in their larval stage which is the primary food source of trout. All fishing is done below the surface not on top of the water unlike dry-fly fishing. Since anglers are unable to see the fly itself underneath the water, very often strike indicators are used to alert the angler when a strike has occurred.

Nymphs can be difficult to “get down” to the level where the naturals are located, in this case, weight is added to the fly to help the imitation fly reach the strike zone. Weight can be added either with very small split shot or bead-heads incorporated into the fly pattern itself. If possible, bead head fly patterns should be utilized if possible since they are more effective at producing natural movements of real nymphs. It is important however, for the angler to determine at which dept the trout are feeding. Too much added weight can cause the nymph pattern to drag across the bottom of the stream casing false hook-ups and possibley snag the bottom.

Nymph Fishing Vs. Dry-Fly Fishing

Dry-fly fishing limited entirely to fishing on the surface of the water and many purist trout fisherman will only present a fly to trout on the surface. Unfortunatley, dry-fly fishing only eliminates ninety percent of trout fishing altogether since subsurface is where trout feed the most. Dry-fly fishing is however, very thrilling since the angler can actually see the trout take the fly.

Below the surface, trout tend to be more subtle when taking the fly, hence the need for a strike indicator. Fly fishing nymphs increases the amount of productive time the angler can spend on the stream since dry-fly trout fishing can only be enjoyed usually when hatches are occurring on the stream, although there are exceptions to this rule. During spring and summer when terrestrial insects such as grasshoppers are often blown into the stream on windy days, trout every the opportunist, will often gobble them up.

Fly Fishing Nymphs Casting Techniques

Beginning fly fisherman, once they learn the mechanics of the fly cast, will need a basic presentation which offers the best chances of hooking up, with simplicity in mind. Standing in the stream the angler will cast upstream into the current making sure not to “pile” the line. Once the cast is made, the line and fly will begin flowing downstream. In order to offer a more natural presentation, the angler will need to focus on keep some slack in the line in order to keep the fly in the strike zone. If no slack is kept in the line during the drift, the fly will be pulled up out of the strike zone and be pulled across the surface resulting in little chance of a hook-up since this is not a natural movement of trout’s aquatic prey.

 By pointing in the direction of the fly, the angler can mend his line by gently taking the rod an rolling the line in the upstream direction as the fly floats downstream, allowing for more slack in the line. In many cases however, when the fly reaches the end of the line and also the drift range, when the line begins to pull the fly out of the strike zone, very often trout will hit the fly at this point resulting in many hook-ups.

Fly fishing is a wonderful sport enjoyed by thousands of people that have discovered the thrill of using a fly rod to catch one of the most beautiful freshwater species. By employing fly fishing nymphs techniques, the beginner fly fisherman increases his chances of catching more trout.