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Mid-summer months provide many opportunities for utilizing weighted nymphs. The long daylight hours send fish deep to escape heat and full sun. Hatches occur during a.m. and evening hours commonly and this can make for tough fishing during the "off" periods. Properly weighting your nymph can be paramount to your success during this time. A good rule of thumb is to set your lower or bottom fly, if you are utilizing a tandem rig, at 1 1/2 times the estimated depth of the water below your strike indicator. Example- water depth 3'. Set depth of indicator to 3'x 1.5=4.5' depending on the velocity or flow rate of the current you are fishing, weight your rig with lead, or non-toxic shot so that the indicator is displaying signs of the weight or lower fly "tickling" or bouncing lightly along the bottom. If you are not periodically bumping the bottom, you may not be deep enough to present a natural appearance of the imitation. Use only enough floatation for your strike indicator to do the job. Smaller is better. Easier to cast and less obvious to "Troutzilla". Dry flies make excellent indicators with small bead head and lightly weighted nymphs. Not to mention, they can get bit!!! Poly yarn type indicators are good for quiet and softer water areas. Foam/rubber core models are easy to adjust depth and provide good floatation with heavier rigs. |
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When adding weight to a rig. I will describe several methods. You can add split shot or non-toxic steel shot attached to a small dropper tied to the bottom nymph on a short tippet of smaller diameter. If the shot gets "snagged" or fouled on the bottom, the weighted dropper tippet only, will break (in theory). If you are using a tandem rig, attach the weight(s) between the lower flies. This allows both nymphs to be working near the bottom or strike zone. Space the weights out with a small gap between shot, if more than one, they will cast much better and not weaken the leader as much. If you tie your own flies, use tungsten beads. Lead wrapped and then inserted into the taper of a bead head works great on most sizes down to #18 also. All this science is for not if we do not execute the most important factor of nymphing. a natural dead drift, with the imitation(s) moving at the same velocity as the water you are angling. Mending of the fly line, a book in its own right is crucial to achieving this easily said but seldom accomplished task. Keep as little fly line on the water as possible. Raise or lower your rod tip to accomplish this whenever possible. Watch the strike indicator closely to see if it is dragging across the surface towards you. If it is, you can bet your nymph is acting in a devious manner below the surface and will not fool "Zilla".
I hope some of this will help you achieve a better "drift" this summer.
Be the fly...Tom Loe |
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