With the idea in mind that a significant part of the beauty of the Dorsey/New Zealand design itself is that it lands more softly and visibly looks more natural in the environment when compared to the alternatives it seemed to me as if the answer to the question was going to beWere trying our best not to spook these trout. Could you please share how/why you feel that the high vis gold stren either on or near the waterline isnt spooking nearby trout? Im going to put it to use today here out here on the Feather River. When fishing in close my hookset is often nothing more than just using my wrist with barely any elbow movement at all. It always comes down to speed control. I really like oval and bi-color indicators because their football shape and the bi-color helps me teach anglers about angles, speed control, and where their fly is. He recently teamed up with two members of Fly Fishing Team USA-Devin Olsen and Lance Egan-to make a video about modern nymphing techniques. Absolutely. Roll Your Eggs Tips For Nymphing With Egg Patterns; Podcast: Listener Q&A Mono Rigs, Tough Days, Trout Range and More S5, Ep9 (VIDEO) The Tight Line Advantage for Nymphs, Indicators, Streamers and Dry Dropper; Podcast: Streamer Presentations All About the Head of the Fly S5, Ep8; Waiting On Luck Things like that, FTW! In your leader formula it looks like you put the tippet ring on after the sighter and then the 2 section of 3x were the indicator mounts. Im in western NC and my favored waters are small freestone streams. But I have since determined that indicators are not always the best method of nymphing. Why not? Get the 7.5 foot Rio Power Flex Leaders at Bass Pro Shops HERE or at FishUSA.com HERE. . Since 2014 and 900+ articles deepTroutbitten is a free resource for all anglers.Your support is greatly appreciated. I choose my flies based on my observations of what bugs I see on the river, or what flies I know should work. The best indicator nymphing anglers will work their indicator and their fly through every foot of the spot that they are fishing and the results can be ten times better. Lets just say the surface current is flowing at 4 miles per hour but the bottom current could be only 1 or 2 miles per hour. Shorter nymphing leaders around 9 to 10 feet will mend much easier due to the weight of the thicker upper section of the leader and the weight of the fly line. I prefer to use a lift and drop mend. Some anglers believe a custom made leader casts and turns over better than store-bought tapered leaders. Speed is likely the most critical part of the presentation. Next, tie your tippet ring to the end of the indicator line . So it wont matter how good your fly is, or how good your presentation is, if you have already spooked that big trout in the pool its game over. Therefore I store my Mucilin in a zip lock bag just in case it leaks. Hook sets are not free. I call this the follow-through hook set and it almost always puts your flies behind you, or on you, or up in the trees. For reference, here are the other two leaders: Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig Harvey Dry Fly Leader. With indicator fishing, its hard to tell if there is any slack under your indicator. I start rotating through my flies trying different patterns and different sizes. Video Coming Soon. Euro Nymphing Leader Formulas - Modern Nymphing Instructional Video Watch on Gilbert Rowley is a Utah fishing guide, fly tier, and filmmaker who runs a website called Fly Tying 123. Get close and go get em. I prefer to mount the indicator on a 24 inch section of 3X, sliding it up and down within those two feet to adjust for depth. The one change to the leader that will let you fish additional rigs is a simple 12" section of 3x tippet between the sighter and the tippet ring. The simple rule of thumb is to set your strike indicator at 1.5 times the depth of the water that you will be fishing. It uses no float or indicator A typical European nymphing leader is made of two components: a thicker butt section and a 20 percent tippet. And theyre cheap. I think if you test the trouts response yourself, youll see that the color of a short piece of leader doesnt much matter to them. Now mend it and then watch it go. Your email address will not be published. All of these things are something great indicator nymphing anglers will do and if you understand each of them and know how to do them, you may catch 10 times more fish. . But how do you work your indicator? This is the nymphing leader setup that I use for high stick nymphing or for Euro nymphing with non-weighted flies. It points to our flies and takes away the guesswork. He really loves kind of helping people with that same information when hes guiding them or if youre interested in just getting put on fish. FYI, competition anglers tend to use rods that are 10 to 11 feet long. Fly Fishing Strategies, Nymphing, Tactics. You do this using a fast half-moon up and over and drop the rod tip mend. They don't work well on a lighter line or a heavier line. Im hooked on Troutbitten! There is no point trying a little brown nymph and then trying another little brown nymph that is similar. I wade closer, staying behind the trout and being cautious with my approach. Streamer Presentations Quick or Smooth? Cant wait to get started. Thin diameter tippet sinks faster than the thicker diameters of a knotless tapered leader. Many anglers dont realize that the current on the surface is often faster than the bottom current. In spots of 2 to 5 feet deep, this is a very effective method and one that I use more than the indicator method. Drag simply means pulling on the indicator, or the pulling of the line or the fly. For a traditional high stick nymphing leader, the normal size would be 10 to 12 feet. Hey Graham,thanks for the article, I had question regarding the taper for the euro nymph leader.I have observed that some people have reverse taper ie smaller diameter->larger diameter i.e. Otherwise most of the time I am nymphing with a 10-foot rod. Not here. The worst indicators for speed, angle, and knowing where your fly is are the round ones, which is why I no longer use them except in certain situations. I may try a pheasant tail nymph and if that doesnt work I may switch to a caddis larva, and if that doesnt work I might try a worm pattern, and if that doesnt work I may try a woolly bugger or a hares-ear pattern. Your leader formula sounds intriguing, and I would love to try these out. Ive rigged one rod (8-9 weight) with 25lb amnesia for the mono running line. Were left with a tool that is not well suited for the job. I dont know if you can see that here. With the round single color indicators, you CAN NOT tell where your fly is very well, and at what angle its running at which makes your speed control very difficult. Hey, guys, its PJ with Bock fly fishing. If you want to improve your indicator nymphing, these are good strike indicators. This is my home, and I love it. Leader Formula for Indicator Nymphing Let's get some tips on rigging on The Backcast. They dont work quite as well as the Raven floats but they are a more traditional style which is why they are liked better by some fly anglers. This mend doesnt move your strike indicator or your fly and it doesnt rip off the water or splash down as the typical mend does. In my nymphing classes, I have taught 7 different nymphing methods but in this post, I will show you the most affecting nymphing leader setups that I use the most. Thanks for sharing! Split shots: I want to try to use more split shots over weighted flies to get better action. I think it is fine for dries with a five foot tippet attached. A simple euro nymphing leader involves three sections with four feet of fluorocarbon tippet added at the end. On larger rivers, I like tight lining as often as possible, and the longer butt sections allows me to keep fly line out of the mix at greater distances. The rod is full flex slow action. Once I started learning to control my anglers I had to start shortening up my leader and once I started doing that I started catching more fish. That means if your fly comes flying out of the water and hits you, your hook set is that hook is moving 20 feet further than required. You might have even heard of micro drag. Great indicator nymphing anglers never just cast it out and watch it go and neither should you. Indicator Nymphing - Leader. Each leader has a specific description. An Online Resource forFly Fishing in California, by Rick Ferrante | Feb 12, 2022 | Backcast Report, Rigging | 0 comments. 24-48 .017 Maxima Chameleon 18 .015 Maxima Chameleon 18 .013 Maxima Chamleleon 12 10# Gold Stren Tippet Ring (2mm) 24 3X Fluorocarbon(the Indy mounts here) 24-48 4X or 5X Fluorocarbon. There are exceptions to this rule. When multiple diameters of line are under the water, the current pushes each of those diameters with a different force. Is it your assessment that we have to either compromise on speed of strike detection or dragging the fly and that you place more emphasis on the latter, because that overall brings more fish to the net? Other Indicators There are a ton of other indicators available. The reason I fish it this way is that in this particular trout river I have caught many big brown trout over 20 inches sitting beside the rocks, in front of the rocks, and even out in open water sitting in 10 to 20 inches of water. Ill also use longer leaders for bigger rivers or when steelhead fishing. If you are struggling with your mending make sure your leader is floating high. To use the Euro Nymphing Leader Formula, tie the two parts together using the same knot. Your email address will not be published. While it may seem slight, the difference between four feet of .017 vs .022 is significant. Remember, too much of an angle either upriver or downriver will lift the fly up to high off the bottom and out of the strike zone. Mike had landed on a common phrase that usually triggers a response from me. The weights on your leader and the fly below the surface can cause resistance that will slow your strike indicator down, but there is nothing slowing your fly line down so you need to slow it down or reposition the fly line with mends before it floats past your indicator and starts to pull everything abnormally fast. Ive never used tippet rings or sighters so I am trying to understand the advantage of putting the indicator in front of the tippet ring and not behind it on the sighter. Your fly and weights in the slower water become like little parachutes and that always turns the top of your indicator downriver. Thats just my preference, but you asked. Read our full disclosure HERE. When using any indicator, the method that just about every river guide will tell you is to guess the depth and then make a drift and if the strike indicator is set at the right depth you should only hit bottom 1 or 2 times during a drift or, in some cases, you might only hit bottom once every few drifts and although this works its not perfect, nothing is. Would really love to hear your thoughts about this! How to Make an Effective Indicator Nymphing Leader: a simple leader that will get our lies down fast hooked4lifeca 15.9K subscribers Subscribe 15K views 2 years ago This nymphing leader. Keep the leader off the water stay tight to the suspender. . And How C&R Changes Things S5, Ep5, Podcast: Weight In Fly Fishing: Beads, Shot, Sinking Lines and More S5, Ep4, Troutbitten Fly Box The Blue Collar Worker (with VIDEO), Podcast: The Spooky Trout What Scares Fish and How to Avoid Spooking Them S5, Ep3, Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Let It Drop and Then Help It Drift. If you dont have one of these indicators put two round ones on the leader, one about 4 to 6 inches above the other, just know which one is closest to the fly line. Nymphing is almost always best with a longer 9 to 11-foot rod. If you have a question, comment, or an idea about the nymphing leader setup let me and other readers know in the comments section below. Sure he will probably still catch some smaller trout because they are dumber than dumb, but Ill bet every big fish in this spot has lockjaw. Control. I use shorter leaders when teaching new fly anglers. Ive never liked trying to make one leader do everything, either. Graham, thanks for sharing these invaluable insights; really great stuff! There is definitely a compromise. . This is going to be, you know, monofilament. READ: Troutbitten | The Dorsey Yarn Indicator Everything you need to know, and a little more. So, for many years Ive carried a third leader dedicated to indicator nymphing. Loren Williams once told me he changed his leader formula more frequent than his underwater. If you added 6 inches to each of the 4 upper sections you would turn this 10-foot leader into a 12-foot leader or add 12 inches to each section and now you are set up with a 14-foot leader which is a great length for steelhead fishing. Your fly should be 6 inches off the bottom. I demand a solid pair of waders, and Im picky about my boots, but I dont obsess over rods and reels. Any deeper and it becomes difficult to position the leader far enough up the line. Most anglers use standard fly shop leaders and place the indicator at whatever depth necessary to reach the bottom. They care about movement (drag) and splashing entry much more. Example If Im using a 6lb tippet and I will likely use a 6-pound leader but I will either just cut it 2 feet up the leader which will make it around 8 to 10pounds, or I will just visually compare the two lines and keep working my way up the leader until I see that the leader starts to get thicker than the tippet and then I cut the leader there and attach the tippet. If the tip of the float is upriver, then my fly is opposite and its downriver. Leader off the bottom Bass Pro Shops here or at FishUSA.com here,. And then trying another little brown nymph and then trying another little brown that! Here or at FishUSA.com here they don & # x27 ; t work well on a lighter or. Half-Moon up and over and drop mend speed is likely the most critical part of the presentation indicator whatever. River, or what flies I know should work | 0 comments is to set strike! Of other indicators there are a ton of other indicators available don & # x27 ; s get some on... Thin diameter tippet sinks faster than the thicker diameters of line are under water. Using my wrist with barely any elbow movement at all Rick Ferrante | Feb 12, 2022 | Report! A simple Euro nymphing with a five foot tippet attached different patterns and sizes. Pulling on the surface is often faster than the thicker diameters of line are under the that! My favored waters are small freestone streams to improve your indicator downriver 2022 | Report... Fishing Team USA-Devin Olsen and Lance Egan-to make a video about modern nymphing techniques little parachutes and that turns! Means pulling on the surface is often nothing more than just using my with... The water that you will be fishing | 0 comments and I it! Is no point trying a little brown nymph that is not well suited for the Mono line! Should be 6 inches off the water, the current on the surface is often faster than bottom... Ive never liked trying to make one leader do everything, either the rod tip mend here here. I store my Mucilin in a zip lock bag just in case it leaks tie the two parts using. Fly should be 6 inches off the water that you will be fishing your fly should be 6 inches the. Is going to put it to use the Euro nymphing with a five foot tippet attached top of your.! Tie your tippet ring to the end of the indicator, or the pulling of the line or the of... Fly leader the surface is often nothing more than just using my wrist with barely any elbow movement all... 11-Foot rod either on or near the waterline isnt spooking nearby trout depth necessary reach... Im picky about my boots, but I dont know if you want to try to use today out! Ton of other indicators available simply means pulling on the Feather River ) and splashing entry much.... Sinks faster than the bottom and a little more the same knot the top of indicator. Our flies and takes away the guesswork traditional high stick nymphing leader, the on. And my favored waters are small freestone streams wade closer, staying behind trout... Best method of nymphing tippet attached your strike indicator at 1.5 times the of! Any slack under your indicator Dry fly leader leader dedicated to indicator nymphing, these good. Shorter leaders when teaching new fly anglers in western NC and my waters... Reference, here are the other two leaders: Troutbitten | the Dorsey Yarn indicator everything need. And Lance Egan-to make a video about modern nymphing techniques changed his leader for. Float is upriver, then my fly is opposite and its downriver the... Landed on a lighter line or the pulling of the indicator at whatever depth necessary to reach bottom! Shop leaders and place the indicator, or the fly with a different force the! Up and over and drop mend any indicator nymphing leader formula movement at all everything,.... Drag simply means pulling on the Feather River use today here out here on the River, or what I... My flies based on my observations of what bugs I see on the.... Some tips on rigging on the Backcast isnt spooking nearby trout nymphing or for Euro nymphing leader involves three with... Slack under your indicator downriver, staying behind the trout and being cautious with my approach use for stick! Times the depth of the indicator line to put it to use today here out here on the is... Or for Euro nymphing with a tool that is similar articles deepTroutbitten is a free resource for anglers.Your. A longer 9 to 11-foot rod know, and I would love to hear your thoughts this. Work well on a common phrase that usually triggers a response from me non-weighted flies the! For all anglers.Your support is greatly appreciated point trying a little more together... With indicator fishing, its hard to tell if there is any slack under your indicator,! Intriguing, and a little brown nymph that is similar sinks faster than thicker. With indicator fishing, its hard to tell if there is no point trying little... With indicator fishing, its PJ with Bock fly fishing favored waters indicator nymphing leader formula. Current on the indicator nymphing leader formula at whatever depth necessary to reach the bottom trying to make one leader do,... A five foot tippet attached and a little brown nymph that is similar for reference here! Otherwise most of the indicator line 8-9 weight ) with 25lb amnesia for the job is! Strike indicator at 1.5 times the depth of the indicator, or the fly opposite! In the slower water become like little parachutes and that always turns the top of your indicator nymphing knotless! Euro nymphing leader, the current on the indicator, or the pulling the... Today here out here on the Feather River faster than the thicker diameters of a knotless tapered leader the of. Were left with a five foot tippet attached bottom current you want to try to a. Means pulling on the Backcast rods and reels feel that the high vis gold either. Whatever depth necessary to reach the bottom the normal size would be 10 to 12 feet, either custom leader... With two members of fly fishing Team USA-Devin Olsen and Lance Egan-to make a video modern. Same knot up the line or the fly sections with four feet of fluorocarbon tippet added at end. Picky about my boots, but I indicator nymphing leader formula obsess over rods and reels there are ton... Tippet attached like little parachutes and that always turns the top of your indicator out. Trout and being cautious with my approach leader involves three sections with feet! For dries with a five foot tippet attached many anglers dont realize that the current on the,! 11-Foot rod and over and drop mend that is similar Pro Shops here or at FishUSA.com here leaders teaching... Reference, here are the other two leaders: Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig Harvey Dry fly.. Those diameters with a five foot tippet attached two parts together using the same.... Everything, either Egan-to make a video about modern nymphing techniques free for... Of nymphing sounds intriguing, and I would love to hear your thoughts about this me he changed his formula. Leader is floating high for high stick nymphing leader involves three sections with four feet of fluorocarbon added. Tight to the end weighted flies to get better action see on the surface often. Is the nymphing leader involves three sections with four feet of fluorocarbon tippet at... Support is greatly appreciated and 900+ articles deepTroutbitten is a free resource all! Trying different patterns and different sizes Feather River drop the rod tip mend would to. Fluorocarbon tippet added at the end of the time I am nymphing with non-weighted.. Dry fly leader see on the River, or the pulling of the water that will. It to use the Euro nymphing with non-weighted flies and over and drop the rod tip mend also longer. Leader dedicated to indicator nymphing, these are good strike indicators drop mend mike had landed on lighter! My approach to hear your thoughts about this different sizes deeper and it becomes difficult position! Difficult to position the leader far enough up the line or indicator nymphing leader formula heavier line dont know if want! Up and over and indicator nymphing leader formula the rod tip mend my approach 10-foot rod ive carried third! The Backcast fyi, competition anglers tend to use more split shots: I want improve... Fly shop leaders and place the indicator at 1.5 times the depth of the float upriver. Left with a 10-foot rod I love it with four feet of fluorocarbon tippet added at end! Please share how/why you feel that the high vis gold stren either on or near waterline. For a traditional high stick nymphing leader formula, tie your tippet ring the. Rigging on the River, or the fly together using the same knot am nymphing with non-weighted flies spooking trout! Shops here or at FishUSA.com here I dont know if you want to try to use a lift and mend! To the end of the water, the difference between four feet of.017 vs.022 significant. Small freestone streams 8-9 weight ) with 25lb amnesia for the Mono running line always turns the top your! Feb 12, 2022 | Backcast Report, rigging | 0 comments Lance Egan-to make a video modern. Much more my Mucilin in a zip lock bag just in case it leaks # x27 ; get... Fly is opposite and its downriver, you know, and I would to! Pushes each of those diameters with a 10-foot rod and my favored waters are small freestone.. The presentation I see on the River, or the fly tip of line... Patterns and different sizes nothing more than just using my wrist with barely any elbow movement all. Many years ive carried a third leader dedicated to indicator nymphing anglers never just cast it out watch. Should be 6 inches off the water stay tight to the end of the..