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NYMPHING - part three

Our November 1999 contribution from Terry Lawton

PART ONE OF THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN SEPTEMBER 1999

Too many anglers do not appreciate what they are missing by either not fishing nymphs or not developing the skills to fish nymphs successfully. Dry fly anglers claim that there is nothing to beat casting to a rising fish, seeing the fish rise and take their floating fly. When there are plenty of rising fish, there is little to beat dry fly fishing the traditional way. But is it not equally - if not more - exciting stalking a fish feeding underwater, particularly in clear water, casting to it and seeing a white flash as it opens its mouth and takes your nymph? Nymphing is, I believe, more challenging than dry fly fishing because you have to regulate the depth at which you fish which plays no part in dry fly fishing.

I had an interesting e-mail in response to my first article in which the writer extolled the benefits of using a take indicator, with which I do agree. He fishes freestone northern UK streams and rivers where the water is often the colour of pale ale and rivercraft and local knowledge are the main ways of locating fish.

He wrote : "A second more important point is the use of an indicator - I would always advocate the use of an indicator (if this upsets the purists so be it). The American angler Gary Borger states that with an indicator you'll see 80 per cent of the takes - without about 20 per cent. Initially I was sceptical having never used an indicator. However the value of using one was brought home to me whilst grayling fishing in winter on the Teviot.

On this particular January day the grayling were particularly suicidal (I caught and released 54 that day!) and with an indicator the fishing was so easy it ceased to be a challenge. To even the score I removed the indicator and greased the leader. I had been catching fish consistently every other cast until that point. In the next two hours I landed two fish and saw four takes. I replaced the indicator and was immediately back into fish. The reason? Although the fish were still keen, they were moving the indicator only about an inch - occasionally the indicator would just move slightly sideways - and with a long leader it is near impossible to see these subtle takes. They just take the inherent slack out of the system and unless using an indicator are simply impossible to spot."

I think that the important point to make about using take indicators is that they should be as small as possible and that they are NOT to be confused with a float. My preference is for a tiny piece of fluorescent putty rolled onto the end of the leader and held in place by the knot used to tie the loop to which the tippet is attached. On a windy day when the water surface is rough or if the light is particularly difficult, I will change to a yarn-type indicator which can be easier to see. You could use a natural or died CDC feather instead. The use of an indicator is particularly valuable when you are learning the craft. Even then, if you think that you can fish happily without one, take it off. No one is forcing you to use it.

FISH OUT YOUR CAST

I have also written about the need for accurate casting. Just as important is fishing out each and every cast. I had a memorable day at the end of this season. I was casting to a fish that I could see clearly and it kept having a look at my fly and sometimes following it as it passed downstream. Because it was a windy day, not every cast was on target. Just as I was about to lift off an off-target cast and cast again, I suddenly spotted a fish as it it lunged at my fast disappearing nymph. Now that I had found another fish in the same piece of water, I turned my attention to it and it was soon on the bank. I never did catch that first fish which was not, I assume, as hungry as the one I did catch. Further upstream there were more feeding fish three of which I caught on a home-tied copper head, Sawyer-style Pheasant Tail nymph. This pattern, and Sawyer Pheasant Tails without a copper head, have been every effective since the middle of the season and particularly when there are small olives hatching.

Upstream nymphing relies on achieving a dead drift over as much of your cast as possible. In certain conditions you will achieve a satisfactorily long perfect dead drift; in other conditions the perfect dead drift may be over only a few feet. This is because invisible drag can be caused by the subtle differences in speed between the surface of the water and nearer the bottom of the river where the speed is usually faster, and your line control. In fast or faster water, this is not usually a problem. But fishing in slow or slower water, when the fish have more time to inspect your offering, subtle drag can frighten trout or grayling.

To be able to catch trout with any degree of consistency requires that you can see your quarry. You need to be able to spot fish underwater not only to be able to catch one but, just as important, not to frighten one that you are not trying to catch at that moment. If a fish is breaking or bulging just below the surface when taking a nymph, you have the tell-tale rings or bulge to show you roughly where the fish is. You can then cast to that fish with reasonable confidence. But many fish do not signal their presence so obligingly. Not every rise breaks the surface. Some of the more subtle rise forms may only disturb the surface: a slight hump appears as a small patch of water seems to lift up. And it can often be a biggish fish that makes the smallest of rises.

SEEING FISH UNDERWATER

Developing the ability to see trout allows you to select a fish to try for and can make the difference between a good day's sport and a blank day if there are no fish rising. It may also help deter you from fishing a stretch of water where there are no fish or perhaps from wading blindly through a good holding stretch. When fishing for a fish that you can actually see, it is fascinating to watch its reaction (or lack of reaction) to your fly. Did the fish see your fly? Was your cast outside its feeding lane? Was your fly dragging imperceptibly, causing the fish to ignore it? Is the fish lying where you think it is?

The first thing that you need to be able to see trout underwater is a good pair of Polarised glasses, preferably with side shades. If there is a strong light coming from behind or the side, it helps to hold your hand up to the side of your head to cut out the light. A peaked cap also helps to reduce glare both from the water below and the sun above, if it is shining.

Start by standing beside a likely stretch of water and simply observe what is happening under the surface. Then change your position: the light might be better and a change of perspective can make a surprising difference. If you can fish from either bank, then choose the bank where the light helps you best. Do be careful about where your shadow falls - try not to let it fall right across the river. If one bank is higher than the other, the height can help you see into the water better. The problem is the higher you stand the more easily the fish can see you. You can sometimes overcome this problem by making use of any bankside cover.

When wading, because you are so close to the surface of the river, you may not be able to see fish very far in front of you. Here again having a good look at the water from the bank before getting in will pay dividends. Don't forget to mark the position of likely target fish with easily seen indicators, a clump of weed, or a fence post or perhaps a tree.

Once you have spotted your first fish of the day, it becomes much easier to see other fish. What are you looking for? There are a number of pointers that will help you locate fish underwater, assuming water clarity is good. A trout's colouration tends to take on the colour of its lie: if a fish is holding over a dark river bed, its colour will match; if it is lying over a sandy bottom, then its colour will be much lighter. Generally fish lying over a sandy or light- coloured river bed are the easier to spot, as is a fish that changes its lie.

With experience, fish spotting becomes intuitive: something doesn't seem right; is that the hard edge of a fin by a some weed where everything else is soft and fluid? Is that the shape of a fish or just weed? A sudden, unnatural movement. The flash of white of a fish's mouth as it takes a nymph can be a great giveaway. On a sunny day there may be a flash of light from a fish's flank as it turns to intercept a fly. The sun may throw a shadow of a fish onto the riverbed. A fish lying over a bed of gravel will cover up a section of stones and give itself away. Even with experience it is still very easy to cast to a piece of weed that looks just like a fish. Where as a bunch or piece of weed will move continuously and have a tapered end, a trout's square tail may give it away or it may move out of sequence with surrounding weeds.

Spotting fish in broken water is more difficult but even here you will find calm patches that you can look through or follow down stream with your eye. Even on windy days you will get lulls which allow a view below the surface.

Brian Clarke, angling correspondent of The Times, wrote an interesting article recently on GEM Skues, the father of nymph fishing. Whilst every would-be or practising nymph fisherman should read what Skues has to say, more that is relevant to upstream nymphing today has been written by those two modern masters, Oliver Kite and Frank Sawyer. For those of you who have hung up your rods at the season's end, the long closed season will pass much quicker by reading anything written by these two. I would also recommend tying your own nymphs in readiness for the new season.

I've got to wait until May!

PART ONE OF THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN SEPTEMBER 1999