Czech Nymphing Tutorial
Here is a series of video's found on the web that will help all of us get better at this style of fishing. If you find something that needs to be added let Dave or Lee know so it can be added.
Thanks
Dave
Here is the video that started this all Czech Nymphing 101.
Here is a longer video that is titled A Guide to Czech Nymphing, seems to be very good.
Here is a fly tied by Hans Stephenson for Czech Nymphing.
Here is a short video on the equipment aspect . Not sure you need a special rod to Czech Nymph but thought I would share what I found while researching the subject.
Here is rig set up for Czech Nymphing . A special indicator . Again I am sure this is not needed but I guess would make it much easier to detect a strike.
A small piece from Joel
Always looking to expand my fly fishing bag 'o tricks, a few years ago the Czech Nymphing technique caught my attention while watching one of those Saturday afternoon fly fishing show. Recently I've been reading more about it. To be honest, it's not that much different from Harry Murray's Bright Butt Leader nymphing technique that I learned years ago.
My home river is loaded with quick riffles and pockets tailor made for this shortline technique, so I figured it was time to give it a go. Last night I sat down and tied up a bright butt leader according to Web directions, quickly transitioning from the 15 lbs Amnesia, to s 6 foot length of 4X fluorocarbon. The leader includes three droppers, 20" apart", utilizing the extention of a blood knot tab for the fly connection, as opposed to tying the leader extension to the bend of the hook.
Tonight I tied up a half dozen of the very sparsely dressed grub style Czech nymphs. As soon as the water drops to a fishable level, Look Out Trout!
I'll follow-up with a fishing report at a later date.
My home river is loaded with quick riffles and pockets tailor made for this shortline technique, so I figured it was time to give it a go. Last night I sat down and tied up a bright butt leader according to Web directions, quickly transitioning from the 15 lbs Amnesia, to s 6 foot length of 4X fluorocarbon. The leader includes three droppers, 20" apart", utilizing the extention of a blood knot tab for the fly connection, as opposed to tying the leader extension to the bend of the hook.
Tonight I tied up a half dozen of the very sparsely dressed grub style Czech nymphs. As soon as the water drops to a fishable level, Look Out Trout!
I'll follow-up with a fishing report at a later date.
The follow up by Joel on this subject
“Find a reason to strike.” The words of wisdom imparted by Rod McGarry just after a breakfast this morning stayed with me all day. As a dedicated nymph fisherman for the past thirty years, this concept was really not new to me. But for some reason when Czech nymphing, these words are especially meaningful.
Rod had received some personal tutelage from George Daniel, author of “Dynamic Nymphing” and one of those responsible for introducing Americans to the concepts of Czech, Polish, and French nymphing. Not claiming to be an expert in the technique, Rod, nevertheless, did have some good advice to share. He also lent me his personalized copy of Daniels’ informative treatment of the subject. BTW, Maine has no better ambassador for the sport of fly fishing than Mr. McGarry.
I purposefully kept my tackle to a minimum tonight, leaving myself with few options BUT to employ this new to me technique: a nine foot 5 weight graphite rod, large arbor reel with a floating WF5 line, a plastic bag with a dozen heavily weight nymphs, a spool of 4x fluorocarbon, and some clippers. No split shot, no plastic strike indicators. The leader consisted of about 4 foot of 15 lbs Amnesia w/Whitlock style fluorescent orange fly line indictors at either end, then a quick transition with 6” of 1X, and 6” of 3X fluorocarbon, and then 5 feet of 4X pf fluoro to the first dropper, 20” to the next dropper, and finally 20” of 4X to the point fly.
The first half hour was a little frustrating. The light wasn’t off the water yet, making it very tough to follow the drifts. I longed for my thingamabobbers, but luckily, they were back at the car. I had no choice but to begrudgingly forge forward with the Euro nymphing.
Once the sun set, the visibility improved and suddenly the fish-starting coming at a pretty steady pace. The first was a rather lost and beat-up looking landlocked salmon of about 16” that must have dropped down from one of the lakes up above. Then a brown trout. Then a nice-sized rainbow trout. Then a double: a brown trout and a rainbow trout. I can count on one hand the number of doubles I’ve hooked over the past 30 years of fly fishing, but tonight I added two more sets to that list.
All tolled, it was a very successful first experience with this new technique. Some observations:
· Unlike my usually favored, long line nymphing method, with this short-lining technique, the strikes are very positive. With a quick and subtle flick of the wrist, the solid weight of a fish is felt. Very cool feeling.
· Keeping that leader butt, made up of 4 feet of fluorescent orange Amnesia, completely out of the water whenever possible is essential to success. The strike, while sometimes felt, was usually triggered by a jumping or a quick tightening of the leader butt.
· While this technique does not replace my long lining technique, it does add another very effective tool in my fly fishing box.
· It was nice not to have to use split shot, and especially TAMBs, which, even though they work wonderfully, are a minor source of embarrassment for our sport.
· I thought with the three flies, this method would result in a lot of snagged fish. To the contrary, the reactions to the takes is so quick, you rarely miss a fish. With a long lining method, you have to over strike because of the slack that must be overcome. This results is an occasional snagged fish, one reason I rarely fish two flies with a long lining nymphing approach. Not so with Czech nymphing. A quick flick of the wrist is all it takes. Plus with the flies 20” or more apart and tied to true droppers (blood knot tab extensions) as opposed to the bend of another fly, very few fish are snagged.
-If "rigging" isn't your thing, you might want to avoid this technique. You do tie a lot of knots and go through a lot of flies. At one point I spent 10 minutes completely re-rigging after a foulup only to foul again on the first cast. It can be frustrating in that respect.
· Apparently I was “Euro Nymphing” 30 years ago and didn’t know it. This technique is very much like the short-lining method made popular by Joe Humphrey’s in his great book “Trout Tactics”.
· Still lots to learn about the fascinating technique. Very much looking forward to learning more in Daniels’ book.
· Although the extra reach of a nine-foot graphite rod is obvious with this method, I really missed my bamboo tonight. Graphite is so stiff and heartless…
Thanks for the words of wisdom this morning, Rod. You would have been proud of your student tonight.
Rod had received some personal tutelage from George Daniel, author of “Dynamic Nymphing” and one of those responsible for introducing Americans to the concepts of Czech, Polish, and French nymphing. Not claiming to be an expert in the technique, Rod, nevertheless, did have some good advice to share. He also lent me his personalized copy of Daniels’ informative treatment of the subject. BTW, Maine has no better ambassador for the sport of fly fishing than Mr. McGarry.
I purposefully kept my tackle to a minimum tonight, leaving myself with few options BUT to employ this new to me technique: a nine foot 5 weight graphite rod, large arbor reel with a floating WF5 line, a plastic bag with a dozen heavily weight nymphs, a spool of 4x fluorocarbon, and some clippers. No split shot, no plastic strike indicators. The leader consisted of about 4 foot of 15 lbs Amnesia w/Whitlock style fluorescent orange fly line indictors at either end, then a quick transition with 6” of 1X, and 6” of 3X fluorocarbon, and then 5 feet of 4X pf fluoro to the first dropper, 20” to the next dropper, and finally 20” of 4X to the point fly.
The first half hour was a little frustrating. The light wasn’t off the water yet, making it very tough to follow the drifts. I longed for my thingamabobbers, but luckily, they were back at the car. I had no choice but to begrudgingly forge forward with the Euro nymphing.
Once the sun set, the visibility improved and suddenly the fish-starting coming at a pretty steady pace. The first was a rather lost and beat-up looking landlocked salmon of about 16” that must have dropped down from one of the lakes up above. Then a brown trout. Then a nice-sized rainbow trout. Then a double: a brown trout and a rainbow trout. I can count on one hand the number of doubles I’ve hooked over the past 30 years of fly fishing, but tonight I added two more sets to that list.
All tolled, it was a very successful first experience with this new technique. Some observations:
· Unlike my usually favored, long line nymphing method, with this short-lining technique, the strikes are very positive. With a quick and subtle flick of the wrist, the solid weight of a fish is felt. Very cool feeling.
· Keeping that leader butt, made up of 4 feet of fluorescent orange Amnesia, completely out of the water whenever possible is essential to success. The strike, while sometimes felt, was usually triggered by a jumping or a quick tightening of the leader butt.
· While this technique does not replace my long lining technique, it does add another very effective tool in my fly fishing box.
· It was nice not to have to use split shot, and especially TAMBs, which, even though they work wonderfully, are a minor source of embarrassment for our sport.
· I thought with the three flies, this method would result in a lot of snagged fish. To the contrary, the reactions to the takes is so quick, you rarely miss a fish. With a long lining method, you have to over strike because of the slack that must be overcome. This results is an occasional snagged fish, one reason I rarely fish two flies with a long lining nymphing approach. Not so with Czech nymphing. A quick flick of the wrist is all it takes. Plus with the flies 20” or more apart and tied to true droppers (blood knot tab extensions) as opposed to the bend of another fly, very few fish are snagged.
-If "rigging" isn't your thing, you might want to avoid this technique. You do tie a lot of knots and go through a lot of flies. At one point I spent 10 minutes completely re-rigging after a foulup only to foul again on the first cast. It can be frustrating in that respect.
· Apparently I was “Euro Nymphing” 30 years ago and didn’t know it. This technique is very much like the short-lining method made popular by Joe Humphrey’s in his great book “Trout Tactics”.
· Still lots to learn about the fascinating technique. Very much looking forward to learning more in Daniels’ book.
· Although the extra reach of a nine-foot graphite rod is obvious with this method, I really missed my bamboo tonight. Graphite is so stiff and heartless…
Thanks for the words of wisdom this morning, Rod. You would have been proud of your student tonight.