Posts Tagged ‘Fly’
February 1st, 2010 | 
Author: flyfishingvideosblog.com . To see more videos and to stay up to date with Fly fishing, fly tying, and fly fishing videos, visit flyfishingvideosblog.com
Barrett from the Caddis Fly ties a chironomid midge pupa, a great stillwater trout pattern for the Oregon lakes fishing. For more fly fishing videos, check out www.OregonFlyFishingBlog.com.
The Essential Fly Fishing Technique
Czech nymph fly fishing was introduced to the UK during the 1990 World Championships. The Czech team beat the UK International teams on the Welsh River Dee. The Czech team caught grayling in numbers from places that were thought impossibly fast or deep previously by traditional fly fishermen. This sent shock-waves through the world of competition angling. The technique is today considered to be pretty much a standard – an essential part of every grayling anglers armoury and great for trout and other fish.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the flies, the Czech nymph has many, many variations, but all are based upon one simple design, utilising a heavily-leaded hook. They are intended to be fished very deep, in fast water, weight & a slim profile are important.
Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tackle
A 5 or 6-weight rod will be sufficient, 9′ to 10′ is ideal for better control of the flies. Leader should be of about 9′ in length, NOT tapered as they are counter-productive as tapered leader won’t sink quickly enough. Just use something like 6lb down to the top dropper, with 4lb from there down. Use two 5-6″ droppers, one about 18″ above the point fly, the other about 18″ above that. The true Czech method is to fish the heaviest nymph on the top dropper, so that it helps carry the other flies down to the correct level. To help ensure rapid sinking of the flies, degrease the leader. You will be looking for takes on the end of the fly line, so depending on your eyesight you may wish to use some sort of bite indicator.
Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tactics
The water will be fast flowing water, normally considered to not be able to fish on using a fly, probably 18″ – 3′ deep. You’ll want to get your flies as near to the bottom as possible. Do not fish with more than about 3-4′ of fly-line outside the tip ring. This is difficult to do, as the fly fisherman’s natural tendency is to shoot a bit of line. This is extremely short range fishing, fish will be close to your rod! Do not cast conventionally, there is not enough line & the nymphs are far too heavy – the nymphs that provide the casting weight. Use a flicking action to throw the nymphs upstream at an angle of about 30 degrees. Done correctly, the ‘flick cast’ will extend the leader so that the nymphs lie in a straight line upstream. They will immediately start to sink rapidly as the current brings the flies back down towards you. To stay in touch with the flies, don’t retrieve any line, just track round with the rod, raising & lowering the tip as appropriate. Watch your indicator very closely! Any hesitation, draw, stutter, check – strike it immediately. Because of the fast nature of the water grayling and trout will have little chance to closely examine the fly and hit quickly. Fan cast the water ahead of you and, if no action, take a pace or two upstream & repeat. This is fast fishing, each cast is fished out in 5-10 seconds and you’re straight into the next one, a lightweight rod helps the weary arms. Often it is often useful to let the flies come down below you and allow them to fish for a few moments as they come round the bend and onto ‘the dangle’. Keep the rod tip above the indicator & steadily ‘lean’ downstream, dropping the tip as you do so. This can be a particularly effective tactic, taking one or two more fish out of water that has already been worked.
Obviously, with this technique you do not need to restrict yourself to Czech nymphs. The key is to use heavily-weighted flies, so gold-head / bead head flies, heavy tungsten nymphs will do just as well. ‘Matching the hatch’ is not a priority with this fishing! This is an active searching method and, as such, technique is more important than specific pattern. This sent shock-waves through the world of competition angling. The technique is today considered to be pretty much a standard – an essential part of every grayling anglers armoury and great for trout and other fish.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the flies, the Czech nymph has many, many variations, but all are based upon one simple design, utilising a heavily-leaded hook. They are intended to be fished very deep, in fast water, weight & a slim profile are important.
Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tackle
A 5 or 6-weight rod will be sufficient, 9′ to 10′ is ideal for better control of the flies. Leader should be of about 9′ in length, NOT tapered as they are counter-productive as tapered leader won’t sink quickly enough. Just use something like 6lb down to the top dropper, with 4lb from there down. Use two 5-6″ droppers, one about 18″ above the point fly, the other about 18″ above that. The true Czech method is to fish the heaviest nymph on the top dropper, so that it helps carry the other flies down to the correct level. To help ensure rapid sinking of the flies, degrease the leader. You will be looking for takes on the end of the fly line, so depending on your eyesight you may wish to use some sort of bite indicator.
Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tactics
The water will be fast flowing water, normally considered to not be able to fish on using a fly, probably 18″ – 3′ deep. You’ll want to get your flies as near to the bottom as possible. Do not fish with more than about 3-4′ of fly-line outside the tip ring. This is difficult to do, as the fly fisherman’s natural tendency is to shoot a bit of line. This is extremely short range fishing, fish will be close to your rod! Do not cast conventionally, there is not enough line & the nymphs are far too heavy – the nymphs that provide the casting weight. Use a flicking action to throw the nymphs upstream at an angle of about 30 degrees. Done correctly, the ‘flick cast’ will extend the leader so that the nymphs lie in a straight line upstream. They will immediately start to sink rapidly as the current brings the flies back down towards you. To stay in touch with the flies, don’t retrieve any line, just track round with the rod, raising & lowering the tip as appropriate. Watch your indicator very closely! Any hesitation, draw, stutter, check – strike it immediately. Because of the fast nature of the water grayling and trout will have little chance to closely examine the fly and hit quickly. Fan cast the water ahead of you and, if no action, take a pace or two upstream & repeat. This is fast fishing, each cast is fished out in 5-10 seconds and you’re straight into the next one, a lightweight rod helps the weary arms. Often it is often useful to let the flies come down below you and allow them to fish for a few moments as they come round the bend and onto ‘the dangle’. Keep the rod tip above the indicator & steadily ‘lean’ downstream, dropping the tip as you do so. This can be a particularly effective tactic, taking one or two more fish out of water that has already been worked.
Obviously, with this technique you do not need to restrict yourself to Czech nymphs. The key is to use heavily-weighted flies, so gold-head / bead head flies, heavy tungsten nymphs will do just as well. ‘Matching the hatch’ is not a priority with this fishing! This is an active searching method and, as such, technique is more important than specific pattern.
Arctic Adventures fly fishing trips with Donald Thom in northern Quebec, Canada. Famous Fly Fisherman Dialing a char part 2 in Payne River fishing camp.
If you want to learn about fishing flies with spinning gear, using the spinning fly technique (otherwise known as the bubble and fly), then you will want to read every word of this article. Specifically, we are going to discuss what’s so great about the spinning fly, special tackle you will need and the type of waters that are appropriate for using this killer spinning fly technique. After reading this article you will be able to rig a fly and bubble and try it for yourself.
The spinning fly is an indispensable tool to the savvy spinning fisherman. It allows for the use of flies, once the sole playing ground of fly fisherman, but with regular spinning rods and reels. Maybe you’re asking “Why would any self respecting spinning fisherman want to mess around with flies?” Well, its a well know fact that when it comes to certain species, like trout, under certain conditions, flies are just flat out more effective.
This may come as a big surprise, but using the spinning fly technique can help you catch more trout than lures or bait. If you’ve ever found yourself getting skunked, then you’ll understand why its a good idea to have more than one or two fishing techniques under your belt when your baits and lures don’t work. But, there is another even better bonus to using a fly and bubble with your spinning gear, and that is; with this special rig you will have access to waters with special regulations that bar bait and other lures. That means you can fish water that was previously off limits to you and will continue to be off limits to other bait fishermen!
So, I’m sure you’re imagining all the new found fishing success you will soon be having, and are wondering how you can get started with this super effective technique as soon as possible. Fortunately for you, its easy to get started with the spinning fly. You need three very inexpensive pieces of equipment besides your regular spinning rod and reel. These three pieces of tackle are:
1. A bubble
2. A swivel
3. A piece of leader
The trick to making a spinning fly rig work with a spinning rod is using a bubble, and also the right kind of bubble. A bubble is kind of like a regular bobber, except for a few important differences. The most important of these being that it can be easily opened to allow you to fill it with water.
To rig this up, you attach the bubble to the main line that is coming off your spool. Then tie on a swivel under the bubble. To this swivel you add your leader and the fly at the end of the leader. Viola! You have yourself a spinning fly. Tying a fly and bubble rig like this is easy as 1, 2, 3. You can find instructions for tying this type of spinning fly rig in various places, with very little variation. The hard part is learning how to fish it properly and knowing what type of fly to tie on and when.
