Heavy Nymph Line Set Up

[Wildfisher]

Nothing revolutionary here, but it might be useful for some who are newer to river fishing.

When I?m fishing bigger rivers, like the Don for instance, I usually use a #5 rod. This is probably the most versatile all round weight and allows me to switch from, say, dries to woolly buggers without much trouble using the same weight of line.

However, when fishing a pair of nymphs and with indicator  in fast or in pocket water I seldom have more than 2 rod lengths of line out plus leader. This makes casting very heavy nymphs a seriously unpleasant task,  so instead of using a #5 line I swap it for a #7. That?s 2 weights up. This makes a big difference and even if I have to knock out a good bit more line than 2 rod lengths the Scott S4  I use handles it no problem at all.

What I do is take a new WF#7  line, cut off and bin 30 feet of the running line and add an extra  30 feet of backing. There is no way I?ll ever be attempting to cast more line than what remains (60 to 70 feet) with that set-up and it enables me to get the #7 line onto the spare spool of a reel designed for a #5 line quite  easily. 

[Wildfisher]

Jim,

The running line is much thicker than the backing. Removing  a chuck of the useless line  and replacing it with backing allows you to use a much smaller and lighter reel. Most fly lines are way too long for normal fishing anyway, some  are ridiculously long.

[Billy]

Fred,

Do you use droppers on your indicator and top nymph or NZ style tied to the bend of the hook?

I am trying to get into this NZ style after a lifetime of droppers but I am not sure if you can use it with more than one nymph.


Billy

[Wildfisher]

Billy, I very seldom fish NZ dropper. I tend to fish either dry or nymph.

This setup I?m talking about is when I fish a very heavy nymph in fast water. Heavy nymph on the dropper, light nymph on the tail ? the dropper  is only a few feet  above the tail nymph and I use an adjustable Ferris indicator. The light nymph is usually the one that catches, but not always. The heavy nymph just gets everything down quickly.

[Billy]

Thanks for that Fred.

I used a similar tactic on the Avon last Friday but NZ style. I have a small orange tag on the braided loop of my fly line I use as an indicator.

Still waiting for it to indicate something decent this season though.

Billy