Czech Nymphing for Trout & Grayling
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 20:22
- Written by Nathan Adam
Czech Nymphing has been popular for the past six or seven years now. I have only been employing it on the rivers I fish for the past five or so months and have caught more fish on the technique than any other. I have been fishing for almost 5 years now and three of them have been fly-fishing. At only 16 I believe I am a very knowledgeable young fisherman and also a very good fly tier. Now the older anglers will be sitting thinking why am I reading this boys article when I have over 30 or 40 years worth of fly-fishing knowledge. Please though stick it out. If you have never used this technique, you will find it extremely effective.
Czech Nymphing is a demanding form of fishing but is well worth the hard work, both in numbers and in size of fish. Generally, three flies are used but two or even one will do. I personally fish three. The leader set up couldn’t be easier. Parallel mono all the way through, two droppers tied on with the two-turn water knot and a leader no longer than the rod. The way of fishing it is just as easy. Have a yard or two outside the tip ring and cast upstream. A bright orange or red braided loop as a strike indicator helps to see any takes. Keep the indicator moving slightly faster than the current so the flies don’t drag and takes don’t register. Always remember to look for fast water because your flies must move with the current. Keep moving and if you loose a fish in fast water usually there will be one or even two more fish in that particular piece of water. Many small fish will go straight to the surface and splash their way off your hook but usually if you stick your rod tip into the water the fish will usually go deep and tire out faster. I have found Czech nymphing to work better on small waters not much larger than 20 yards wide but will obviously work on larger rivers as well.
As far as flies are concerned there are only a few patterns needed and can be tied in bulk within an hour. Standard Czech nymphs work on all waters. There are three main nymphs, The Hydropsyche, The Rhyacophilla and the Gammuras. These three probably inhabit most freestone rivers around the world. Type in Czech nymphing into a search bar on the web and you will get tying instructions and location where the flies can be bought.
For tackle I use:
- On small rivers: A 9 ft 6 weight Orvis Streamline Rod
- On Big Rivers: A 9 ft 6in 7 weight Penn Rod
For leader material I use:
- 4 lb or 5 lb mono
In addition, I also carry a few boxes with Czech nymphs weighted and non weighted and a few bead head nymphs like pheasant tails or hares ear just for good measure. If you’re happy to carry a bag about stick a flask and some food in it.
If like me your local river requires a lot of walking then a bag can begin to become a burden towards the end of the day.
So tie some Czech nymphs up and give them a bash and I bet you that you don’t regret it.