Author: Ed

General Tips for better nymph fishing

Strike indicator selection makes an enormous difference in your catch count and enjoyment.  Oversized and overweighted nymph rigs can be a miserable casting experience, and aren’t always necessary.  Varying fly sizes, water speeds, fly weight, depth, angler prowess, wind, and water clarity all play some factor in how you choose what strike indicator to use for varying conditions.

General Tips for better nymph fishing:

  1. Efficiency is paramount.  Consider using tippet rings just below your indicator or at a junction if you are using two flies.  Break offs and tangles are more easily patched up.
  2. Too much depth below your indicator is more harmful to success than too little.
  3. You don’t need to “dredge” the bottom.  Your nymphs should flirt with the bottom but snagging every few casts is a waste of time and resources.
  4. Choose the correct strike indicator.
  5. Single fly rigs with a Tungsten Jighead Nymph are simple to setup, deadly, and seldom tangle vs. a 2 fly rig. This keeps you in the water more and re-rigging less!
  6. Fish drop offs whenever possible. If the water looks “plain” you are at a disadvantage even if there are trout holding there.
  7. Hook sets are free. Hit the twitch.
  8. Trout are a wiley quarry, give their survival instincts some credit. Approach each cast as though you can see the trout even when you cannot.
  9. Longer rods are better. Euro style nymph rods double as tremendous light indicator rods.
  10. Learn to High Stick properly.  Keep your rod just a few degrees above parallel to the water, don’t tip it back!

Is It OK to Use Your Wrist in the Fly Cast?

When performed correctly the fly cast appears to defy all laws of physics.  The perfect cast has been known to pause the universe for a beat or two. It’s a natural high!

To execute a proper cast you will need to use your wrist to articulate proper motion of the rod tip, control slack, and initiate dynamic acceleration.  When your wrist, elbow, and shoulder work together the results are incredible!  When the wrist is used incorrectly… you will look like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.  Check out this week’s video tip and let’s get it right.

Tight Loops,

Red’s Fly Shop Staff

 

April Fly Fishing Reports

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APRIL FLY FISHING REPORT

Spring is here, and the weather has been great to get outdoors. This is the time of the year when we turn our focus to the warm water species on the various Hill Country rivers. The trout fishing is still good on the Guadalupe, and best fished before 11am or after 4pm.

This is the latest we’ve seen the Redhorse Sucker lay their eggs. The winter freeze in February played a big role in the delay. The trout are super charged, and seeking out the eggs. There have also been a number of successful anglers using dry flies. The crowds on the Guadalupe have greatly reduced with the trout moving to new spaces and the various other species to target elsewhere.

We’ve added a new boat to the fleet that provides more room and comfort for our bass and trout trips. Check out the photos on Facebook or Instagram of our new Boulder Boatworks drift boat. April is a great time to book a trip to experience some epic fly fishing. Check out http://actionangler.net/ to book a trip, buy some gear or gift certificate, or get up to speed on the latest river info. (All of our guides have been vaccinated for COVID-19)

Thank you for supporting our small business. We hope everyone is safe and healthy during these difficult times. Sincerely,

Chris Jackson Owner/Lead Guide
Go Where the Action Is!
www.actionangler.net
830-708-FISH (830-708-3474)

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Club meeting March 24th

Once again, Darryl Yarbrough has reserved the Summit’s pavilion for meeting on March 24th at 7:00 pm. The Summit is located at 13105 River Road and the pavilion is behind the clubhouse/pool area.

Many thanks to Darryl for taking care of this from everyone!

This meeting will be a little different as we will have a short business meeting followed by a silent auction of the items donated by Mike Wright’s family.  I will be sending pictures of some of the items to be auctioned over the next few days.

How to chose leader length

 

How To Pick The Right Leader Length

Basic leader lengths range from 4 or 5 different lengths. The shortest one is a 6 foot leader. These are mainly used with sinking lines to keep your fly close to the bottom because nylon tends to float, and with a long leader your fly would get too close to the surface. So, use a 6-footer for sinking lines which is a rare occasion in most trout fishing.

The next size is a 7-and-a-half foot leader, and a 7-and-a-half foot leader is pretty much your basic small stream leader which is what I would be using in a stream like this. The fish aren’t spooky in here, the water is fast and I’m not going to worry too much if my fly line lands pretty close to the leader because the fish aren’t going to notice it. And 7-and-a-half foot leaders work better with short casts and most of my casts here are going to be short. The longer the leader, the tougher it is to turn it over to get it to straighten with long casts. So a 7-and-a-half foot leader in a situation like this is about right.

If I were to go to a little bit bigger river and the water was a little flatter and the fish were a little spookier, more suspicious, I’d probably go to a 9 foot leader. That’s kind of the standard leader, if you don’t know what lengths leader to buy, a 9-footer will get you by in nearly all circumstances. That’s the basic trout leader you use in most rivers – the 9 footer. So if you remember nothing else, remember 9-footer.

The 12 foot leader, as the water starts to get lower in the summer or you get really low clear water and every time you make a cast, the fish stop rising or they spook or they run away, you probably want to go to either a 12 foot leader or under really extreme situations where the fish are heavily fished, the water is clear, they see a lot of fisherman, they see a lot of flies, you might want to go to a 15 foot leader. Now 15 foot leaders and 12 foot leaders are a little bit more difficult to straighten, however, you’re usually casting a longer line and the leader, well, if it’s well made, will straighten out just fine.

The other thing you want to think about, is you could get a lot of wind. The more the wind blows, the shorter you want to make your leader. And you could probably get away with a shorter leader when it’s windy because the surfs in the water will be more rippled.