Kelly Galloup on Euronymphing

[Peter Ross]

Despite the clickbait title, I think Kelly offers a level headed perspective on the subject that mirrors my own opinion.

I agree, most special dude, man. I don't like the concept of competition in fly fishing and would not want to see it rise to the level of a Bassmaster Classic. Yet the results have been informative.

I like Kelly's idea of requiring competitors to fish all four traditional disciplines. Limit leader length and have a spec fly line for each discipline. Maybe we should put them on bamboo rods, silk lines, and horsehair leaders.

Euro-nymphing with no fly line and tiny colored lures for flies does seem to be a different thing from traditional fly fishing. Do I object to it? I guess I secretly object to anyone catching a bunch of fish out of the spot I wanted to fish. For that matter, I object to anyone fishing where I'm fishing. I'm like Daffy Duck in the cave full of gold coins: I want it to all be mine. I just put together a Euro outfit and plan to try it out. However, I'm not thinking it will become a primary method. At least I hope it won't. I like fly line. When I was a kid I started lobbing flies with my spinning gear before I picked up a fly rod. In my 20s I was steelheading with short shooting heads and monofilament running line. It seems like you could design a rig with a long light rod and a spinning reel that would Euro-nymph well. I could shoot a nine-inch plastic worm to a largemouth with 12-pound monofilament loaded on a fly reel. Maybe I'll try that someday. But I like fly line. Part of the fun of flyfishing for me is the tradition, the fascinating science of the bugs and, as Kelly put it, flies with soul. The Euro-people are ruining everything with all this reality! I prefer the fantasy.

 

[kbobb]

Dear Tigereye,

I remember an American Sportsman episode from long ago where Curt was fishing in PA with Charlie Fox somewhere in the Carlisle PA area. It may have been on the Letort, but I think they were also on the upper Yellow Breeches above the Huntsdale hatchery and were fishing grasshoppers.

Don't quote me on any of that, because it was definitely about 50 years ago, give or take a couple of years!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Would definitely love to see that!

Anyone remember Humphries fly fishing show on ESPN? I taped some episodes and transferred them to DVD - have the one with him and George Harvey, Joe's daughter, John Randolph, Ed Shenk, and Steve Rajeff.

 

[Swattie87]

I don't know all the lingo.

Is "Euro comp line" the same as Stren?

Yes. But at 10x the price. Marketing.

 

[HopBack]

I liked Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston. Come mere you lil suga booger. Hank Parker put me to sleep catchin “bream”. My favorite however was Jose Wejebe. He did more spin fishing than fly fishing.

 

[Swattie87]

I liked Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston. Come mere you lil suga booger. Hank Parker put me to sleep catchin “bream”. My favorite however was Jose Wejebe. He did more spin fishing than fly fishing.

I liked Spanish Fly the best too. Great guy. I liked Flip Pallot and Walker’s Cay Chronicles too as a kid.

 

[Nocktavius]

I agree, most special dude, man. I don't like the concept of competition in fly fishing and would not want to see it rise to the level of a Bassmaster Classic. Yet the results have been informative.

I like Kelly's idea of requiring competitors to fish all four traditional disciplines. Limit leader length and have a spec fly line for each discipline. Maybe we should put them on bamboo rods, silk lines, and horsehair leaders.

Euro-nymphing with no fly line and tiny colored lures for flies does seem to be a different thing from traditional fly fishing. Do I object to it? I guess I secretly object to anyone catching a bunch of fish out of the spot I wanted to fish. For that matter, I object to anyone fishing where I'm fishing. I'm like Daffy Duck in the cave full of gold coins: I want it to all be mine. I just put together a Euro outfit and plan to try it out. However, I'm not thinking it will become a primary method. At least I hope it won't. I like fly line. When I was a kid I started lobbing flies with my spinning gear before I picked up a fly rod. In my 20s I was steelheading with short shooting heads and monofilament running line. It seems like you could design a rig with a long light rod and a spinning reel that would Euro-nymph well. I could shoot a nine-inch plastic worm to a largemouth with 12-pound monofilament loaded on a fly reel. Maybe I'll try that someday. But I like fly line. Part of the fun of flyfishing for me is the tradition, the fascinating science of the bugs and, as Kelly put it, flies with soul. The Euro-people are ruining everything with all this reality! I prefer the fantasy.

Euro nymph in the morning starting at first light, take a little break then throw dries during the hatch. Simple, effective, and you’ll more than triple the amount of fish you catch (including some much bigger ones). I’ve got a rod that does both even on big water very well (most moderate to high end euro rods actually throw dries beautifully). Just clip the mono rig/euro leader off at the fly line, tie on your dry fly leader of choice and you’re off to the races. You can even keep pre-spooled dry/dropper combos handy to lessen the burden of making the switch if the fish are starting to look up. I’ve tried carrying 2 rods, 2 reels, and short of forcing myself to fish one way or the other this is the system I’ve found to be the most seamless.

 

[Peter Ross]

Euro nymph in the morning starting at first light, take a little break then throw dries during the hatch. Simple, effective, and you’ll more than triple the amount of fish you catch (including some much bigger ones). I’ve got a rod that does both even on big water very well (most moderate to high end euro rods actually throw dries beautifully). Just clip the mono rig/euro leader off at the fly line, tie on your dry fly leader of choice and you’re off to the races. You can even keep pre-spooled dry/dropper combos handy to lessen the burden of making the switch if the fish are starting to look up. I’ve tried carrying 2 rods, 2 reels, and short of forcing myself to fish one way or the other this is the system I’ve found to be the most seamless.

Sounds like a plan. First light is when all that biological drift is going on. Go easy on the backing so there's room to tie the cheater rig on the end. That's the George Daniel recommendation. I figure this 10 1/2-foot 3wt I recently snagged should also work as a dry fly or wet fly rod. Euro nymphing is a legitimate fishing method and I will be giving it the old college try.

Still, I confess I find the pointless discussion of whether it's fly fishing to be interesting. It is the newest thing (even though it's not really new) and it's effective, so we're talking about it. These debates have always been part of fly fishing and, frankly, they're fun. Would we have preferred that Halford and Skues have kept their thoughts to themselves? No, we would not.

If we've labeled the thing, then when does the thing stop being the thing? At what point does a fishing method stop being fly fishing? We can probably agree that bait casting and spin casting are not fly fishing. Flinging a truckload of split-shot and an indicator over my head with a 6wt hasn't always felt like fly fishing, but it's still been enjoyable. Bobber fishing from a drift boat with long drifts doesn't always feel like fly fishing, nor does trolling. Perhaps it stops being fly fishing when there's no fly line. Then again, some guys cast Euro leaders as if they were fly lines. It's all so confusing. Fortunately, the fish don't care.

 

[blitzinstripes]

I fish a lot of difft ways. I found when I began euro nymphing that :

A. I caught a lot of fish.
B. The flies sucked. I like traditional unweighted nymphs. I love the classics and more realistic imitations. The "jigs" felt empty and soulless.
C. My shoulders got tired from high sticking all the time.
D. I missed my floating fly line and the pleasing act of executing a beautiful roll cast and mending an indicator.
E. Indicators are more relaxing and enjoyable to me. Soothing, even.
F. I still catch plenty of fish. And it's not really a numbers game for me, so I really don't care that I might be catching more fish using Euro style tactics.

I still use both methods as conditions dictate. But in my heart I'm an indicator guy. So I tie a sighter line into most of my leader rigs, and if I feel the need to ditch the indicator and high stick it, I will. I still carry a few (24') mono rigs in my pack, but I haven't tied one on in ages. I'm more apt to either use a tungsten bead on a traditional nymph or even fish a dropshot rig than actually fish a Frenchie or Perdigon 'jig'.

 

[AVL]

Yes. But at 10x the price. Marketing.

I bought some fancy euro line from Devin Olson’s site, it’s white, a micro leader (4x). Ended up switching to 8lb Amnesia, works just as well imo, and i don’t need a sighter. Basically just a mono rig. I bought an extra spool for my ESN reel, but wf floating line on it, so i want to swing a SH, or toss a dry, it’s an easy on stream switch.

Galloup is a hoot, dude has also contributed a lot to the sport, he has opinions just like we all do.

 

[caddisflyer]

I guess "contributing to the sport" now means has a Youtube channel and a fly shop/ resort?

 

[dudemanspecial]

I guess "contributing to the sport" now means has a Youtube channel and a fly shop/ resort?

I think maybe it has to do with him writing 2 very influential books on the sport.

 

[AVL]

I guess "contributing to the sport" now means has a Youtube channel and a fly shop/ resort?

To you maybe 🙂

 

[Peter Ross]

Not a lot of love here for Kelly! He is a bit rough around the edges, a little like his streamer fishing style. No question he has made an impact in streamer fishing and fly tying. The writing and editing for his first book is much better than that of the second. I'm guessing Bob Linsenman is the reason. He can write. I floated Michigan's Au Sable with Linsenman guiding ages ago. Nice man. I think it was January or February, cold, snowing. I hooked a steelhead for a moment and then he was gone. Oh well. Someday I hope to land a steelhead, the fish of a million casts.

 

[AVL]

When my buddy was getting his fly shop set up here in NC, KG was a wealth of info. Several phone calls, well over an hour of q&a with him, we learned a hell of a lot, he had nothing to gain by being helpful, yet he was. Guess what they probably make a month on YouTube?

 

[dudemanspecial]

Guess what they probably make a month on YouTube?

Not much with his sub numbers and views.

 

[poopdeck]

When my buddy was getting his fly shop set up here in NC, KG was a wealth of info. Several phone calls, well over an hour of q&a with him, we learned a hell of a lot, he had nothing to gain by being helpful, yet he was. Guess what they probably make a month on YouTube?

Probably weeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllll over an hour of mostly answer. Did he say it helps to set up your fly shop on an iconic trout fishing river in Montana? I’m sure he is a great guy, but nice guys sometimes make long winded YouTube videos.

$50.00 to $794.00 dollars. He’s just not that popular, as far as Youtube goes. He would do a lot better if he stopped rambling on and on and on and on and on. It’s why Tic Toc has taken over, people want quick hitters not long winded 30 minute videos on a five minute topic.

https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/theslideinn/monthly

 

[Peter Ross]

Not much with his sub numbers and views.

Can't be easy to run a fishing resort or fly shop or guide business or fly tying business. There are more profitable ways to make a living. You've got to love it to move to the banks of the Madison River to start a business. It's the life some of us dreamed about at some point. The challenge with making your hobby your business is that sometimes you end up so busy with the business you don't have time to spend on the hobby.

 

[AVL]

Probably weeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllll over an hour of mostly answer. Did he say it helps to set up your fly shop on an iconic trout fishing river in Montana? I’m sure he is a great guy, but nice guys sometimes make long winded YouTube videos.

$50.00 to $794.00 dollars. He’s just not that popular, as far as Youtube goes. He would do a lot better if he stopped rambling on and on and on and on and on. It’s why Tic Toc has taken over, people want quick hitters not long winded 30 minute videos on a five minute topic.

https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/theslideinn/monthly

It was very very helpful information, and I’d suggest if you don’t like his YT, simply don’t watch them. Cutting edge advice, you’re welcome. 😉

 

[AVL]

Can't be easy to run a fishing resort or fly shop or guide business or fly tying business. There are more profitable ways to make a living. You've got to love it to move to the banks of the Madison River to start a business. It's the life some of us dreamed about at some point. The challenge with making your hobby your business is that sometimes you end up so busy with the business you don't have time to spend on the hobby.

I had some opportunities to be a rep in the industry, I passed, don’t want to ruin a passion / hobby by trying to make a living doing it. I don’t guide anymore, for that specific reason. After raising 3 daughters, I now have a 13yo son, who’s got the fever, so when I have time, I’m taking him, not a tourist that sets the hook like they’re grouper fishing.

 

[Peter Ross]

LOL. I can hear Clint Eastwood saying, "Swell," under his breath.