youngtroutbum
Member
I’m struggling to get my flies down in the strike zone on some of the deeper faster moving hole (3.5-4.5ft) w/ pretty good current moving through most of them. I’m still pretty new to fly so any tips and tricks help.
How go about fishing deeper faster moving water?
- Thread starter youngtroutbum
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wildtrout2
Well-known member
I try to avoid those conditions at all cost. 😉
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- May 3, 2011
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Use heavily weighted flies. Perdigons, big tungsten Stoneflies, etc. And add split shot if that’s not enough.
One thing that helped me a lot when learning to nymph water like that was learning to read the water. You don’t want to lead your flies down through the heaviest current, you want them in the slightly slower water just next to the main current tongue. You’ll often hear this referred to as a “seam”. That’s what you’re looking for. Not only is this where the fish are more likely to be, but it will also give your flies more time to slow down and get deep.
And if you’re using a bobber, ditch it for this application.
One thing that helped me a lot when learning to nymph water like that was learning to read the water. You don’t want to lead your flies down through the heaviest current, you want them in the slightly slower water just next to the main current tongue. You’ll often hear this referred to as a “seam”. That’s what you’re looking for. Not only is this where the fish are more likely to be, but it will also give your flies more time to slow down and get deep.
And if you’re using a bobber, ditch it for this application.
Nymph-wristed
Well-known member
Yo, troutbum. Are you sure there's fish down there right now? If the water is high (and cold) they may push to the edges where you won't need as much weight to get down.
You can use split shot, you can use heavy tungsten flies that have zero bulk, like a perdigon, you can also drop shot smalller bugs with split shot as the anchor. You can use lighter tippet (and lose more bugs too), and you can start your drifts waay up yonder.... All in all, ask yourself if it's worth it!
You can use split shot, you can use heavy tungsten flies that have zero bulk, like a perdigon, you can also drop shot smalller bugs with split shot as the anchor. You can use lighter tippet (and lose more bugs too), and you can start your drifts waay up yonder.... All in all, ask yourself if it's worth it!
dudemanspecial
Well-known member
Good answers above.
Tom Rosenbauer taught me that trout like to feed in water that is 2-4 foot deep, moving at about one foot per second with uniform current. Yes, there are exceptions, but I really try to concentrate on this when nymphing, it's better to cover more water like this than to spend time rigging up a massive amount of weight to fish water that doesn't hold feeding fish.
Tom Rosenbauer taught me that trout like to feed in water that is 2-4 foot deep, moving at about one foot per second with uniform current. Yes, there are exceptions, but I really try to concentrate on this when nymphing, it's better to cover more water like this than to spend time rigging up a massive amount of weight to fish water that doesn't hold feeding fish.
Split shot. If you're going to use an indicator, make short casts and keep the leader high off the water. Or ditch the indicator and tightline it through. I'd still use the split shot. It can be hard to know how deep you are without a built in sighter. If you have one, great. If not, you can use your indicator high up on your leader as a depth gauge, but keep it out of the water and still nymph with a tight line. This only works on big water where you can get right beside and over top of the drift with the rod. Another suggestion is to put a heavy streamer in there. Tightline it, or sneak above the riffle and feed it down into the current from above.
Good luck. Oh, and Swattie is right. Look for the seams, but sometimes, fish will be right in the heavy stuff, too, especially rainbows.
Good luck. Oh, and Swattie is right. Look for the seams, but sometimes, fish will be right in the heavy stuff, too, especially rainbows.
tomgamber
Well-known member
Mend upstream, weighted flies. Also "Lead heads"
dudemanspecial
Well-known member
What were you trying that was not working? Weighted flies? How much split shot? What was your leader setup?
