Nymphing Without an Indicator

Rule one: if the leader does anything you did not ask it to do, lift. Everything else in this method is a way of arranging matters so that you can see the leader clearly and so that the nymph is where the fish are. A bulky floating indicator tells you about takes late, lands heavily and holds the fly at one fixed depth. A straight, visible leader tells you sooner and lets the nymph go where the river bed goes.

The tackle, briefly

A rod of 9–10 ft for a 3 or 4 weight line gives reach and protects fine tippet. The leader should be about as long as the rod, or a little more. There are two ways to make its upper part visible, and both work.

• Greased butt. Rub floatant into the top two thirds of an ordinary tapered leader and leave the last 60–90 cm clean so it sinks. The greased nylon sits in the surface film and you watch the point where it goes under. This is the older way and it needs nothing extra.
• Sighter section. Knot 40–50 cm of two-tone coloured monofilament, about 0.20 mm, between the taper and the tippet. Hold it just clear of the water or let it touch the surface. It is easier to see in broken water and poor light.
• Tippet. Below either, 90–150 cm of 5X (0.15 mm) or 6X (0.13 mm), level. Thin tippet sinks faster than any extra weight will. Make it roughly one and a half times the depth of the water.

Weight is the real choice

Pattern matters less than getting down. A Pheasant Tail, a Hare’s Ear and a plain perdigon in sizes 14–18 will cover most of a season. What you must match to the water is the tungsten bead, and the measure of success is simple: every third or fourth drift the fly should tick a stone. Never touching bottom means you are fishing above the fish. Snagging on every cast means you are a size too heavy.

Bead	Hook	Water
2.0 mm	18–20	Shin-deep, gentle pace; thin riffle edges and summer levels
2.5 mm	16–18	Knee-deep runs at walking pace; the everyday choice
3.0 mm	14–16	Thigh-deep runs or brisk knee-deep water; heads of pools
3.5 mm	12–14	Waist-deep, pushing water; winter glides and pot holes

The drift

1. Wade or kneel to within 4–6 metres of the water you want to fish, below it and a little to one side. Short range is the whole point: no more than two rod lengths of line and leader beyond the tip.
2. Pitch the fly upstream, or up and across, with an open loop. Stop the rod high so the nymph enters the water first and the tippet follows it down, not the other way round.
3. As the fly sinks, raise the rod and gather slack with the line hand. Aim for a leader that is straight but not tight, with as little as possible lying on the surface.
4. Lead the fly downstream with the rod tip, moving a shade faster than doing nothing at all. Too slow and a belly of slack hides every take. Too fast and you drag the nymph up off the bottom. The sighter should travel a little slower than the surface bubbles, because the water near the bed is slower.
5. As the fly passes you and begins to swing below, let it rise for a second, then lift into the next cast.

The take is not a tug. It is the leader briefly forgetting to keep up with the river.

What a take looks like

Rarely a dart forward. Far more often the sighter pauses, straightens, tilts slightly upstream or simply stops sinking when it ought to carry on. Strike at any hesitation, and strike downstream and to the side with a short, firm lift of the wrist, no more than 30 cm of movement. Half of these will be stones. That is as it should be. If you are not lifting into a few stones, you are also not lifting into the gentle takes.

Sawyer’s induced take

Frank Sawyer, river keeper on the Wiltshire Avon, worked this out for fish he could see. Cast far enough above the trout or grayling for the nymph to sink to its level. As the fly arrives about 30 cm in front of the fish, raise the rod tip smoothly so the nymph swims upward, like a natural heading for the surface. A fish that had ignored a dead drift will often move at once. Watch the fish, not the leader: when its mouth shows white or it turns to one side, lift. The same small lift at the end of a blind drift picks up fish you never saw.

Two flies

Where the rules of the water allow more than one fly, a second nymph doubles the depths you search. Put the heavier fly on the point and a lighter, smaller one on a dropper about 50 cm above it. Make the dropper from the tag end of a three-turn water knot, 10–12 cm long, and keep it short so it stands off the leader. Cast with a wider loop than usual. Many waters permit a single fly only, and some require barbless hooks, so read the ticket before you tie on.

Give it three sessions with the indicator left at home. On the first you will miss almost everything. By the third you will be lifting before you know why, and the rod will bend.

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