# ? on nymphs



## ckamanao (Mar 20, 2010)

When fishing nymphs/wets i was told that i should take the depth of the river and double that distance between the fly and the indicator....if i want fish deep. Is that right?


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

I was always told one and one half times the depth of the water but whose counting. Which is very important because 6 inches to high in the water column can be the difference between a two fish day and a ten fish day.


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## sinergy (Mar 6, 2008)

trout bum said:


> one and one half times the depth of the water


Its a good rule to go by but unless you going to walk out with a tape measure and measure every few feet the depth its kinda hard to judge. Then add in the speed of the currant and its hard to exactly measure.

I usually start at the top of my leader and adjust down in about 1 foot down increments


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

its really not that hard to judge. Of course there is going to be some adjusting. If your not hanging up on the bottom from time to time you are not deep enough.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

trout bum said:


> its really not that hard to judge. Of course there is going to be some adjusting. If your not hanging up on the bottom from time to time you are not deep enough.


This is spot on.
i usually have more than 2 times the distance in most cases.
This way, I'm not adjusting all the time.
Just be sure that you are fishing on the bottom.


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

It has been said that if you are not picking up some salad on some casts you are not deep enough..


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

If you ONLY fish deep when nymphing you are missing a lot of fish. The fish can be hanging out at all depths, sometimes only 12-18 inches down, sometimes all over the place. So adjust your indicator location if you aren't hooking into fish before you move to a new location or change your fly. I recommend a thingamabobber as an indicator, it's easy to adjust and floats great.

I often start deep and then work my up in the water. Even if I have caught several fish and they seemed to have stopped biting, I will adjust the depth to a different level and usually hook into a few more fish.

Sometimes I have much more luck only fishing 18 inches down then I do fishing all the way to the bottom, especially in the faster water. I know guys who fish no deeper than 30 inches, ever no matter what river, time of day, time of year etc. The fish that are actively eating, aren't the ones usually hanging on the bottom.

Nymping isn't hard, getting to the fish is the hard part, fishing the bottom all the time is really limiting yourself.

Edit: A good length of your leader to start out with is around 9 feet, you can adjust the depth by either adding or taking off split shot or moving your indicator. If your leader really gets much longer, it becomes harder to cast and you will get a lot of tangles.


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

ckamanao said:


> r....if i want fish deep. Is that right?


The original post sounded to me like he was asking about fish on the bottom. Its another one of those "being observant" deals. Observe the level in the water column at witch the fish are feeding and adjust accordingly. If the fish are feeding on the bottom and they are what you are after the general rule of thumb I have always heard is 1 1/2 times the depth and make sure you are grabbing some substrate.


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

Ah yes, you are right. I miss understood. I don't know about the 1.5 length. I just put more weight on until I get to the bottom. I rarely fish with a leader longer that 9 feet. But most rivers around here really aren't that deep, so often times I am sure I am close to 1.5 times or more.


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

Ya i always use 9 foot leaders also. Unless im fishing a dropper.


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## ckamanao (Mar 20, 2010)

i'm very new to the sport. I did not realize that there would be fish suspended all over the water column. I just assumed, with nymphing, the goal was to get deep, close to the bottom. I should have realized though that there are fish everywhere with the "emerger" patterns and such. 
another question. How many casts, how long going fishless  , before changing the depth with either adding more shot or moving the indicator? I can be patient, kind of :roll: , but i dont really know how long to pound the same water at the same depth before I should go deeper or shallower.


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## cheech (Sep 25, 2007)

RnF said:


> . I know guys who fish no deeper than 30 inches, ever no matter what river, time of day, time of year etc.


He he. I know that guy too. I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and caught fish all day long and the smallest fly I fished was an 8.


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## trout bum (Oct 5, 2010)

ckamanao said:


> i'm very new to the sport. I did not realize that there would be fish suspended all over the water column. I just assumed, with nymphing, the goal was to get deep, close to the bottom. I should have realized though that there are fish everywhere with the "emerger" patterns and such.
> another question. How many casts, how long going fishless  , before changing the depth with either adding more shot or moving the indicator? I can be patient, kind of :roll: , but i dont really know how long to pound the same water at the same depth before I should go deeper or shallower.


Just swing soft hackles and cover the entire water column


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

cheech said:


> RnF said:
> 
> 
> > . I know guys who fish no deeper than 30 inches, ever no matter what river, time of day, time of year etc.
> ...


It's quite fun eh? Are you a gun slinger yet?


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