upstream nymph fishing in small streams

[seanooo]

i am relatively new to river fishing and fish 3 small rivers- 2 stocked with rainbows and browns + wild rainbows (as wild as you can get in the UK) and browns. the other with wild browns

i believe the standard nymphing method in streams is to cast upstream and dead drift it back down towards you without any drag. i can do this pretty well- but have only ever caught 3 fish with this method (a little chub and two rainbows) all of which have basically hooked themselfs.

i have had alot more success casting downstream or letting the line out slowly downstream and slowly retrieving it with figure of 8. This method seems to be the standard method of fishing the two stocked waters with all the members of the club i have seen fishing. when i first started river fishing and didn't have a clue i was fishing upstream and a guy even told me to fish downstream.

i have also had better success fishing downstream for wild browns at my club water and other places i have fished.

is this because downstream fishing really is better (if you don't scare the fish away) or because i have not spotted the takes when fishing upstream, i realise that a strike indicator would enable me to spot more but i decide which to get as there are so many and most seem designed for still water

thanks alot

[altnaharra]

upstream nymph fishing is, IMHO, bl@*dy difficult ! but there are situations where its the only way of presenting a nymph to a fish . i think as you say the most likely cause of limited success is missing the takes.
nothing wrong with down and across fishing , but as you know it often means more spooked fish. depends on clarity of water, speed of flow etc.

a strike indicator can help : i have had some success using a bushy dry fly as an indicator with a nymph tied new zealand style on a dropper from the bend of the dry fly's hook.

[GarethL]

Seanooo - I've found it much the same. I'm in the same position as you, just started on the river around 3 weeks ago and have caught ALL my fish using the Down and Across method. Don't think I've even had a pull using the upstream technique, although I'm still trying it.

Hope you manage to turn the tables! I've heard that if used properly, the upstream method is a killer, but very hard to master!

Tightlines

[Sewinman]

altnaharra said:

a strike indicator can help : i have had some success using a bushy dry fly as an indicator with a nymph tied new zealand style on a dropper from the bend of the dry fly's hook.

Could not agree more. Try it out, you might find it makes things a whole lot easier.

[sage]

Hi All.

Not as difficult as you think really, all you have to do is watch the tip of the line very closely, don't cast to far up stream, 10 yrds is fine, what I do is mark the end of my fly line with a waterproof pen to make 3 bands about 2-3 inches long,leaving the natural colour of the fly line for the gap between the bands, makes the takes easier to see.lift intop any stop pause or juder, anything.

As other people have said you can try a sight indicator, foam , wool or dry fly, there are also the stren type.

It will come the more you do it, hope this helps, if you want any more info get in touch.

Andrew

[tigermoth]

Upstream nymphing is a fantastic way to catch fish, and as Sage has sagely suggested, not that difficult. On a small stream fish a nice 4wt line or so with a 9-10ft leader, I taper mine down from 20lb-15lb- 3lb casting about 10yds is usually plenty but on bigger water you can go longer. I usually fish single nymph under a little palsa indicator - which can be adjusted - available only From flyfishUSA at the extortionate rate of $1.95 PER 2 DOZEN ;D Alternatively use a nice bushy dry as a strike indicator. Sewinman used an Elk Hair Caddis on our recent jaunt and caught fish on both dry and wet. The big advantage is that takes are easily detectable and you strike back into the scissors every time more or less.

I have been amazed how few people are aware of how to fish this method properly - when they see it they are staggered by how easy it is - a St Paul on the road to Damascus moment