[Mark Zhang]

saw a lot of people put weight on when they were fishing nymphs (short line), but never heard people talking it from here, so not sure if it's a good way to fishing in Don. The beat I'm fishing has some fast water, the nymph I bought will never go close to the bottom I think. Want to give it a go, but not sure the weight size. Found one on Ebay, the single weight is from 0.1g to 1.6g. Has anyone tried this? Thanks.

Tight lines,

Mark

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140461049531?var=440008000410&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[Rob Brownfield]

All the tackle shops in the area sell split shot.

Impossible to advise on size of shot needed as the river varies day by day, but getting a "mixed" box of sizes means you can try different weights on the day. It is very common to start with a small weight at the head of a pool and increase the size of weight as you work your way down to deeper spots, then go smaller at the tail.

Sometimes you have to go the other way and have a big weight in the faster head water.

[Marc Fauvet]

hey Mark,
don't hesitate. if it needs to go down, it'll need weight.
when using split shot a nice trick i often use is to put them on a dropper in varying distances in front of the fly.
if it snags by being wedged between rocks it usually slips off and it also prevents from crimping and weakening the leader or tippet.
better yet, when possible i'll use soft tungsten putty by Loon directly on the tippet. it can be shaped slim and comes off and is reusable.

but best of all (to me) is to tie on a overly heavy nymph on point and tie on a dropper from it's bend for the 'fishing fly'
the depth-charge often gets hit...  

cheers
marc

[Rob Brownfield]

If using putty, cut your leader about a foot infront of your fly and then retie the leader back together again using a 4 turn water knot, leaving the ends of the knot about 5mm. Mould your putty onto this knot. This gives the putty something to "grip" and prevents it sliding down onto the head of the fly.

Also, squash the putty between your fingers a few times, it makes it easy to mould, and then, before casting, drop it in the water for a few seconds. This makes it go hard again and less likely to fly off on the first cast.

[Mark Zhang]

Thanks.  bought one from ebay. now waiting for the season to start. 

Tight lines.

Mark

[Loxiafan]

Some nice coarse fishing 'legering' tips for you there Mark 

I tend to vary the size/weight of the tungsten heads I tie on nymphs, and I often add lead wire as well, to get 3 different weights. A Black marker marks the hook eyes of the heavier ones, but I arrange them by weight in my box (you can feel the heavy ones anyway !).

If you don't tie, and even if you do but need more weight, then the tips Rob and Marc give are excellent.

It is funny, people like Oliver Edwards have a complete aversion to tungsten bead head's on nymphs and hide them in the tying ! Check out FF&FT this month. He argues the fish take these unrealistic "bead heads" out of curiosity rather than as identified food. As much as I admire and respect Ollie, I am not so sure of this......and reading his new book just now, I don't think Bob Wyatt would be either ! That said, OE's flies are about as realistic as you can get, works of art almost.

Lindsay

[Rob Brownfield]

Lindsay, interesting about marking your flies.

I tie up 3 "levels" of Czech Nymph, with 3 wraps of leadfoil  for the heaviest down to one wrap for the lightest.

I colour the heads thus, Black = heaviest, dark brown = medium and light brown = the lightest.

Seems to work for me

If I want a really heavy nymph, then I add a tungstan bead and 3 wraps of lead. These are as heavy as I would go for Czech nymphs (I want the slimness, not a horrible fat bodied thing).

Having said that, for REALLY heavy nymphs, I have tied up woven nymphs on Partridge pre leaded hooks. These sink like stones and importantly, fish hook point up.

[Loxiafan]

I colour the heads thus, Black = heaviest, dark brown = medium and light brown = the lightest.

Good tip, must increase my range beyond Henry Ford ! I find organising them in my box 'safe' enough - do this with dries too, though I have a habit of using various brands of hooks which gets a bit confusing.

The real 'art' and challenge for me is tying a slim nymph that has some weight to it !

On a related note, I have been getting all Ollie Edwards-ish and tying some JT MB nymphs of different weights but using very dark brown shellback for the wing cases of the lighter version.......to represent the mature emerging nymphs darker wing buds  The heavier ones I  use a slightly lighter shade of shell back. I need help, possibly.

Lindsay

[Rob Brownfield]

The real 'art' and challenge for me is tying a slim nymph that has some weight to it !

Have you tried tungsten foil/sheet or flat wire? Not cheap but good for slim nymphs.

I got mine here http://www.troutcatchers.co.uk/acatalog/fly_tying_lead.html

[Marc Fauvet]

It is funny, people like Oliver Edwards have a complete aversion to tungsten bead head's on nymphs and hide them in the tying ! Check out FF&FT this month. He argues the fish take these unrealistic "bead heads" out of curiosity rather than as identified food. As much as I admire and respect Ollie, I am not so sure of this......

maybe winter and all the rain you all have had lately is getting to him.... 

[Marc Fauvet]

If using putty, cut your leader about a foot infront of your fly and then retie the leader back together again using a 4 turn water knot, leaving the ends of the knot about 5mm. Mould your putty onto this knot. This gives the putty something to "grip" and prevents it sliding down onto the head of the fly.

Also, squash the putty between your fingers a few times, it makes it easy to mould, and then, before casting, drop it in the water for a few seconds. This makes it go hard again and less likely to fly off on the first cast.

hey Rob,
the Loon doesn't slide, it's very sticky. where you using the shoddy cheap stuff from your link ? 

 ,
marc

[Allan Liddle]

Some nice coarse fishing 'legering' tips for you there Mark 

I tend to vary the size/weight of the tungsten heads I tie on nymphs, and I often add lead wire as well, to get 3 different weights. A Black marker marks the hook eyes of the heavier ones, but I arrange them by weight in my box (you can feel the heavy ones anyway !).

If you don't tie, and even if you do but need more weight, then the tips Rob and Marc give are excellent.

It is funny, people like Oliver Edwards have a complete aversion to tungsten bead head's on nymphs and hide them in the tying ! Check out FF&FT this month. He argues the fish take these unrealistic "bead heads" out of curiosity rather than as identified food. As much as I admire and respect Ollie, I am not so sure of this......and reading his new book just now, I don't think Bob Wyatt would be either ! That said, OE's flies are about as realistic as you can get, works of art almost.

Lindsay

Yup agree with you there Lindsay.

Wee trick if bugging if you can't feel the fly hitting the bottom add more weight. The bump bump is critical for the best success.
Not so if you're fishing Duo where it's more a case of early hatching nymph stage imitation, although I accept this is just meant as a general rule of thumb guide.

Like the dropper and putty knot tips there guys, will give them a run if needs dictate, hopefully not as the dries are always close at hand.