Lead Speed

[Paul Bourcq]

While fishing short line or longer line nymphing techniques how fast do you lead your flies and why?  I have heard several schools of thought.

The person that first showed me polish nymphing would pull his flies faster then the current.  He would pick bubbles on top of the water and pull quicker.

I have found though that when targeting bottom holding fish I prefer to pull a tiny bit slower then the current.  The current is moving slower on the bottom so to me it would seem unnatural to pull that fast.  I dont have problems with fly contact and seem to pick up more fish with the slower than the current method.


Also when long lining slower water i will often start to slowly pull my nymphs up and out faster then the current.  This helps me keep contact with my flies and seems to trigger takes.  Each hour of each day is different and sometimes they want different stuff but more often then not the above works for me.  What do you guys do?

[Bret Bishop]

I do it all until I dial in the fish. I think the weight of the flies and the depth of the water also play a roll in determining lead speed. But if I was put on the spot to say what is the most common lead speed it would be...fast enough to stay in contact. I really believe that this is the intuitive part of fishing.

[Pete Erickson]

I agree with Bret here.  I think that it is all relative.  When I learned to Polish nymph from Vladi...he always lead his team of flies (usually 2) just slightly faster than the white surface bubbles...I noticed that most of the eastern European nymphers did this as well, however they are fishing rivers like the San in Poland, and those rivers are full of grayling and brown trout...when I was practicing on the River San and other rivers in Slovakia, I noticed that the fish, both grayling and trout, responded well to a faster lead...probably because of the caddis nymphs in Europe, the "induced take" seemed to be the ticket.  On the other hand, I've personally noticed that in the Rocky Mountain West, that a slightly slower lead works very well much of the time.  But back to what Bret said, I think it all warrants an ever changing approach.

[Todd Oishi]

I agree with the above comments.

When I studied Czech Nymphing under Jiri Klima, we were advised to lead the nymphs by using surface bubbles as a reference and indicator for the speed at which to lead them, as the river's flow-rate is slower closer to the bottom (friction and obstructions). Maintaining a slight downstream tilt of your leader allows you to recognize the appropriate speed as well...

[Dejon Hamann]

In addition to the great observations above I've noticed that a highly accelerated "lead" speed can be very effective in certain situations especially over steep gradient pocket water and aggressively feeding rainbows. 2 and 3 times the water speed.
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[Chris Smorul]

When nymphing through pocket water I start out leading my flies a little faster than yjr current's speed.  If I get no strikes, I will slow down or speed up incrementally until I dial in to what the fish are looking for.

[Jason Baker]

This is a great topic! The last time I was out, I was fishing a particularly deep and fast hole. I was employing a Spanish style method and found that leading the flies was not enabling them to get down. I found that if I cast the flies and gave them 2-3 seconds to get down a bit before starting my lead and then quickly taking up just a bit to line to position my spiral sighter above the water; i was right in the feeding column. Different water requires changin techniques. I think that's why it's hard to explain euro nymphing as a concrete method. It calls for a lot of adaptation...

[Mark Hanes]

This is a good topic.  I have noticed it really seems to depend on how active the trout are feeding.  This year I plan on paying more attention to this and i will report any findings.  I know one thing I noticed last year was I caught a lot of trout in slow water when I was leading my flies fairly quickly. 

[Loren Williams]

Gentlemen,

I guess what has helped me most over the past few years to continue to improve across a broad array of water sizes and types is to focus more on what the flies are doing (or what I want them to do) and adjust accordingly at the rod than the other way around.  When I started learning all this stuff I got too focused on protocol and I, in a sense, stopped fishing.

I think you will find, with observing as many great anglers as I get a chance to observe, is that each angler is unique.  There are no clones.  Rod angles, lengths, leaders, flies--they all tend to identify the individual angler.  Hey, we all have different builds, abilities and eyesight!

In the end...if I have a strong feeling that a fish inhabits a spot then I am hard pressed to leave until I catch it--or more than likely in my case miss or drop it .  Fishing to "spots" or "calling fish" and doing whatever it takes to make that happen is where I find the supreme enjoyment of trout fishing.  Much like the antithesis if swinging flies for steelhead-where I am not seeking out all the fish--only the fish that want to come to the fly I am fishing.  To hell with the rest!

[Nick Naclerio]

My experience has been that in the spring time or really any time the water is warmer and the fish are active you can lead the flies at the surface current speed. When the water is cold and the fish are more lethargic you need to lead the flies slower than the surface current (remember the current on the bottom is less than the surface). There is actually a fine line on how to do this, you need an anchor fly that is heavy enough to get near the bottom but not touch bottom (as much as possible). Once you have the weight of your flies figured out you lead them so that you still in contact with them but you end up with a small bow in the leader above you sighter. This takes a little practice but it works very well. These are also just generalizations and there are exceptions that change these. One would be hatching insects in cold water where the fish are feeding higher in the water column (faster current) where lighter flies lead at the surface current speed work very well. Another exception is deeper water in a warmer water situation where you may still want to lead the flies slower than the surface speed.

The general rule I go by is colder water use a slower than surface current lead speed and warmer water use surface current lead speed. This is where I start but the most important thing is to experiment if your not getting results.

[Jeremy Allan]

For me I let the water dictate my speed. On most Utah waters trout prefer a slower almost dead drift lead, just fast enough to keep control of my rig. Having control of your rig before it hits the water is key. Your flies and leader need to lay out straight so that you are in contact instantly even while letting them sink. In faster pocket type water I will lead a little faster because of the nature of pocket water trout that only have a second to strike or refuse and try to induce a strike.

[Nick Naclerio]

Loren got it exactly right. If what your doing now works for you than don't worry about what you "should" be doing. As far as I'm concerned as long as your enjoying your fishing time your doing the right thing.