Tippet Entry Angle: Effect on Presentation Depth

[Alain Barthelemy]

I made an observation today to share.  This is common sense, but I sometimes forget its effects, and maybe you do too.

An area I fish has a lot of spooky wild trout, particularly an area that consists of a deep slot in ledgerock, followed by a broader, shallow tailout downstream.  This is a dense, brushy stream and does not offer many casting areas amongst the trees.  I always approach this area from downstream, kneel down, and start making some long casts upstream, working the tailout up.  Since the tailout is shallow, I generally float the sighter or leader, until just before the fly snags.  At that point, I position set and recast.  I am fishing a single size 16 nymph with a 3/32in tungsten bead.  This illustrates the drift:



I work upstream and keep going until I am also covering the deep slot.  In the slot, I try to let the fly sink longer, but not so long as to snag in the shallow tail.  The reason for this post is that, floating the sighter over the deep slot rarely produces fish.  The reason is that the tippet entry angle doesn't afford a deep enough presentation.  Today I made about ten good drifts through the slot floating the sighter, then stood up and offered the fly under the rod tip:



I concealed myself along the bank behind a tree and just followed the drift with the rod tip.  On about the third deeper drift, I was rewarded with this brown:



a real trophy for this stream (11in).  After this one, I caught three more from the slot, that I could not get while floating the sighter.

[Paul Bourcq]

great points Alain.  I am a firm believer in using rod angle to dictate what depth i want my flies.  You can fish the bend of the leader in shallow water, or tuck and sink bugs in heavier water.  Very deadly.

[Aaron Laing]

Great post, Alain (and a cracking fish).

I made a similar observation about single fly presentations in deep water in an earlier post. Mine dealt with the angle of entry with a shortline presentation and how a sharper angle of entry (near vertical) will get the nymph into the zone faster, but the same principles apply with respect to the floated vs. unfloated sighter presentation in your illustrations.

I love looking at the physics of presentation in moving water situations. I'm always surprised about how subtle changes result in huge differences.

Aaron

[Kurt Finlayson]

Agree. They are two different techniques. Horizontal vs vertical leader. That is also how I descibe the difference between french and czech nymphing.