Author Topic: Odd takes! (Read 751 times)

Roy Greenway Jr · « **on:** September 28, 2011, 10:09:29 AM »

I'm fairly new to eu nymphing and when fishing this past Saturday almost all my fish were taken at the hookset on the end of my drift to re cast! I know people say it could be a fish mouthing the fly while drifting back with your presentation and others say it could be a reaction strike but why were 10 out of 12 fish caught like this? Coincidence?

Anita Coulton · « **Reply #1 on:** September 28, 2011, 10:25:18 AM »

Well, I'm no authority on nymphing, but my guess would be that the fish may have been taking emergers, and as your flies neared the end of the drift, and began to rise up, the fish were taking them.

You experienced guys.....any other theories?

Pat Weiss · « **Reply #2 on:** September 28, 2011, 10:29:53 AM »

Without being there its hard to say, but it could have just taken that long in the drift for the flies to get deep enough. It could also be, like Anita said, that the fish wanted some movement in the flies. As long as youre landing them its all good!

Roy Greenway Jr · « **Reply #3 on:** September 28, 2011, 10:32:27 AM »

Thanks guys! Just don't seem like I caught them on purpose!

Alex Metcalf · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2011, 03:55:16 PM »

You were there. You tied on the flies. You cast. You caught them on purpose!

Chris Puchniak · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2011, 06:05:45 PM »

A rising nymph can be irresistible.

If you watch the Poles fish nymphs, at the end of each drift, they set the hook hard, without even knowing if there is a fish there or not - they do it because they are confident that it is one of the key moments to hookup, and set that hook to a fish they "expect" to be there (even if its not - and if there is no fish there, you turn that hookset into the start of your next cast).

Teddy Lutz · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2011, 09:03:20 PM »

Haven't chimed in for a while but this topic catches my attention because I stumbled upon an article last spring that emphasized this tactic. The thesis of the mag article was that often times while fishing short pocket water a trout can take the fly, feel it, then spit it out before the fisherman/woman can detect the strike because the fishermen/woman does not have enough time to feel contact w the fly and tune in to the drift prior to the fly exiting the short pocket. The Author of the article stressed that one particular national click of competition flyfishers have adopted the idea that if they ASSUME a fish has taken their fly within three or four seconds of a short pocket drift, many times they will be correct and they will feel the coveted weight of a trout when they set the hook after three seconds of dead drift in a short pocket. It really makes good sense since short pocket water does not really offer enough time for a fisher person to feel their fly go deep enough to get to the trout settled in the cushion. So if you just assume ur fly has been taken, you really have nothing to lose since the drift is practically over before you can settle in and feel it. This tactic also works when fishing waterfalls where the fish love to find a cushion and just wait for random offerings. I think that fish tend to feed differently while set up in a pocket as opposed to a glide. In the pocket they will quickly take and taste most attractive offerings rather than methodically inspect before taste n spit.