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Written by Mike Sandifer

What I learned from that wonderful day on the Kern River almost forty years ago applies to my subsurface fishing today. If you are nymphing for trout in a river or stream you have to get your flies down to where the trout are feeding. If trout are actively feeding on aquatic nymphs, we know for sure that they are in a position on the stream bottom to where their food will drift right to them. We call it lying in the feeding lane. We also know that trout want to expend as little energy as possible when on the bottom feeding, they will (with some exceptions) rarely go out of their feeding lanes to pursue food that instinctually they know will eventually come right to them.

So if you take a cross section of a river ecosystem, the most productive section of the stream for a feeding trout is on the bottom right in front of the trout's nose. So for the fly fisherman the section of river just above the trout (this can be anywhere from a couple of inches to a foot) to the surface film is called the "Dead zone". It's called the dead zone because nothing lives in it. If you are nymph fishing any part of the stream's water column that is not on the bottom then you are fishing the dead zone and your catch rate will suffer. Many fly fishermen who do not grasp this notion hate to nymph fish or have switched to dry fly fishing only.

Fly fishing is made up of basically two forms. Surface fishing (dry fly fishing) and sub surface fishing (nymphing or wet fly fishing). To say you do one and not the other is like saying you like sex but not kissing. Now it OK to prefer dry fly fishing over nymphing or the other way around, but to say you hate one and only do the other is wrong. The real problem is that nymphing can be a little harder to master than dry fly fishing. Both types of fly fishing have their joys and successes and both require a sufficient amount of knowledge to perfect.

With summer winding down, I decided I needed to get out and do some fishing before the cooler days of Fall arrived. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions and with a trout stream running through my town it's easy to just grab your rod and go. The temperature was in the mid nineties and the river was very inviting. When I got to the section of river I wanted to fish I noticed a few anglers and the head of the riffle and a few working the tail out. I knew I could go down river about a hundred yards and cross the river and come up to the other side and not bother the other anglers.

All I had was my fly rod and small hip pack for equipment. I had forgotten to bring my wading boots so I was forced to use regular sandals. That was just fine for me. As I walked along the river bank I noticed too late that is was steep and slippery and as I fell I dropped a good ten feet down the bank and tumbled to the river with a loud yell while crashing branches fell around me. A couple of the anglers just looked over their shoulders for a quick glance and then continued their fishing. When I finally got my wind back I managed to work my way down river to a point where I could cross the river without bothering anybody.

Sometimes my plans don't always go the way I want them to and about halfway across the river my sandals slipped on a rock, I lost my balance and down I went with another yell. When I finally came up for air I made a mad scramble to find by fly rod and gather myself. I quickly found my rod but not my self esteem, for when I looked up stream I could see all the other anglers laughing at my theatrics. Well what could I do but laugh myself. When I finally arrived at my planned spot on the other side of the river I quickly found out it wasn't the best water but I was out of the way of the other anglers sharing the river with me. The best part of all my effort to that point was I had the whole other side of the river to myself and that was a victory for me.

I had noticed upon my arrival at the river that the other anglers made the fishing look great but that no one was catching fish. So when I arrived at the other side of the river I felt it to my advantage to watch and learn from the guys already on the water. With all my antics in reaching my new spot on the river, the one thing all the anglers had in common was none of them were catching any trout. But I had bungled my way onto the river and if I looked like a wet rag of a old man I might as well give it a go after all the trouble.

Now me being an old nymph fisherman I did notice that none of the fly fishermen were slinging lead. Without even getting my flies wet I had already learned the hard way more information about the river than the others could possibly know. I knew it was extremely swift and the middle channel was narrow and deep. After settling into a good place to work the inside seam of the river current I knew I still had to make a pretty good cast to even get to that seam let alone make a longer cast with a weighted leader. I had already determined that I needed to add quite a bit a lead in order to get my nymphs down on the bottom and to slow the drift in that fast current.

Using two bead head nymphs in tandem and five split shot I flipped rather than cast my flies to the top of the inside seam of current. I quickly mended my floating line and followed my flies through the current until just past me when I felt a strong strike. My first cast, first drift and first strike and of course I missed him. At least I knew I had the right amount of lead and my strategy of working the inside seam was correct, now I just needed to repeat the cast and pay more attention to any new strikes. A few more casts and I was on to my first fish. Everything came together after a rough start to a stellar day's fishing.

While I continued to hook trout after trout my fellow fly anglers just stood and watched, for their fishing, I was to learn later was much less productive. However good the fishing had been for me my trip back across the river was a copy of the first. Lucky for me the temperature was still in the nineties and I must say a good dunking on a hot day is not always a bad thing. Once back at my truck while I was putting away my rod, two of the fly fishermen who fished opposite me stopped by me and asked what flies I was using. When I told them what they were they commented that those were the flies they had been using and they had caught just two trout.

When they learned that I had used five split shot they just shook their heads. I tried to explain to the guys without trying to sound like a fly fishing snob that the river dictates how much lead to put on your leader and trial and error usually dictates how much lead to put on your leader. When I saw in their eyes they were truly interested I told them if I hadn't had fallen in and dropped my rod I probably wouldn't have put that much lead on. But none the less the key is always put your flies in front of the trout.

I think not using enough lead to sink your flies correctly is the biggest problem most nymph fishermen make when working a stream with nymphs. It's better to err on too much weight than not enough. For the most part casting lead in not easy for most people and probably is the number one reason some anglers don't like to cast lead. Casting lead is easy if you can get past the word "Casting". When you have to use a lot of lead on your leader try flipping your flies.

You will find that it's much easier and less dangerous to flip cast your lead flies all day then it is to traditionally cast your lead flies all day. The technique is relatively easy. Instead of picking up your fly at the end of a drift and false casting, try instead to drift just flip the fly back up stream at the end of your drift. Then flip your fly back on the water where you would want to start your new drift. It sounds easy and it is with some practice. The key is in order for you to flip your leaded leader it must be straight. Atthe end of your drift your fly line is already straight so it's easy to flip it back upstream. And when your line lands upstream it's already straight for the final flip back into the current.

When anglers are first introduced to fly fishing I believe they are enamored with the beauty of the cast. Many anglers will spend large amounts of money and hours of practice to learn the dynamics of fly casting. If you take that same amount of effort and dedication to learn how to dry fly cast and apply that same effort to learning how to nymph fish, you truly have an opportunity to become a complete fly fisherman. I don't profess to be any kind of nymphing guru or expert but I do know what's logical. Sort of like the line from the movie Forrest Gump when he ask Jenny to marry him. "I may not be a very smart man but I know what love is". I may not be a great nymph fisherman but I know where the fish are and how they want their meal.