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Game Fishing
River
Trouting Part Three – Fishing New Zealand Style Angler File Name: Andrew Ryan Occupation: Instructs at Clonavav Fly Fishing Centre and runs courses on all aspects of fly fishing Location: Clonavav Fly Fishing Centre, Nire Valley, Ballymacarby, Clonme, Co Waterford Telephone: 00 353 (0) 52 36141 E-mail: andrew@flyfishingireland. com Web: www.flyfishingireland.com
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Andrew Ryan continues his series with a look at how you can fish a nymph directly underneath a dry fly, a tactic that was developed in New Zealand.
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he Suir is considered to be one of the finest dry-fly rivers in Europe, but like many rivers there are not always hatches and rising fish. Because of this I have experimented with techniques, modifying a few different tactics in order to catch fish myself – but more importantly to ensure that my clients catch fish, even when the fishing is slow. In this series of articles so far, I have illustrated these techniques, which were developed for use on my local rivers. They have been tried and tested while I have guided my clients on the rivers Suir, Nire and Tar. These three rivers are challenging to the angler, as the trout are selective due to the abundance of insect life. Many newcomers find dry fly fishing a little difficult at first, as it requires a high level of casting skill. On the other hand, upstream nymph fishing can be a bit tedious during low water conditions and difficult if the wind is gusting. All of the techniques I have written about in the
T
last three issues of Irish Angler work well, but each has its own set of favourable conditions. Dry fly, for instance, works best when fish are rising freely, especially during summer evenings. However, upstream nymphing works best in highwater conditions or during early spring. It can be very frustrating to fish the upstream nymph in the low water of summer and along weedy sections of river, as you will constantly be hooking on the bottom and weed beds. A useful combination of two different techniques is to use a dry fly with a nymph dropper. Fishing guides in New Zealand first developed this technique. They used it to help catch the very large and easily-spooked wild trout of the South Island. It is well suited to some Irish rivers, especially during the summer months when water levels are low and there is more plant growth on the riverbed. With this combination of techniques, you don’t snag the bottom as often. Also, you are fishing at
The Tackle You’ll Need Rod: Ideally, use a 9ft, 5-wt blank Line: Use a WF floating line Leader: Your leader needs to be nine feet long. Ideally it should be a knotless, tapered mono leader going down to 3lb breaking strain Dropper: Under the dry fly, use 18 inches of 3lb fluorocarbon or mono Floatant: Use Dry Shake to dry out the dry fly when it becomes waterlogged Spare leaders: You’ll need spare tapered leaders and spools of tippet in varying strengths from 3lb to 6lb Flies: Take a selection of dries and nymphs
Fast-flowing pools like this are ideal for fishing the dropper.
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Game Fishing two levels in the water; a fly fishing on the surface and a nymph a few inches below, thus giving you twice the chance of hooking a fish. Regularly, when fishing this technique, I observe fishing clients from high up on the bank. Often, I can also observe the reaction the fish have to the two flies. The dry fly first grabs their attention and they move towards it, but when they see the trailing nymph behind it, it is suddenly more attractive, as it means that they do not have to move as far to reach it, or even break the surface. The beauty of this style of fishing is how visual it is. As the nymph is only fishing a few inches below the surface, you often see the fish as it moves to take. For about 10 to 20 per cent of the time trout will go for the dry fly. It is all very exciting and requires a high level of concentration. You are not just looking out for a fish to take the dry fly, but also having to watch out for the slightest twitch on the dry fly, which may signal a fish taking the nymph. The combination rig is easy to cast, as the nymph tied on to the dry fly tends to help to turnover the leader and present the fly well, especially if you have windy conditions.
Searching out the glides between the weed beds with a nymph under a dry.
A nice fish that fell to a small nymph fished nine inches under a dry fly.
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1
The Dry Fly
Your dry fly and dropper can be broken down into six important components: choosing the correct dry fly, choosing the correct nymph, leader set-up, reading the water, drag-free drift and keeping in contact with the fly. Many anglers who try this technique do not put a lot of emphasis on the dry fly and they tend to use a very large, visible, buoyant fly. I find that this does not always work so well. I tend to use a dry fly that is attractive to the fish and a pattern I often fish, without a dropper, as a dry imitation. I find that choosing the correct indicator fly is often the difference between catching a few fish and getting 30-plus fish in a day! Ensuring the correct dry-fly pattern, and therefore its attractiveness to fish, will lead the trout to your nymph or having a go at the dry fly itself. Personally I use a Twinklehammer or an Elk Hair Caddis most of the time as an indicator fly. If the water is very slow and clear, I will choose a smaller size (size 14/16) Twinklehammer, but most of the time I fish with a size 12. The shape and design of the Klinkhammer/ Twinklehammer lends itself well to this style of fishing. This is due to the shape of the hook and the very buoyant hackle, which will suspend the nymph on the surface film.
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Guide To Fishing New Zealand Style
Klinkhammer or caddis-style dries are best and act as indicators
A 9ft tapered mono leader is best
Use a floating line; a 5-wt or 6-wt is fine
The dropper is tied onto the bend of the dry fly hook
3lb fluorocarbon
The nymph should be a size 16 or 18 Gold Head Pheasant Tail Flashback nymph
2
Which Nymph?
I only use one type of nymph for the dropper, but in various sizes – this is a Gold Head Pheasant Tail Nymph Flashback. This fly works well in all conditions. It has a little strip of neon crystal on the thorax, which gives it more visibility in coloured water. During low water conditions, the preferred size is for size 18 nymphs, while for normal water height, a size 16 will work best. It is important that you do not use too large a nymph as it will pull the dry fly under. A typical set-up that I use is as follows: a size 12 dry fly with a size 16 nymph fished underneath. A size 14/16 dry fly with a size 18 nymph tied underneath will also work. I’ll reiterate – it is essential not to use too big a nymph, or it will not fish correctly. Compared to normal dry fly fishing, the leader is relatively short. A long leader will lead to many tangles and trailing loops. I fish it with a standard 9ft tapered leader, tapering to 3lb, made by RIO or Varivas. This fish took a dry caddis.
Knotless tapered leaders have many advantages over knotted leaders, as they are quicker to tie on and lead to fewer tangles. On the end of the 9ft tapered leader, I tie on the dry fly. The dropper, about 18 inches in length, is then tied to the bend of the hook on the dry fly. For shallow sections of water and weeded areas, I reduce the dropper length to about 12 inches. The system of tying the dropper to the bend of the hook reduces tangles and allows the nymph to fish directly under the dry fly.
3
Reading The Water
When trout are rising in steady numbers, it is obvious they’re feeding on the surface. Then I fish with a single dry fly. Often, there are times when you only see the odd sporadic rise and not enough fish rising to concentrate on a dry fly. This is an ideal time for using the dry fly and nymph dropper. I have often seen fish that were rising go for the nymph when it is cast to them, as they were mainly feeding on nymphs and only rising to the occasional dry fly. Shallow runs and weeded sections are ideally suited to this technique. You are covering the water at two levels, with two different food items and therefore giving yourself twice the chance of catching fish. The seam of the current is often one of the best places and I fish the nymph dropper in all the places I would fish a dry fly, except for very slow, flat water where the splash of the nymph hitting the surface may put the fish down.
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Game Fishing
4
Drag-Free Drift
Ensuring that the flies fish drag free is essential. Drag is caused if your fly line sits in a faster current than the fly. Then the flies are pulled along too quickly, making them look unnatural. You very rarely get takes fishing like this! Positioning yourself to make the cast correctly is essential. I like to fish at 45 degrees upstream, so that the fish cannot see the fly line, but with the added advantage that you fish the fly with a much more natural drift. You can also mend your fly in order to eliminate drag, or throw some slack-line casts so that you will get a slightly longer drift. The key to remaining in contact with the fly and hooking fish is to use very short drifts. This means that you only let the fly float for about six to eight feet downstream towards you before recasting. The idea is to cover more water quickly and present the flies on different lines of drift. When fishing like this, trout will take on the first cast into a pool. When the dry fly moves or goes down, set the hook! Trout will spit the hook out very quickly, so it is essential to strike as soon as you can. The New Zealand style of combining a dry and a nymph is a rewarding and exciting technique. You are fishing flies at two levels, so there is a chance of a fish taking your dry fly and a chance they will take the nymph. It is my number-one technique for summer days, as you can catch fish all day long, even when fish are not rising. Try it and you will soon become a convert. It’s one of the most exciting forms of fly fishing you can do!
The beauty of the New Zealand the Newtechnique Zealand is that the dry fly is acts as an technique that indicator, you to the dry flyallowing acts catch like this. as an fish indicator!
Three Flies For New Zealand Style Fishing
Flies supplied by Donegal Fly Fishing Co
Elk Hair Caddis
Twinklehammer
Gold Head PTN Flashback
Hook: Tiemco 102 Y, sizes 13 to 19 Thread: Black Body: Hare’s ear dubbing Body hackle: Ginger cock hackles Rib: Silver wire Underwing: CDC fibres Overwing: Elk hair fibres Notes: This is an excellent dry fly for NZ style fishing as it’s so buoyant, making a great indicator to hang a nymph under. And it catches its share of fish, too.
Hook: Any Klinkhammer-style hook Thread: Black Body: Lureflash twinkle Post: Two CDC feathers Hackle: Parachute – badger or grizzle hackle Notes: This is probably a better all-round dry fly. It’s Andrew Ryan’s favourite. The bigger you make the hackle, the more buoyant it is. It’s best used with small, light nymphs underneath.
Hook: Sizes 16 to 18 Bead: Gold bead Tail: Pheasant tail and crystal hair Body: Pheasant tail Rib: Gold wire Thorax: Pheasant tail fibres Wing case: Neon strip of crystal hair Notes: This is a classic, all-round nymph pattern that’s perfect for hanging underneath a dry fly. The heavier it is, the more buoyant your dry fly needs to be.
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