hello everyone, new member ! - new to the board + New zealand nymphing

[andy_with_a_rod]

hi everyone!
im new to the board, so first off, hello!
im andy, im 22, and i've been a fly angler for 17 of those years (sounds like an alcoholics anon meeting :laugh:
i work in the fishing tackle industry in the uk, but wont disclose who for or what as because it generally attracts the wrong kind of attention. i'd be more than happy however to answer any questions you have about gear that you may otherwise not be able to dig out.
my main weakness is dry fly river fishing. im very fortunate in that me and mym dad run a small syndicate on the river dove which we stock minimally with decent browns, but fish as much for the grayling.
I do get myself onto the stillwaters as often as possible, but it doesnt always do it for me!

anyway, enough about me.

its grayling time again, and im keen on giving "new zealand" style nymphing a go, do many of you have much experience of said tactic? i'd be interested in information on knots, popular fly teams, sight indicators etc

cheers !

andy

[Will]

Hi Andy

Welcome to the board - it's a great place and you are going to learn loads!

I think it's a good idea to be up-front about who, in the tackle trade, you work for. That allows people to put any comments you may make about kit etc. in to context.

Lots of people on the board work for tackle companies, or have affiliations to major manufacturers - they add to the quality of the board significantly and generally get the respect of everyone else, even if we don't agree with them.

These are just my views by the way - I won't hold it against you if you choose to remain mysterious

Will

[FMartin]

Hello Andy, and welcome.

[andy_with_a_rod]

truth is i quite like the mystery will!

ok, thats fair comment, in hindsight the kind of company i'll be keeping wont be quite as devious as other cicles im in...... well, i hope not!

i work for Mullarkeys Fishing tackle www.mullarkeys.co.uk (all click throughs greatly appreciated!), im sales and retail manager there, infact, im currently on the front of the web site, top left of the x-mas promo holding the carp (wearing shades).

ive already learned loads! the casting discussions are fascinating, and grunde's videos have really got me thinking..
truth me told i feel a bit out of my depth with some of it but i'll be up to speed soon rest assured ! (might need some help though!)

[Will]

truth me told i feel a bit out of my depth with some of it

Hey, join the club!

W.

[andy_with_a_rod]

i was with hywel morgan the other day, some of the stuff he came out with baffled me totally!
having said that, a couple of guys on here saying "just hit the fooker" with regards to hauling technique is quite comforting, i can do that. i can hit the trees, hit the dam wall, hit the hat off my head. maybe im not as bad as i initially thought.... :;):

[andy_with_a_rod]

thanks fabian, appreciated !

fancy swapping dull staffordshire for a few weeks please?!

ab

[Daniel]

a couple of guys on here saying "just hit the fooker" with regards to hauling technique is quite comforting, :;):

I wouldn't take any notice of him, he gets confused sometimes and comes out with crazy advice. He can sure tie flies though :p

Cheers
Daniel

P.S Welcome to the board

[andy_with_a_rod]

no, i like that advice, it gives me excuses !

besides, i found having fly tying friends with more time than money is a great help for a fly angler with more money than time!.

[jomeder]

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the board, I've learnt heaps since I joined.

I don't have any advice about fishing for grayling, there was a native one which I think is extinct here in NZ, but I do a lot of NZ style nymphing. I take that to mean nymphs tied off the bend of the hook of a dry fly. I'm pretty new to flyfishing, only started in earnest in February this year, but I've caught quite a few fish just lately so I feel pretty confident talking about how I do NZ nymphing.

For a top fly I almost always use one of these indicator flies now :



They were shown to me by a guide called Martin Langlands. They have foam bodies and poly yarn wings. I like them for a few reasons. One is that they have a hook, and will catch fish which go for the indicator. I have caught a few fish this way. They are also very visible and float well even when quite heavy nymphs are tied off the bend. I do use floatant on them. For differing conditions, either lighting or spooky fish, you can use ones with a darker wing for easier visibility in glare or to look more natural to fish. The ones in the picture are tied on size 12 hooks. I reckon the brown one in particular looks pretty caddis like, so they aren't completely unnatural.

They can make casting a bit trickier if it's windy, especially if they're a bit bushy. If it's really windy I'll change to a more normal dry fly or use a small bit of indicator yarn.

You can use a regular dry fly as an indicator of course, the advantage of the indicator fly is mainly it can hold up heavy nymphs better and for longer. They can be be more visible too. I was fishing with someone a week or two back who was using a smallish Royal Wulff as an indicator. I was watching for it on the water but it was very hard to see. I ended up giving him one of my indicator flies because he commented on how visible it was compared to his Royal Wulff.

I mainly fish with nylon tippet, Maxima in fact. These days the only knot I use for tying on flies and droppers to hook bends is the Uni knot, instructions here. I don't think it's so good for flouro. For attaching flies to the bend of the hook I tie the knot like a big noose in the end of tippet, completely away from the hook. I then hook the loop of the "noose" over the hook of the other fly and pull it tight, lubricating it well with spit. This is so much easier than trying to tie a blood knot or similar round the hook bend.

I used to use blood knots all the time, but I started to have a lot of trouble with them failing when I tested them, perhaps as much as half of them. That wasn't good when tying up teams of flies with 5 or so knots involved. Since changing to Uni knots I've had about 2 knots fail when I tested them ( out of hundreds ) and the only time I've had them fail during fishing is when I've been lazy and not retied knots between fishing sessions ( when I'm using tippet rings, always retie the leader knot before fishing ! ), or after catching a decent fish.

I used to feel a bit iffy about tying flies of the bend of hooks, it seemed kind of dodgy. I don't think I've had a failure at a bend knot yet though, although I have had a hook with another fly tied off the bend which straightened a bit after a couple of good fights. The knot was still ok though.

I almost always use two nymphs. The rivers I fish in are often quite fast and I often use a double tungsten bead fly ( 2.3 mm + 2 mm, usually ) tied off the bend of the indicator fly, with an unweighted fly tied off the bend of that on a shortish length. Most of the time the fish take the unweighted fly, but I've caught quite a few on the heavy one too. This is for trout though, I don't know if that's appropriate for grayling. I have recalling reading that quite heavy nymphs bounced across the bottom are used for grayling sometimes.

Anyway, a bit of a spiel. I guess the relevant point is that Uni knots make it really easy to tie up teams of flies, especially when tying to the bend. The indicator flies aren't to everyone's taste, but I like them.

Regards,

Jo

[Will]

I've done well fishing nymphs under a Klinkhammer. You can tie the post in any colour you like, which can be either hatch-matching or (more commonly for me) a nice easily visible shade (pink or yellow or black).

Nymphs can be anything from the good old PT to any bead head patterns or leaded nymphs. I also fish small hackled wets under a dry; my favourite is an Endrick Spider.

It's worth varying the length of the tail from dry fly. This can be anything from 2x the depth of the water to 12" depending on the grayling's mood.

Hope this helps.

Will

[andy_with_a_rod]

jo and will, thankyou both!
i usually fish nymphs under a big old bright pink klinkhamer, so am not averse to using some kind of indicator.
the uni knot seems to be a dead cert by the looks of it, and really easy to tie which i appreciate!
the only issue i do have is that i would like to vary the distance between the surface fly and the point fly in seconds, not by tying up another leader. would this neccesitate using a sight indicator proper, or is there i know i dont know about which will allow the fly to slide up and down then leader?

just on the subject of grayling and nymphs, and this may well be big enough for its own topic, does anyone else find when using grayling bugs with the bead at the back of the hook that they lose an awful lot more fish? i gave up on them last time round because i would land one fish in ten, whereas the normal nymph/czech nymph would bring almost every fish to me

[Biology]

Hi andy_with_a_rod

That's a great username...

You mention the R. Dove, I assume that's in Derbyshire. I am an ex-pat of the E. Midlands now based on the North coast of Ireland. As a family in the 70's, we travelled to Derbyshire 6-8 times a year and only last week, I was sent a postcard of Dovedale and Thorpe Cloud. I love that part of the world. You have access to some beautiful lanscale scenery.

Best wishes

[andy_with_a_rod]

Hi andy_with_a_rod

That's a great username...

You mention the R. Dove, I assume that's in Derbyshire. I am an ex-pat of the E. Midlands now based on the North coast of Ireland. As a family in the 70's, we travelled to Derbyshire 6-8 times a year and only last week, I was sent a postcard of Dovedale and Thorpe Cloud. I love that part of the world. You have access to some beautiful lanscale scenery.

Best wishes

dovedale is slightly above where i do most of my fishing, though i do try to get up to buxton and matlock as much as possible.
dovedale is stunning, and you're right, i am very fortunate. want to get down there during a frost and take some pics for the board, so i can gloat!
where from the east mids do you hail? im near burton on trent, in a village called barton.

i like my username, though im afraid its seriously tongue in cheek !

cheers
andy

[Zoran]

Welcome on The Board Andy with a rod

Cheers,
Zoran