Tools
There is an old saw (pun intended) "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". That thought came to mind recently when ruminating about my recent foray into euro-nymph fishing.
Full disclosure, I don't like change very much. I am not a Luddite (I have been looking for a chance to use that word for a while now), but I learned from long experience in product development that early adopters usually get to discover the flaws in a product that the developers missed. So while I am not opposed to new things, you won't find me camping out on the sidewalk to get the latest iPhone. My kids, if they read this blog, would be nodding in violent agreement about now, mumbling something about a constipated Sherlock Holmes.
So imagine my horror when I walked into the old Austin Angler years ago to take an intro to fly fishing class, and I learned that not all fly fishing was dry flies and poppers. In fact the instructors had the audacity suggest that to consistently catch trout on our local river I needed to learn to nymph. I came to learn that nymphing was fly fishing, but with heavy flies and split shot that drift under the water's surface. The flies are kept just off the bottom by what looked suspiciously like a bobber. Of course now I am much more sophisticated, so I know these to be a strike indicators or suspension devices.
It took some time to get accustomed to this nymphing technique, but gradually I resigned myself to it though it felt sacrilegious at first.
My fly fishing life was then stable for several years, until a friend tried to introduce me to a fly fishing cult known as "Tenkara", who believe the way of enlightenment is to get rid of your fly reel. Naturally I resisted for a long time, and only gave in when it seemed like a good tool to introduce my wife and granddaughter to fly fishing our local creek. I bought a rod for them, but continued to fish a conventional fly rod setup. When they began out fishing me at least 5 to 1 with their Tenkara rod, I decided maybe I should try this method. Now I spend more time on our creek with Tenkara than conventional.
[caption id="attachment_844" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
photo credit Rigs Adventure Co.[/caption]
Euro-nymphing is the latest disturbance in the force. A product of competitive fly fishing (a phrase many believe to be an oxymoron), euro- nymphing usually involves a long light rod, usually greater than 10 feet in length, and an extremely long leader, 15 feet or more in length. Strike indicators and split shot are not used, rather flies are weighted with tungsten beads and lead wire to get flies to depth. Considered a more technical way to nymph, it is also very productive, once you learn the secret handshakes.
The real value in these "new" techniques came into play for me last summer in Yellowstone National Park. I was carrying 2 conventional rods, expecting that my wife and I would be catching cutthroats hand over fist on hopper patterns. But what began as a warming day with hoppers all around quickly changed as clouds moved in, rain began to spit, and the temperature dropped. Suddenly the hoppers were gone, and the fish stopped rising to our flies. Then my wife saw a nice cutty roll just below the surface, probably taking an emerger. Remembering Tenkara and euro nymphing tactics of tight lining heavy flies sub surface, I pulled the foam hopper off my tippet and set up a tight line nymphing rig on my conventional rod. A half dozen drifts later and I netted this Yellowstone Cutthroat, the first of many that day.
The moral to this story is this. I was able to adapt a technique not especially suited to my gear in order to have a successful day on the creek. Had I only known how to fish dry flies, we would have only caught a single fish that day, caught before the weather tuned. Tenkara and euro nymphing were additional tools I had in my tool belt that helped me enjoy one of the best days of fishing ever in an absolutely stunning landscape with bison all around us.
So keep learning new techniques. Try new water , new rods, and new flies. Sometimes all you need is a hammer, but it's nice to have a screwdriver and a sawzall for a rainy day.
Full disclosure, I don't like change very much. I am not a Luddite (I have been looking for a chance to use that word for a while now), but I learned from long experience in product development that early adopters usually get to discover the flaws in a product that the developers missed. So while I am not opposed to new things, you won't find me camping out on the sidewalk to get the latest iPhone. My kids, if they read this blog, would be nodding in violent agreement about now, mumbling something about a constipated Sherlock Holmes.
So imagine my horror when I walked into the old Austin Angler years ago to take an intro to fly fishing class, and I learned that not all fly fishing was dry flies and poppers. In fact the instructors had the audacity suggest that to consistently catch trout on our local river I needed to learn to nymph. I came to learn that nymphing was fly fishing, but with heavy flies and split shot that drift under the water's surface. The flies are kept just off the bottom by what looked suspiciously like a bobber. Of course now I am much more sophisticated, so I know these to be a strike indicators or suspension devices.
It took some time to get accustomed to this nymphing technique, but gradually I resigned myself to it though it felt sacrilegious at first.
My fly fishing life was then stable for several years, until a friend tried to introduce me to a fly fishing cult known as "Tenkara", who believe the way of enlightenment is to get rid of your fly reel. Naturally I resisted for a long time, and only gave in when it seemed like a good tool to introduce my wife and granddaughter to fly fishing our local creek. I bought a rod for them, but continued to fish a conventional fly rod setup. When they began out fishing me at least 5 to 1 with their Tenkara rod, I decided maybe I should try this method. Now I spend more time on our creek with Tenkara than conventional.
[caption id="attachment_844" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
photo credit Rigs Adventure Co.[/caption]Euro-nymphing is the latest disturbance in the force. A product of competitive fly fishing (a phrase many believe to be an oxymoron), euro- nymphing usually involves a long light rod, usually greater than 10 feet in length, and an extremely long leader, 15 feet or more in length. Strike indicators and split shot are not used, rather flies are weighted with tungsten beads and lead wire to get flies to depth. Considered a more technical way to nymph, it is also very productive, once you learn the secret handshakes.
The real value in these "new" techniques came into play for me last summer in Yellowstone National Park. I was carrying 2 conventional rods, expecting that my wife and I would be catching cutthroats hand over fist on hopper patterns. But what began as a warming day with hoppers all around quickly changed as clouds moved in, rain began to spit, and the temperature dropped. Suddenly the hoppers were gone, and the fish stopped rising to our flies. Then my wife saw a nice cutty roll just below the surface, probably taking an emerger. Remembering Tenkara and euro nymphing tactics of tight lining heavy flies sub surface, I pulled the foam hopper off my tippet and set up a tight line nymphing rig on my conventional rod. A half dozen drifts later and I netted this Yellowstone Cutthroat, the first of many that day.
The moral to this story is this. I was able to adapt a technique not especially suited to my gear in order to have a successful day on the creek. Had I only known how to fish dry flies, we would have only caught a single fish that day, caught before the weather tuned. Tenkara and euro nymphing were additional tools I had in my tool belt that helped me enjoy one of the best days of fishing ever in an absolutely stunning landscape with bison all around us.
So keep learning new techniques. Try new water , new rods, and new flies. Sometimes all you need is a hammer, but it's nice to have a screwdriver and a sawzall for a rainy day.
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