Casting nymphs jump-starts fishing Imitation insects enable productive spring season

Brooks, streams, and then rivers finally free themselves of ice this month, and eager, winter-weary anglers ignore cold, uncomfortable weather and flock like lemmings to neighborhood waterways. If no nearby rivers offer open water yet, many sportsmen drive an hour or more to finally cast a line, a much more satisfying action than dropping it through a hole in the ice. Regardless of the generally slow fishing results, actually wading and standing in the stream, watching the water ripple, roll and flow, restores the dormant angling spirit. To actually hook a fish, perhaps even land it, further rejuvenates each fisherman.

Spring waterways are high, fast flowing, cold, murky, and debris-filled, all qualities not conducive to steady action. Without question worms are the most effective bait for spring water conditions, followed by lures, plugs, and live minnows. Flies are the least productive offerings, especially on central and northern Maine brooks and rivers this month. Having said this, it must be noted that devout fly casters would prefer catching one trout or salmon on a fly than half a dozen on bait. I’m one of those fanatical fly flingers, and I learned long ago that for early-season success, meager as it may be, nymphs are the answer.

Casting convert

One late April afternoon years ago, the bus delivered me home from high school. I lived within 300 yards of the Prestile Stream, arguably Aroostook’s best brook trout stream in the 1960s, and within 20 minutes I was changed into fishing togs and heading for a favorite bogan. Trout always moved from the cold, fast-flowing stream into the warmer, stagnant backwater for a couple of weeks during the freshet. Bait and bobber fishing always yielded a couple of 8- to 10-inch brookies for supper.

Often a half-dozen local kids and adults would haunt the Robinson bogan from about 3 p.m. until dusk, around 6:30. Only two of us were left by 5:30 this one evening when an older man, a stranger, showed up with a fly rod of all things. He spoke to each of us, admired the three fish we had between us laying in a snow bank, and then moved toward the eddy at the bogan’s mouth. Knowing glances and head shakes were exchanged between the other young bait caster and I. We’d seen our share of wet fly and streamer casters come and go over the years, empty handed for the most part. We were too young and naive to understand that fishing fulfillment isn’t always based on a creel census.

Off and on I’d glance over at the fly rodder, recognizing his experience and ability, having often watched my Dad’s accomplished presentations with a fly pole. I wondered at his odd style of casting and drifting the fly near the current line, unlike any streamer fishing I’d witnessed, when lo and behold 10 minutes into his efforts, his rod arced into a sharp bow. He worked a nice fish, at least 10 inches, near his waders, reached down to secure it, and to my complete shock, tugged the fly free and released the trout.

By his third fish, my worm rig was forgotten and I was standing on a spit of land downstream from the man, totally engrossed and fully mystified at his success. Doug Harrington was a local high school teacher, a fanatical fly angler, and my first encounter with nymph fishing. Over the years we became friends, and occasional fishing partners later in life, and I became a firm believer and spring nymph practitioner from that point forward.

Getting started

While trout and salmon feed on surface flies to a certain extent, especially during the summer, the bulk of their diet comes from below the surface. Cut open a trout’s stomach at any time of year and it will show evidence that more than 75 percent of the insects eaten will be nymphs, this is especially true in the spring. Most devoured nymphs will be small to medium in size and dark colored.

Nymphs don’t imitate the delicate form of dry flies nor do they have the vibrant colors of wet flies or the elegant flowing form of a streamer. Nymphs often appear scruffy, with scraggly bodies, legs, antennae, humped-back wing cases, and bushy tails, wings, or throats. If a dry or wet fly looked as rough and beat up, it would be discarded and a new pattern tied on. But for some reason, the more disheveled a nymph becomes, it often seems to entice even more strikes.

Many nymph patterns are very basic and even novice fly tiers can construct effective offerings. Some stoneflies, caddisfly pupae and larvae, and Mayfly emergers will require more materials, time, and practice to duplicate. Unlike other popular fly styles, most sporting goods stores carry only a spartan representation of the hundreds of nymph patterns. Find the right fly shop or local fly tier, however, and the selection expands greatly.

Newcomers to nymph fishing need to select patterns matching Maine’s most common insect species. Choose two dark nymphs for every light-colored pattern in a variety of sizes from No. 3 to No. 16 with some in 2X to 6X lengths. Regional trout and salmon will respond most frequently to sizes No. 8 through No. 12 regardless of season or water conditions, but it’s always good to have a few small nymphs when fish are being picky.

Stock one small fly box with the sizes mentioned in light patterns such as a Tellico, March browns, light olive caddis, albino stone, and a brassie. Dependable dark-hued nymphs include a Montana stonefly, zug bug, gold-ribbed hare’s ear, bead head olive hare’s ear, green drake, Hendrickson, and a Whitlock black stone. There are dozens of other well-known patterns but stick with these in the right size and fish can be taken from any Pine Tree waterway.

Gearing up

For the most part, fly fishing gear on hand will work just fine for nymph fishing. A 7 1/2- to 9-foot fly rod in 4- to 7-weight with a light to medium action will suit a variety of nymphing conditions. Select a reel that balances the rod well and has enough line capacity and drag potential to wear down a trophy trout or salmon in high, fast water.

Have one full sinking line and one floating line, each with end loop systems for quick change over. Use a 7- to 9- foot tapered leader and have several spools of tippet material from 2X to 6X to match various sizes and weights of nymphs.

Since fish often gently sip their nymphs, a strike can be very subtle, and anglers new to drifting nymphs will miss many takes. There are also grab-and-dash strikes that will be missed in moving water and the fish will spit out the fly if a hook isn’t set quickly. This is where a strike indicator works wonders for neophyte nymphers. A colorful piece of foam, plastic or floss attached at the line-leader connection will give a slight dip, twitch, or bob at the lightest strike, allowing the angler to react and set the hook.

Proper presentation

The first rule to fly fishing spring waters is to cast where the fish are holding. Avoid fast water and concentrate on eddies, backwaters, and slicks below islands, large rocks, and gravel bars. Work the slicks formed when two streams converge, as well as the shallows along shorelines and ledges. Fish will not chase flies in frigid water conditions, so the nymph must be very close for them to eat it, or even see it in the dingy April runoff.

Trout and salmon readily recognize nymphs for what they are: food. So if a fly is close, it’s mealtime. Fish are no less hungry after iceout, just slower and a bit vision handicapped.

If you use weighted nymphs, a floating fly line will suffice, but to skim or bottom bounce regular nymphs, a sinking line will be needed. For the best presentation and a drag-free float the angler should be positioned downstream or across from a promising lie. Each cast is laid out upstream or cross current and then line is stripped in as the nymph returns with the current. Allow no belly in the line and watch the strike indicator or feel the line in your fingers throughout the return drift. At any hesitation, lift the rod tip smartly.

It may take two dozen casts over a certain riffle or run to place the nymph just right for a fish to take. Precision, patience, and perseverance are the keys to successful spring nymph fishing. Long casts and complicated retrieves aren’t necessary for this style of fishing, just get the fly near bottom with a natural slow drift. Experienced nymph anglers resort to a small, unweighted nymph on a regular leader and a second larger, weighted nymph pattern on a dropper leader to really prospect a good hole.

If fly fishing is as much a discipline as a sport for you, and fooling one trout or salmon on fake feathers and fur means more than several on bait, nymphing is your niche. Every nymph-casting trip is a learning experience, and a rewarding one. April fishing is seldom ripe with steady action, but deep dredging with imitation insects that are favored fish foods is sure to up the odds. Casting nymphs is sure to jumpstart spring fishing.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com