By Brett Pauly
Daily News
May 8, 1997
Outdoors Editor Brett Pauly's column appears Thursdays in the LA Daily News.
Be quick -- don't let that trout have time to spit wet fly out.
MAMMOTH LAKES -- In the world of wet-fly fishing, you are only as good as your strike indicator.
It serves as your eyes, a window to an opaque current through which a submerged hook of fur and feathers entices its target.
Nothing is so essential to success as the tiny piece of yarn or plastic attached to the leader. If interpreted correctly, it will reveal everything impacting the fly on its underwater travels.
Experienced anglers can tell by the subtlest movement if the nymph pattern they have selected has hit a stone, a weed or the maw of a 3-pound brown trout. They know to set the hook only when the latter is at line's end.
I, on the other hand, tend to set anytime the indicator changes its course, which isn't bad practice when the distraction is a fish programmed to immediately exhale anything with a hint of artificial flavoring. Most of the time, however, it's a rock or other obstacle, and my flailing only serves to imbed the point deeper.
Consummate fly-angler and casting instructor David Moss of Mammoth Lakes described in his matter-of-fact tone how it is supposed to work:
"What happens is this fly drifts in front of the fish, the fish opens his mouth, takes it and, generally, it causes something to happen to the indicator," he said. "The indicator will stop dead in the water, it will shoot upstream, it will go sideways or go down. It will do something, even if it is just a little 'tick.'
"You then have to react to that, quickly, because he (the 3-pound brown) then realizes it's not what he thought it was and spits it out. So timing is very important."
Easier said than done, as I found out when Moss introduced me to a fly-fishing technique known as dead-drift nymphing on nearby Hot Creek. Restricted to barbless flies, the catch-and-release tributary to the Upper Owens River is rated among anglers and fishing periodicals as one of the top three wild-trout streams in the West.
"If somebody wants to learn nymph fishing, we come here," Moss said upon our arrival at the Hot Creek Gorge. "This is a nymphing stream; that's the way it works."
It's what I wanted to hear, because I'm a dry-fly fisher from way back. My indication of a strike is a can't-miss splash on the surface. (Of course, I still can miss the set and frequently do.) You can forget that luxury when fish prefer a diet of waterlogged bugs, which is most often the case.
A nymph is a wet-fly pattern designed to imitate a subaquatic insect, such as the pupa or larva of a caddis or mayfly. In other words, it's the waterborne stage of a creepy crawler before it takes flight. Biologists say fish feed substantially more on subsurface bugs.
In Hot Creek, resident browns and rainbows gobble patterns anchored with brass bead heads, which serve to sink the nymph. Other weighted wet flies, such as brassies, also work well.
The idea behind dead-drift nymphing is to allow the fly to drift in a natural manner -- a dead motion, if you will -- through the current to a spot where a fish is waiting for food to come to it.
By placing a split-shot sinker behind the nymph, the fly drifts directly under the indicator and all the terminal tackle -- fly, sinker, tippet, leader and indicator -- moves downstream at the same rate of speed and in a more realistic fashion essential to fooling the fish.
"As the trout takes the fly, that's when the indicator does its thing and tells you something's happening," Moss said.
To set the hook, he recommends initiating a back cast, which in nymphing is a fairly firm, quick motion, as opposed to a delayed set typical of dry-fly fishing. Avoid the temptation to reel in the fish or it might bounce off the hook in the riffles. Strip it in by hand and you'll have an easier time landing your prize.
There is a mind-boggling array of variables anglers use to determine where on the leader to place the sinker and strike indicator. Speed and depth of water and where the fish are holding are important factors. At best, it becomes an educated guess fueled by experience.
For Hot Creek, Moss recommends placing a size B split-shot eight to 16 inches behind the nymph; a second sinker can be used in deeper, faster water.
Some fly-anglers prefer a strike indicator set four to five feet behind the nymph; Moss likes it seven to eight feet back, depending on the length of the leader, because he gets a longer drift from the nymph before seeing a false strike -- any hit (read: rock) other than a fish.
Casting all that armament might seem overwhelming for the dry-fly angler who has honed his technique with the softest possible touch. Fear not.
You don't need heavier gear; a 4-weight setup should suit you well on Hot Creek. The key to a successful nymph presentation is a slight delay at the top of your back cast.
"The greater the weight, the greater the hesitation. Otherwise you will not allow the line to straighten out and then you'll have a real mess on your hands," Moss explained.
You should see two splashes when you cast -- one for the sinker and one for the fly. If only one is apparent, the split-shot has been thrown off; crimp on another.
And speaking of splashes, you don't have to worry much about scaring trout, the way you do fishing with dry flies. Since the fish are feeding off the bottom or in mid-water, they are less concerned about what's happening on the surface. So, in many ways, nymphing is more forgiving.
The casts don't have to be pretty or long. Finesse? Put it out of your mind. Just get the line upstream 10 feet or so any way you can. Mending the line? Let the dry-fly crew worry about it. You've got weights to keep your nymph drifting along in style.
If it gets windy, add a little muscle and speed to the delivery. Pull the line out of the water faster, raise the rod higher on the back cast and cast lower as you bring the rod forward.
Then wait for a cooperative trout and let the strike indicator do its work.