Selecting Nymphs (5 of 14)

Nymphing is one of the most effective ways to catch trout day in and day out. It works all day long whether trout are rising or not and in all kinds of water. Feeding trout seldom pass up a well presented nymph and will accept these flies more readily than dries or streamers in most cases. Artificial nymphs can imitate the larvae of mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, midges, and also freshwater crustaceans, like scuds, crayfish, and even aquatic worms. But the method of presenting all these imitations is the same. What fly do you tie on? Most people think that trout are not as selective when feeding under the surface, and you might want to pick a nymph that's popular in the area or one that a guide told you about. But in an unfamiliar stream with no other help, we can get an educated guess by looking at submerged rocks and along the edges of rivers. One thing you can do when you're nymph fishing, the obvious thing is to turn over some rocks and see what's on the bottom. Here we've got these Brachycentrus, I think. Anyways, they're caddisflies. They're cased caddis flies. I think they're Brachycentrus. We don't need to know the Latin name. You turn over a rock and you try to see what's in the river and then you try to match that with the closest thing in your box. All you know is what's there in the water. It's a clue and it's a start. But not knowing exactly what the fish are taking, you're at a disadvantage, and that's why fishing with a wet fly or a nymph is so exciting, mysterious, and interesting.