Top 5 Nymphing Techniques for Fly Fishing in Colorado
Fly fishing on a small creek near Crested Butte, Colorado.
Fly Fishing in Colorado requires anglers to have a large bag of tricks to successfully fool trout on the regular.
In the summer, you may be lucky enough to catch trout with a dry fly all day and often with ease. But proficient nymph fishing techniques are generally required during the remainder of the year.
Nymph fishing is a popular fly fishing method involving imitating the immature stage of aquatic insects, also known as nymphs, that live underwater.
Year-round, most of a trout’s food source comes from aquatic insets in the nymph stage. Thus nymph fishing is how we can most often catch fish.
By practicing a great cast, perfect mends, and choosing the right water and depth, nymph fishing can be highly productive.
Here are some of the basic nymph fishing techniques that all fly anglers should learn:
(1) Indicator nymph fishing: This method involves using a small floating device (i.e., something that looks like a bobber) or another floating indicator to detect when a fish takes the nymph.
Face the zone you’re fishing to, cast your nymph upstream, and let it drift downstream. Keep an eye on the indicator, and set the hook when it stops or moves unnaturally.
When I’m with clients on a guided fly fishing trip, I recommend they set the hook whenever they see any slight deviation in the indicator’s speed or trajectory.
The positives to indicator nymph fishing include it is relatively straightforward for beginners to learn. The negatives to indicator nymph fishing include a lack of feel and connection to the fly; the angler is mostly relying on sight to determine when a trout has taken the nymph.
For all nymph fishing techniques, it’s crucial to get your nymphs deep enough into the feeding zone. Most fish feed on the bottom of the riverbed throughout the day, and weight is often needed to get our nymphs deep. Using the drop shot method is a great way to get your nymphs down.
(2) High sticking: This method involves keeping your fly rod high and close to you, directly controlling the drift of the nymph as it moves downstream.
It's an effective technique for fishing in small streams or areas with obstacles and can be combined with other types of nymph fishing techniques.
When we are float fishing on the Gunnison River or any other Colorado trout streams, we often use a high-stick technique because it allows the angler to keep their flies in the water and out of hazards such as trees, shrubs, and rock gardens.
(3) Swinging: This method involves casting your nymph upstream and letting it swing downstream. It's an effective technique for imitating emerging insects, especially in slower-moving water.
Swinging is often used on larger rivers in the Pacific Northwest but is also helpful in some Colorado fly fishing applications.
For most fly fishing in Colorado, we use a swinging technique for generally no more than the last 5-10% of a drift. That’s because a swing doesn’t typically represent how an aquatic insect will naturally move through the water most of the time.
I recommend people to allow their nymphs to swing for just a second or two at the end of every drift, as this slight variation in the fly’s drift can initiate explosive takes from a hungry trout.
Pro Fly Fishing Tip: Always let your nymphs float the end of their drift, and always let them swing for just a moment before you re-cast upstream.
(4) Euro-nymphing: This specialized technique involves using a long, light rod and a short leader. The idea is to keep the fly in constant contact with the bottom of the river, allowing you to feel even the slightest take from a fish.
This technique differs from indicator nymph fishing because there is little or no visual sight of an indicator floating on the surface, telling the angler when there’s a take. An angler will use a long rod with a delicate tip to feel when a fish takes the fly. Heavy point flies (aka anchor flies) are used to get the rig down deep into the strike zone. When the fly required doesn’t have the appropriate amount of weight, anglers will add drop shot to the rig.
Learn more about adding weight into your fly fishing rig here.
Oftentimes, a sighter piece of line is attached to the leader to further help the angler know when a strike has occurred.
Euro-style nymphing is an incredibly effective form of fly fishing. However, it requires specific gear and lots of practice, making it appear approachable to the beginner fly angler.
Being said, on tailwaters, such as the Taylor River near Crested Butte, euro-nymphing is one of the best ways to catch fish.
(5) Dry-Dropper: This fly fishing technique combines a dry fly and a nymph, allowing you to fish both above and below the surface. The dry fly acts as an indicator AND an above-surface meal should a fish be looking up that day. The nymph will drift below the surface, similar to when using an indicator.
In dry-dropper fishing, an angler will start by tying on a buoyant dry fly such as a hopper, Chubby Chernobyl, or a Crystal Stimulator. Then, they will tie a piece of tippet to the bend of the dry fly’s hook to drop a fly below the surface.
The dropper fly should generally be tied 1.5x the depth the angler desires to fish.
The positives of the dry-dropper setup include the ability to fish on the surface and below the surface at the same time. The negatives of dry-dropper fishing include the lack of connection and feel to the nymph fly that an angler would obtain when euro-nymphing or high-sticking.
For more information on the pros and cons of the dry-dropper rig, check out this article.
Further, the depth of the nymph is more challenging to change than if fishing with a standard indicator. Changing the depth when dry-dropper fishing requires the angler to break off the dropper tippet and re-tie on a shorter or longer piece.
When an angler is struggling to catch fish with the dry-dropper method, they should consider adding weight into the system with the drop-shot technique.
In Crested Butte, and fly fishing across Colorado, I enjoy using a dry-dropper technique when it’s questionable if the trout will be feeding on or below the surface that day.
Summary: Nymph fishing is a broad set of fly fishing techniques crucial for any fly angler to learn when fly fishing in Crested Butte or anywhere in the American west. Nymph fishing can be tailored to the specifics of most rivers and be an effective way to fool a trout year-round.
Contact Jones Guides at trout@jonesguides.com should you need more information about nymph fishing on one of our Gold Medal trout streams near Crested Butte.
About the Author:
Dan Jones is an author and a premier Colorado fly fishing guide. Dan calls the Gunnison Valley home and finds Crested Butte angling one of the best things to do in this quaint rocky mountain community.
Dan specializes in fly fishing on the Taylor River, a recently named Gold Medal Trout fishery. He also guides float fishing from a drift boat on the Gunnison River and on tailored fly fishing adventures into the Colorado backcountry.
Crested Butte has incredible backcountry trout streams stuffed full of beautiful, wild trout!
Dan’s main fly fishing tool is a Scott Centric 9-foot, 5-weight rod from Scott Fly Rods coupled with a Ross Reels Colorado reel. When float fishing from a drift boat, he uses a Rocky Mountain Rafts SB-140. Rafts from RMR are affordable, durable, and some of the best rafts for fly fishing applications.
For more information about the best guide-tested fly fishing gear or inquiries about fly fishing with Dan this summer, contact Jones Guides at 970-219-6388 or at trout@jonesguides.com.
