During the 2013 season I spent a lot of the time fishing low rivers, like most of the other river anglers in Ireland. Fishing was not that easy there was a lot of weed along with the water quality being at a low for some time, but the fish were still there and had to feed. Apart from the dry fly I had a few good nymphs that were producing fish through out these tough conditions, but being able to present these nymphs properly to the trout was key to the success of the nymphs themselves.
I had began fishing by anticipating striking last year and this method had improved my catch rate by at least 15 to 20%, I will be putting up a post on this methodology of nymph fishing shortly, working up the margins of a run this method and these nymphs proved to be the most successful method I had for this season. Fishing a leader set up I make myself including a tapered section of 3.23 meters, this can be made of your own formula as I do or a tapered leader like a camou leader, just make sure there is a good spring in the tapered section you can add this to your leader by boiling the leader for three minuets; then join in a 28 cm sight indicator of straight dual mono with a small perfection loop at one end to attach your tippet material to. I use tippet ranging from 0.12 to 0.09 which a single nymph or some times a second nymph on a dropper is added. The single nymph approach I found to be better when fishing the lighter nymph and slacker water; I found this gave me better contact with the nymph and I was picking up less weed on my single nymph. Also when you don't have that extra knot in your set up, there is less chance of a break off at the dropper point when using the lighter tippet this and along with the extra spring in the tapered section which will help take the shock of a strike you should be able to fish fine tippets and not crack off the whole time when meeting fish.
Stealth is very important when fishing these conditions for both you and in presenting the flies to the fish; a good pair of knee pads will make this easier, more comfortable and protect your waders form the wear and tear of the uneven surface of the river bed when you are kneeling down to keep out of the trouts view thus allowing you to get closer to the lying fish. Understanding where the fish are lying is also an important factor and you should put some time into trying to get a grasp of this by watching and studying trouts lies and behaviors in low water, this will also give you your positioning and how to approach the section of water correctly so you don't spook the fish and you can work your way up through the run effectively.
Stealth is very important when fishing these conditions for both you and in presenting the flies to the fish; a good pair of knee pads will make this easier, more comfortable and protect your waders form the wear and tear of the uneven surface of the river bed when you are kneeling down to keep out of the trouts view thus allowing you to get closer to the lying fish. Understanding where the fish are lying is also an important factor and you should put some time into trying to get a grasp of this by watching and studying trouts lies and behaviors in low water, this will also give you your positioning and how to approach the section of water correctly so you don't spook the fish and you can work your way up through the run effectively.
Here are a few of the simple nymphs that i have found to to be effective when fishing in low water this season:
Hook: Hends BL500 size 16
Bead: Size 2.5mm Tungsten
Under body: Fine flat lead
Thread: Olive Twist tying thread
Tail: Cock De Leon
Body: Natural Peacock stripped and coated in UV resin
Wing strips: Yellow Goose Biots
Hackle: Natural squirrel plucked from the body skin and brushed out well.
Hook: Hends BL300 size 14
Bead: Size 2.5mm Tungsten
Under body: Fine flat lead
Thread: Red Twist tying thread
Tail: Cock De Leon
Body: Natural Peacock stripped and coated in UV resin
Collar: Red Twist tying thread
Hook: Hends BL300 size 18
Bead: Size 2.5mm Tungsten
Under body: Fine flat lead
Thread: Olive Twist tying thread
Tail: Cock De Leon
Body: Natural Peacock Dyed Olive stripped and coated in UV resin
Collar: Hends Spectra dubbing no 46
There is something about fishing a low river on a summers day and light nymphing that I really enjoy especially when you have a system and flies that are working for you. Its not the easiest of time to be out nymphing but I find it can be the most rewarding and it is in these environments that you will learn the most about your presentation, nymphs, and the trouts behavior. I hope you will give these nymphs a swim next summer when the rivers are low and reap the same rewards and satisfaction I had this summer.
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