Its All in the Head....What matters most the body or the bead head?.

Recently I posted a question on social media: "What is more important to you the body of the nymph or the bead ?" The results were close enough with 46% voting that the bead is most important and 54% voting that the body is the important aspect of the nymph. For me I am finding more often over the last few seasons that I am more focused on the bead size and colour rather than the dressing behind it when researching what is catching.

Over my last few fishing trips through out Europe, I have noticed a lot of anglers tying there nymphs in a style that has large beads and very small bodies. This observation lead me to this question and wondering if the body of the nymph truly mattered a great deal in the nymphs make up.  Yes you can argue the point it has it purposes of moment and coloured hot spots to help attract fish. For me to understand how important it really is we would have to see actually how successful would a plain bead on its own with out a body.

The bead serves several purposes on a hook, one to find the depth of a fish and secondly the colour options also give it the ability to attract fish takes. So one morning I decided to head to the river and fish just beads on a hook, no body, no tails, no thread, just a bead super-glued on to a bare hook.

Using my normal nymphing rig and fishing no different that any other time, I cast the body-less nymphs into the stream and it didn't take long till I began to get my answer. Within a 20 minute period I had successfully landed up to 18 fish ranging in sizes from six inches to nice lumps around the ten inch mark. The takes were just as aggressive as normal ones and I caught the fish in fast and slower water where the fish had time to inspect the bait.

Now I am not saying that we should abandon the nymph bodies all together, as on any given day one thing will work better than another. However this dose show us that the emphasis on the bead can be crucial and it can be the factor that catches the fish. It is also something that I will have in my box for next year and do some more fishing with to see how it fairs out over a longer period of time on the rivers. This is something for you to mull over during the winter tying months as you prepare for next seasons fishing and are filling your boxes with your favorite patterns .
Check back soon as over the coming weeks ill be looking at some Winter tying and preparations for next season, I will be posting some of my favorite patterns that I wouldn't be without going into 2019.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post. If you have any questions or queries please feel free to contact me. Also make sure and check out my website www.piscari-fly.com for all your tungsten beads, Dohiku barbless hooks, the amazing Syndicate Fly Rods, Reels, leaders and much more. Thanks for reading.

Early Season River Nymphs

It wont be too long now till the months of February and March when we begin to see the return of the nymphing anglers back on the water after a long winter. Eager to wet the winter tying's and see if the new patterns will tempt fish from the runs of their favorite rivers and streams. The enthusiasm of the angler can be quickly dampened as the cold waters prove it quite difficult to entice a trout to take. At this time of the year brown trout’s metabolism is low and they are still lying in their winter protective lies. So, fishing the typical runs and spring/ summer lies will often lead to disappointment and poor catch rates. 

However, searching through the waters you can discover the more protective places that there could be a chance of a fish or two. These are usually along the margins, in deeper pockets, or places where the fish would remain safe from the winter high waters and cold weather. It is often the case also that you will come across pods of trout in these places, moving from pod to pod will result in a productive day during early spring for the fly angler.
So once you find the fish the next question is what you are going to throw at them to get them to open there mouths. The fish are on the border line from being in their winter feeding mode and their spring hunger encouraging them to snap at anything going by. Selecting the right pattern could be the key to catching rather than blanking.
Here are a few nymphs that I have found to be attractive enough to hook up some early season trout. 

1.Hare’s Ear Grub

Hook: Dohiku 644 or 622
Bead: Copper 3mm-4mm
Thread: Olive tying Thread
Rib: Flat Copper Tinsel
Body: Natural Hares Ear dubbing
Thorax: Mixed Hot Red Dubbing and UV Ice Dubbing

This is a great fly for early season nymphing but will also produce fish throughout the season. I find it best on the point and you could also add some flat lead in the under body to give it that extra weight to get down to the deeper fish.

2.Leggy Caddis

Hook: Dohiku 18-16 Jig
Bead: Slotted Gold or Copper 3mm-4mm
Thread: Olive Tying Thread
Tag: Glo Brite No 12
Tail: Natural Partridge Fibres 
Rib: Gold or Copper Wire
Body: Natural Hares Ear Dubbing
Thorax: Hends Peacock Dubbing
Legs: Speckled Rubber legs
Great Jig nymph and aa great attractor pattern for getting fish to open there mouths. This nymph can be successful on either the point fly or on a dropper. By jigging the rod tip up and down you get those legs moving and they can be a real trigger point for the fish.

3.Black & Orange

Hook: Dohiku 18-16 Jig
Bead: Slotted Gold or Copper 3mm-4mm
Thread: Black Tying Thread
Tail: Glo Brite No 9
Rib: Copper Wire
Body: Root Beer flat tinsel
Hackle: Black CDC Spun and Brushed Back
Thorax: Hends Peacock Dubbing

Another favourite for early season, black can be a good colour if the waters are a bit mucky at this time of the year. The CDC has lovely movement in it when it’s swimming through the runs and the little orange tail peeping through is just enough to entice the fish to have a taste. This fly is one of my go to fly’s no matter where I go.

At this time of year I like to have some movement or bushiness to my nymphs. I tend to stick to more natural colours and materials and use larger beads with smaller bodies to get the nymphs down right where I want them. But a key to successful fishing trips in the early parts of the season is your work rate. You must search the rivers for the fish and don’t be afraid to look in the unlikely spots, you may be surprised, Tight Lines.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and trying out some of these fly's and enjoy catching fish with it even more. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a shout on my contact details and if you are interested in Dohiku hooks, top quality tungsten beads, or Syndicate competition Fly Rods drop me a line or check them out on my website. Thanks for reading.

The Last Cast: River Nymphing In Autumn

Were well into that time of the year now when the leaves are turning and the evenings are more noticeable shorter. While the sedge fishing can still be productive on occasions and the day time rises of hungry trout are becoming more prolific, nymph fishing at this time of year can also still be very productive. Here is a couple of nymphs that tend to catch the eyes of the hungry trout during the Autumn months.

It is this time of the year we see the return of the Iron Blues, the colder evenings and gusty winds encourage hatches of this fly on the rivers. For the dry fly purest there is a opportunity to get in the last of the surface action before the winter sets in and the seasons close. This little nymph can produce some good catches if you come across hatches of the IBD.

Hook: Size 14-20 301 Dohiku
Bead: Tungsten White 2mm-3mm
Thread: Wisp Hot Orange
Tail: Coq De Leon
Rib: Fine Sliver Wire
Body: Grey Heron or substitute (grey thread will do the job also)
Thorax: Black Hare and UV mixed
Collar: Thread used for the fly

Hook: Dohiku Jig Size 14-20
Bead: Orange Gold sixe 2mm- 3.5mm
Thread: My Nano silk
Tail: Coq De Leon
Rib: Fine copper Wire
Body: Pheasant Tail Natural
Thorax: Orange Spectra Dubbing

I am finding orange to be a great colour this September as tags, tails, collars and these beads. Orange gold, I call them, have proven to be a serious addition to my nymph box this season. This simple Pheasant Tail is undoubtedly one of the greats. 

Hook: Size 14-16 Dohiku Jig
Bead: Tungsten Gold size 3mm to 4mm
Thread:Orange
Tail: Partridge Dyed Orange
Rib: Gold Wire
Tag: Glo-Brite Orange
Body: Olive dubbing Mixed Hares Ear and Squirrel
Thorax: Spectra Dubbing Oeange

Loving these olive nymphs for the deeper pockets in the rivers,where the fish tend to hang out this time of year reserving their energy for the migration months to come.

Here is a couple of the simple fly's that will give you a very sporting afternoon on the majority of rivers around the country this time of the year.

The season has come to its encore here in Ireland and you should try and get out as much as possible before the winter sets in. I hope you enjoy the last remaining days of the season and tight lines.  

If you have any questions please feel free to give me a shout on my contact details and if you are interested in Dohiku hooks, Tungsten beads, or the amazing Syndicate Fly Rods then check them out on my website. www.piscari-fly.com. Thanks for reading. 

Fly fishing in the Czech Republic

I am just home from a short five day fishing trip to South Bohemia, Czech Republic on the river Vltava. I went to this part of the World to practice for a Championship that will take place here in four to five weeks time. I have traveled to various places through out Europe similar to this trip and I find the short stay can be very productive in gaining experience and knowledge of fishing rivers, nymphing techniques, streamer and good dry fly fishing. The trips if well planned can be cost effective and you can access some cracking fishing and meet up with some really experienced anglers with out costing a packet. I will put up a post shortly on traveling to some of these destinations and tips I have found useful on how to get there, organizing your trip and value for money.

This trip was like most others I began in Dublin and landed in Prague, then a two and half hour drive through the countryside lead me to Pension Florian, Frymburk my accommodation for the trip. The cost of pensions in this region are very reasonable and good quality too.

A prearranged meeting on the Wednesday  morning for half five came quickly and once I grabbed a coffee I followed Milan Hladik to the lake venue for our first session. It was the first day of the trout season in this region and the lake was packed by the time we got there, but we squeezed into a spot and had some nice action pulling lures catching some rainbows and charr. For the afternoon I moved to a river section on the Vltava called the Devil stones, this section of the river runs through

woodlands  and the water is channeled through a gorge of boulders that offer great pocket nymphing for dark wild brook trout. There was a nice hatch of olives on this section and the fish were picking them off as they tumbled down the rapids, catching these opportunistic trout was good sport as I lost myself for a couple of hours jumping around the rocks to see what the next pool held in store.

Day two I focused on the middle sector of the competition water and after a spell of investigation of the beats I fished a section just outside Vyssi Brod. This area of the river is catch and release so it holds a nice stock of trout, some rainbows and grayling. The trout were freely rising to the hatch of morning sedge's in the sunshine and offering them something in the right size and colour they would oblige you with some sport. In the faster water the nymphs produced some good fishing also.

On the Friday I moved further down the river to the larger waters around Rozmberk. I have fished this sector before and know that some searching might have to be done to find some quality fishing as this section is heavily fished by anglers spinning and fly-fishing. But setting up a nymphing rod and a streamer rod while covering a section of water you will come across some good sized rainbows, browns, grayling and charr. The water here is heavier than other sectors and you must be comfortable with deep wading to achieve good results.

The smaller river sector you have to shorten up your leaders to be able to pin point where you want your nymphs to land and be able to maneuver them through the rapids while on the larger sectors a longer leader system will produce better results as the river opens up you can fish the nymphs much further away from you effectively.

The trip over all was well worth it for me and now I can take the information and prepare myself better for the coming championships. This location is worth a visit for all anglers and here you can have the opportunity to meet good anglers through nymphing schools and fish some different European waters. The average costing for the trip to this location was in the region of 550 euro including all costs with some beers thrown in there two. You would be advised to make contact with the local angling bodies to arrange you permits for the region before you travel and make yourself aware of the local laws to fishing.

With some key tournaments around the corner, Irish training days and the prep for the World finals entering the closing stages make sure to keep an eye out on the blog.

I hope you enjoy reading this post and if you have any comments or questions just drop me a line below, also you can sign in and follow us. Thanks for reading.