Fly Fishing,    nymphing,    ralph cutter,    Video

Trout Eat A Golden Stone Nymph While The Angler Wonders Why The Fishing's So Slow

By Tom Chandler 5/28/2013

California fly fishing legend Ralph Cutter shot some video of trout repeatedly eating a Golden Stone nymph, while his wife (the angler) reported only saw the leader twitch once.



From the YouTube entry:

Golden trout eating nymphs every drift, but the (very experienced) fly fisher never feels a tug and only once sees the leader twitch. Split shot is painted orange for visibility (trout don't care) and nymph is treated with desiccant to make it shiny.

This, I believe, offers absolute proof of what I've always said: Nymphing is a tawdry technique practiced by degenerates, Satanists and PBR drinkers. "How is it proof" you ask?

It just is.

AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

47 comments
Thank god for stupid fat trout that devour big streamers!
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Hell. You.
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I'm late to this party. Sorry. But just wanted to let everyone know that the River Styx is dry fly only.
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[...] an indicator and attached it above my bead-head soft-hackle hare’s ear nymph. Yesterday I saw a video of trout repeatedly mouthing a nymph unbeknownst to the angler, which made me wonder how many takes I’m missing. So I got some indicators (the fancy term [...]
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yes DCG I agree with you . Thanks
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I rarely would lower myself to fish with with a bobber, haven't in years, but I love me some PBR. You beer purists make drinking too elitist.
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Some forms of elitism die hard. From G.E.M. Skues "Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream" (1910): "Is it a duffer's game? Is it easier than dry-fly fishing? Try and see. Does it lead to the pricking and scaring of fish which follow a dragging fly? No. Does it unduly disturb long stretches of water to the detriment of a brother angler? Why, it is as easy to spend an afternoon on a hundred yards as it is ... more in the purest cult of the dry fly... "... I may claim that it is an art worthy to stand beside the art of the dry fly as a supplementary resource of the angler that is at once fair, sportsmanlike, and capable of adding immensely to his enjoyment, his sport, and his opportunities for using the highest skill, not inferior in any sense.. to that exercised by the dry-fly expert."
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Loon: Using emacs is like nymphing with a big plastic indicator, 3 or 4 SA split shot and one of those 10?+ “Ultra” fast rods. Nuff said. For your slur, you're going to hell too -- and sooner than everyone else. Insult my kids, that's OK. Insult my text editor...
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Tom Chandler: Emacs, of course. Using emacs is like nymphing with a big plastic indicator, 3 or 4 SA split shot and one of those 10'+ "Ultra" fast rods. Nuff said.
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Loon: Yes, I know. A certain old timer (on certain river) politely asks me each year “So, are you still dredging the bottom?” As if someday I will find my way. BTW, given all the comments Tom, it seem the dries vs dark side debate is still running strong. Reminds me of how programmers still debate the relative merits of vi and emacs. Emacs, of course.
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DCG: I already knew I was going to hell.So if I vow to never fish any fly but a dry fly, will I be redeemed…..or because of ‘nymphing’ sins of my youth, I am beyond hope? Is there salvation? I'd guess the sheer volume of your impure thoughts dooms you...
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What I can't figure out is what was the indicator doing so far below the surface and so close to the nymph?
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Trout chaser- Probably spent 200 hours under the Big Wood. Amazing place. Love it! I sincerely doubt you felt "every twitch and pulse of the fly". From underwater I've watched some of the best anglers on the planet drift a nymph or pull a streamer on a taught line and swear they never had a bump when multiple fish had their fly in its mouth. Two handed nymphing is beyond me. I think it can be done ... more with just a left foot. As to reconstituted camel piss, I must agree, but you gotta hydrate somehow and bottles don't work on the river. Cheers!
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But unfortunately real nymphing requires both hands, so a can of reconstituted camel piss in the left simply won’t work. And that's why this was invented: http://www.amazon.com/Novelties-65483-Legally-21-Drinking/dp/B005FR92LG/ref=sr_1_16?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1369876834&sr=1-16&keywords=drinking+hat
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Ralph C: Urban legend. I used to believe that too, but have seen enough undetectable fish self-stick when the tippet tightens to the resistance of the weight that my hunch is that the shot actually increases hook up rate. The REAL key is a sticky sharp hook and a PBR in the left hand. As to urban legend, I couldn't say. This is just something I worked out for myself nearly twenty years ago. It ... more is worth noting that I do not use indicators. I was fishing the Big Wood River here in Idaho for several weeks one winter, and it became painfully obvious that shot or twist-ons on the leader made it many times more difficult to feel the take. Even when I could see the fish take the nymph, (quite often in that clear, shallow water) I often could not feel it. Removing the shot allowed me to feel every twitch and pulse of the fly itself, rather than the dead weight of lead... I agree about the sticky sharp hooks. That's a good habit to have for any method. But unfortunately real nymphing requires both hands, so a can of reconstituted camel piss in the left simply won't work.
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The thing about fishing 'dry fly only' it takes so much lead to sink them.
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Ah, yes. Hell. [Dan] What a pretty pool. Oh, and look at that enormous, lovely trout at the bottom. [Beezlebub] Here, borrow my rod. [Dan] This is a sweet Winston WT Trout with a matching Abel Trout reel. Nice! Thanks! It looks like that gem down there is rolling on midges. Got any nymphs I could borrow? [Beezlebub] Nope, but here's a box of dries. [Dan] No. No way. Aw, come on. [Beezlebub] And they're ... more pre-coated with a super-gel floatant a former Loon employee created for me. No drowning these babies. Heh! [Dan] NOOoooo!
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Yeah, I don't drink alcohol (thus providing a clue for my first post). I guess I could guzzle more iced tea but that just makes me have to pee more. Kinda like beer but without any inebriation side-effects. Hail Satan.
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Tom Chandler: And yes, you’re going to hell. Yes, I know. A certain old timer (on certain river) politely asks me each year "So, are you still dredging the bottom?" As if someday I will find my way. BTW, given all the comments Tom, it seem the dries vs dark side debate is still running strong. Reminds me of how programmers still debate the relative merits of vi and emacs.
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Great amusment for lunchtime.....Soooo,with all of us going to Hell (I've been there,bottom of Highway to Hell 395, Boron,CA) because of Nymphing,will there be Nymphettes there too?? Just sayin'....
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I haven't had a drink in nearly 8 years...though I am having serious thoughts I may have been wrong about it. I guess as I understand, Jesus hates a quitter so in the interest of salvation, I believe I might have a drink again. But then again, I understand I am going to hell anyway for the unpardonable fly rod sins of my youth.
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Hell we are all goin to hell and its not just for nymphing !....
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Tom Chandler: There you have it — you’re going to hell too. What rule prohibits the drinking of cheap, awful beer when fishing? Tom Chandler(Quote) It's long been established I'm going to hell....... No real fear I was married to the head guy's sister for 5 years after that the fire, brimstone blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda Fact is my piscatorial misdeeds aren't even on the top 10 list of reasons ... more I'll be fishing right beside Sisyphus and his rock. Technically I'd like to point out PBR is not beer it is undiluted camel urine from concentrate. There is a huge secret facility in the desert someplace near area 51 where they carefully refine the camel .urine to suit the palate of the average Sage rod sink tip bohemian bobber current crop fly rodder. Good Bourbon or single malt are the flask fillers of choice for all of us of pure (ish) heart and good taste. The odd Guiness chilled streamside notwithstanding.
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I already knew I was going to hell. So if I vow to never fish any fly but a dry fly, will I be redeemed.....or because of 'nymphing' sins of my youth, I am beyond hope? Is there salvation?
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paul worsterberg of the deplacements: i’d love to see more underwater action to learn how these fishes feed. Going to hell like the rest of 'em. Sorry.
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When do I get to meet Leslie Stahl?
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Marty: Tom I’m inclined to agree with you There you have it -- you're going to hell too. What rule prohibits the drinking of cheap, awful beer when fishing?
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Dan: The other interesting observation was about leader/tippet material. It turns out that it’s all visible (sparkles) regardless of material or diameter. Fluorocarbon, nylon, larger diameter and small, the trout sees it all. The caveats to this data relate to presentation and shadows that line create. I'd seen this myself on several occasions. It's probably proof that all tippet manufacturers are ... more going to hell.
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Ralph C: The REAL key is a sticky sharp hook and a PBR in the left hand. For the PBR, you're going to hell.
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DCG: I don’t know if it is so much a self righteous act that some fishermen prefer to fish only the top inches of the water column rather than all of it, as it seems to some anglers, the depths of the river are perhaps best left as a trouts sanctuary…a place where they are live unharassed, at least by humans. For at least some of us, dry fly purism is largely a result of laziness. I'm basically too ... more lazy to rig two flies and an indicator, only to have to re-rig three casts later... Still, it's likely I'm going to hell.
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Dan: I’ve shifted from the thingamabobbers to yarn. I find I like the way yarn behaves. It doesn’t work as well for heavy rigs but seems more sensitive for everything else. You too are going to hell.
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fishskicanoe: I have a real affection for bobber fishing You're going to hell too (see reply to comment above).
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DCG: OK, I am and have been guilty of fishing the sunken nymph, even under an indicator. You're going to hell (see above). Sorry.
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Loon: Next up: Dry floats by hungry trout taking Golden Stones by the tens. Bamboo wielding angler curses loudly… I think he said “%*@#!, Its cloudy they must be eating PMDs.” A certain cranky rodmaker once told a customer they were "going to hell" (they'd asked him about the nymphing qualities of one of his rods). Ever since then it's become the Unofficial Tagline Of The Trout Underground. And yes, ... more you're going to hell.
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Dan: More stuff to learn. Or, you could just drink more and wait for the trout to stop doing weird shit. Just saying.
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I've shifted from the thingamabobbers to yarn. I find I like the way yarn behaves. It doesn't work as well for heavy rigs but seems more sensitive for everything else.
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What I do with squirrels is my own god damned business. As for split shot, there's a pretty new book out called "What a Trout Sees" that comments on that. The authors spent some time in dry suits snorkeling with trout and observing their behavior under a variety of conditions. One of the interesting outcomes was that trout sample split shot a lot. It's just one more bit a flotsam in their world that ... more might be food so they taste it quit often. I snag a lot of fish in the San Juan when I run a bit of shot and I wonder if that's because they are rolling the shot around in their mouth when I lift. The other interesting observation was about leader/tippet material. It turns out that it's all visible (sparkles) regardless of material or diameter. Fluorocarbon, nylon, larger diameter and small, the trout sees it all. The caveats to this data relate to presentation and shadows that line create. Interesting stuff.
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that is a great video with comments almost better. i'd love to see more underwater action to learn how these fishes feed.
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trout chaser: Taking the damn split-shot off the leader does wonders… Urban legend. I used to believe that too, but have seen enough undetectable fish self-stick when the tippet tightens to the resistance of the weight that my hunch is that the shot actually increases hook up rate. The REAL key is a sticky sharp hook and a PBR in the left hand.
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I don't know if it is so much a self righteous act that some fishermen prefer to fish only the top inches of the water column rather than all of it, as it seems to some anglers, the depths of the river are perhaps best left as a trouts sanctuary...a place where they are live unharassed, at least by humans. When I attended Hunter Safety with my kids, they said something in there that really stuck with ... more me....practicing true conservation is doing the right thing, even when doing the wrong thing is not necessarily against the law. Fly anglers like to draw their own lines...perhaps barbless hooks always, catch and release always, soft nets always...and to some of us, unweighted flies and fishing only the top inches of the water: the surface, in the film or an inch or two under. The fish has to be lured away from it's comfort zone to take the fly. This is of course opinion only. Mostly, I don't judge the avid nymph angler...rather I feel sorry for them.
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Tom I'm inclined to agree with you..... a few of my rules of fishing apply (cool vid but definitely further proof that one should keep one's honor and fish dry) Rules 23, 29, and 30 apply (currently 32 but the list grows every year) and FYI I prefer Holy or Annointed one to purist ;) 23. Sink tip lines, streamers, and nymphs are for perverts and squirrel molesters. Although a subject of debate it ... more is possible that these are actually worse than fishing bait as the offenders are fly fishermen and should know better 29. Despite the idiotic claims of the streamer and nymph perverts big fish do eat bugs all the time and properly presented even midges claim their fair share of 25”+ trout. Fishing a muddler or other traditional streamer now and then is not a sign of moral turpitude but should be kept to a minimum. 30. It is acceptable to nymph when necessary but fish caught by this method only score half the points of those awarded were the fish caught properly with a dry fly. This point is really only between you and your God/s as you shouldn’t be keeping score anyway.
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....tick, tick, tick.... "Next up on Sixty Minutes of Trout Fishing, videos of trout laughing at anglers" .....tick, tick, tick ...."join us in two weeks as reporter Tom Chandler visits with nymphs as they attempt to unionize the Sac" ....tick, tick, tick ...."back after these commercial messages" tick, tick, tick.
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Taking the damn split-shot off the leader does wonders...
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It would have been interesting if they had tried the same fly hanging from a thingamabobber to compare the how many takes she would have detected compared to her worked drift. Much to the consternation of my dry fly purist and indicatorless nymph friends I have a real affection for bobber fishing. That little jiggle/dip of an indicator is almost as much fun as was watching my red and white bobber ... more dance around when I fished worms back when I was a kid. (Or walleyes on slip bobbers and leeches when I go up to the Boundary Waters, for that matter.)
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OK, I am and have been guilty of fishing the sunken nymph, even under an indicator. I have a collection of beads big enough if I used them as bird shot, I would reload them into shot shells to make several boxes of ammo. I have enough Uni Wire of every color in a rainbow's unseen tones and hues to make a wire rope sling to do hoisting and rigging with. I am and have been guilty of this....but oh so ... more seldom anymore and each year, with less and less love of the approach. I remain somewhat open minded to how others fish so long as they clean up after themselves and practice conservation laws...at least. I have been known in the past to put a small beadhead under a dry fly hopper on small streams, but in truth, it has been a long time since I fished two flies and while I know I possess some strike indicators, for the life of me, I forget where they are. I live within half a dozen miles of Idaho's South Fork Snake River and around an hour away from the Henry's Fork (North Fork). Both are deemed two of the finest dry fly waters in the US, however, other than certain 'high profile' stretches of the HF, it seems the majority of fly fishing even with a guide is done with sunken nymphs (note I said nymphs...as in plural) under a strike indicator. It catches fish, though it would appear from the video that many takes go without notice to the angler. For over 30 years, I have fished with a fly rod. I don't consider myself even all that much accomplished and I am most definitely not a purist, but the more I do it, unless the pattern I fish is fly represents prey (water or land born) that is either emerging, hatching, adult or dead land or water born, I am really not all that interested. I prefer the take to be visual, so it needs to be presented pretty close to the surface. Even my stillwater fishing is moving away from sinking lines and sunken patterns. Now and then I do like to pitch meat flies for bass and fall brown trout. I like the sudden jolt of the strike. But for this comment, I am talking the fishing I love to do the most. Thx for the posting.
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I nymph and I'm two out of three on your short list. Huh. On the other hand, I've observed a dry fly purist cast over and over and over onto a run without a single hint of interest from any fish. Then he changed flies and repeated the process, over and over. What's the definition of insanity again? More seriously, I recently took a trip onto a property with well managed, crystal clear ponds and I ... more got an education on what a trout sees and does with dries and streamers. All my years of fishing and I truly did not fully appreciate how a trout behaves under the water. Similar to this video, I came away realizing that a lot goes on when it appears that fishing is slow and that I'm probably not taking the correct steps to change the outcome on those days. More stuff to learn.
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Next up: Dry floats by hungry trout taking Golden Stones by the tens. Bamboo wielding angler curses loudly... I think he said "%*@#!, Its cloudy they must be eating PMDs." ps: very cool video. Thanks Ralph.
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