Fly Tying

After years of fishing in different rivers from Poland down to Italy, here are my recommended 11 nymphs for the end of June and all July.

I have 4 types of flies :

• buggers
• caddis flies
• PT variants and micros (usually perdigon or frenchies)
• worms

A bugger for me is a nymph with a spiky look. Practically a nymph tied with lot of dubbing. Trout loves this kind of flies and I can say that are very productive:

• works great from Spring till middle of the Summer
• efficient in fast flowing and rocky rivers
• extremely good when stoneflies and caddisflies are well represented

I like to use them in big rivers, fast flowing parts with rocky and big stones or where water structures are predominant. Tying them on big sized hooks is a must, even size #8 and #10 are used and they work better compared with smaller ones. Short nymphing for the best control is mostly used as a technique.

Juicy caddis nymphs are very important because caddis insects are the main source food for fish in many rivers. For me, there isn’t a fishing day without using these 2 models below. I set these flies on my nymphing line in almost the same conditions like I use the buggers:

• works great from the end of Spring till end of the Summer
• caddis efficient in medium and fast flowing rivers
• fast flowing river with high volume of water means big flies, low and very clear rivers means small flies
• fishing style most used is short nymphing

My main combination is a peeping caddis with a pupae:

PT Variants – called also pheasant tails are mostly effective in ginger clear waters with medium slowing currents. From what I noticed, these flies are more efficient in:

• rivers with medium and small gravel
• rivers with less underwater structures and less rocky stones
• clear waters
• rivers with aquatic plants and warm water
• rivers with abundant hatches of dun flies and mayflies

I tied these flies on small hooks like #14 and #16. Only in the first part of the season I use bigger sized hooks but with time I decrease the sizes. As technique used I prefer the long nymphing technique and “peche a vue”. Long leaders from 4 to 6 meters work better than the classic ones.

My 2 best perdigons for this period are in the photos below.

I choose perdigon when the rivers are popular between fishermen and I see others fishing in front of me. The model tied with CDC collar is a “must” for me. I never start fishing with perdigon flies without this model.

I always start the fishing day with generic flies or also called searching nymphs. The idea is to try to discover what fish prefer in that moment.

For example the squirmy nymph or other worm nymph will be the first fly used for fishing in strong currents and deep pools. The reasons:

• big fish eat consistent food
• squirmy represent a good source of protein and is highly visible in water
• squirmy is also a stimulator fly, any slight disturbance animates the fly

I combined it with a PT variant all the time.

Another rule for me is to combine 2 nymphs in different colors: a darker one with a lighter one. I start with stimulator type of colors and depending on the results, I narrow my options.

I start the fishing days using big flies and depending of fishing pressure and how spooky are the fish, I change on smaller sizes or more discrete and natural colors.

Cheers,
Lucian