Fishing Forum

I took the Western European Nymphing class at Western River Fly Fishers (WRF from now on) this weekend and wanted to give you guys a quick review of it. Here is a link to their course description.

http://www.westernriversflyfishing.com/W...hing-Class

A little background, I have read Dynamic Nymphing by George Daniels and made a couple of attempts at czech nymphing on my own. While I had a good idea of what to do, I found it immensely helpful to have an experienced instructor watching me and letting me know what I was doing right and what needed improvement. I also liked the instructor's leader set up more than any of George Daniel's.

The class was taught by Nick Teynor who guides at WRF. I've seen Nick giving instructions at the outdoor expo a couple years in a row now and every time I've seen him I have been impressed by the depth of his knowledge. I think the class could better be called "Dynamic Nymphing" or something like that. It seems like we spent about half the time discussing tightline nymphing, then 40% on indicator fishing, and about 10% on dry dropper set ups. The first night of the class was at WRF's fly shop in Salt Lake, the second half is on the water in the Middle Provo.

Czech Nymphing: This was the portion of the class I was most interested in. Maybe just because it's trendy right now. I wasn't disappointed. Nick is a natural teacher and he did a fantastic job explaining just what needed to be done. He also tied everyone in the class a czech leader and provided the formula for how he did it. The next day on the water he worked with everyone as they fished pockets. I won't say my form was perfect by the end of class, but I knew the difference between a good drift and a bad one, and I think I'll be able to replicate it in the future. My old boxing coach said it takes 3,000 repetitions before throwing a hook is second nature, so I did not expect to master a new fishing technique on the first day with it. [] I did manage to catch a fish using this technique during the class though, and that was a good feeling.

Indicator Fishing/ Dry Dropper: I got more out of this portion of the class than I thought I was going to. I read voraciously about anything I'm interested in and so I was surprised that I had not come across many of the techniques that Nick taught. Examples of things I had not seen before were: how to set your indicator rig to fish a drop off, how to know how much weight a fly can support, a quick way to figure out which tippet to use for what fly, and Nick has a unique method of putting on thingamabobbers that does not kink your line. I also usually just check hatch charts and turn over some rocks instead of seining the river. It was very informative to see that done and I was surprised by the variety of nymphs that came out of some pocket water. I caught a few fish while practicing this portion of the class which is nice. I got some good casting techniques from Nick for casting in heavy winds as well.

I only have a couple of complaints and they don't really have to do with the instruction provided. The description on the website doesn't really give a good idea of what the class is going to cover. Also, the website says the class is $75 dollars and I was charged $85 by the shop. I didn't make a big deal about it because I wasn't concerned, but some people may be upset if they show up and the price is different.

The class is more than worth the money in the end. There was only myself and four others for the portion of the class that was on the water. There was plenty of one on one instruction and I'm really excited to get out and try everything new that I learned. For around eight hours of instruction from a well rounded guide with a ton of knowledge, I think the price is actually a steal. I highly recommend this class and as soon as my wife forgives me for paying for this one I am going to take the soft hackle class. [fishon]
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I found tight line nymphing to be a very effective way to fish Utah with it's relatively small streams. I developed my technique starting about 15 years ago. I had never seen or heard anyone else do it when I got started. Of course later I found out it's an old school technique around for decades. It has been independently developed countless times throughout the US and world. Interesting that WRFF is marketing this as part of a new trendy way to fish. I never bought into the trends and fashion show aspects of fly fishing. Doesn't impress fish. When I mainly fished alone far from the crowds, no one saw what I was doing or looked like anyways. Having said that these are not only incredible simple techniques that take little effort to master but they are extremely effective. Other than stalking really big trout up on Seedskadee I usually considered catching single digit #'s of trout per hour slow with tight line nymphing. It's also an extremely effective technique sight fishing silver salmon on small streams. While BH nymphs will work with silvers but I usually just substitute a weighted bh streamer. It's really just the same fishing technique and my catch rate usually mirrors that of trout fishing.
I never really got into the czech nymphing that much. While certainly trendy I don't consider it well suited for most Utah streams. When I fished larger waters elsewhere I still preferred the control and simplicity of fishing a single fly so I stopped using that technique.
Remember it's just fly fishing. Be sure to improvise, blur techniques or what every it takes to be a more effective where you fish.
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