Czech Nymphing, a fly fishing technique that just flat out catches fish. It basically involves tying one or two or three heavy nymph...
Czech Nymphing, a fly fishing technique that just flat out catches
fish. It basically involves tying one or
two or three heavy nymphs that sink very quickly and casting them into a deep
riffle, lifting them up and cast this unwieldy package of flies again. Most of us that have spent much time fly
fishing for trout or grayling undoubtedly have done something similar before
Czech Nymphing had attained a cult following, and without ever even thinking
about competitive fly fishing. It was
just a technique to use when there was no discernible hatch, or when you are
fishing swift water where a dry fly is hard to get a decent float, or when the
fish for one reason or another are just deep.
It is a very effective fishing technique that catches a lot of fish,
which is why competitive fly fishing teams have adopted the technique.
There is a lot of food for trout and grayling on the bottom
of the river, a good river is almost always full of nymphs under all those
rocks, a veritable smorgasbord just waiting to be washed into the current, either
from a misstep or emergence.
Czech Nymphing is all about fishing close, rod hand fully
extended, and basically fishing right below the end of the rod tip. Most of the time the fly line doesn’t even
contact the water, as the fisherman wants to feel the nymphs. The fisherman needs to observe the leader or
fly line if it is making contact with the water for any disturbance, a pause in
the drift, a tug on the fly, a unnatural movement to the left or right, no
strike gets missed.
Cortland Line Company has perfected the rod design for this
fishing, and is offering it for an incredibly reasonable $249. Designed from the ground up, if Czech
Nymphing is in your bag of tricks, you would be hard pressed to find a rod that
would outperform the Cortland Competitive Nymphing Rod, and you definitely will
not find one with that price tag.
The specs for this bad boy are as follows, it comes in a variety
of models from 2-4 weight, 9’6” to 10’6”.
It is the 10’ 6” rod 3 or 4
weight, which greatly helps in reach when basically fishing at the end of your
rod with your arm outstretched, that has garnered most of the attention. The action is what separates it from the
others, the soft tip allow every little strike to be felt, and to protect those
light tippets. Cortland has made a rod
that balances perfectly with most appropriate reels attached, a key issue when nymphing
all day to reduce fatigue and increase efficiency. While the tip is soft the rest of the rod is
fast action, using single foot guide to reduce weight, and fighting butt to
counter balance the extra length required in a nymphing rod, they even left the
blank unpainted to reduce more weight and to not inhibit the rods fast action
casting motion.
Despite its name this rod is not a one trick pony, it will
cast a dry fly, with ease, so if you are in for day of nymphing, but an evening
of hatches, you only need to bring your Cortland Rod, and an extra reel or
spool loaded with a plus 1 line, and you are set for an enjoyable dry fly
experience of tight loops, and great hook sets.
