In the last years Euronymphing is becoming a big word in the fly fishing scene, but what does Euronymphing mean? Well, I think the meaning depends on the place where you live.
Actually I think Euronymphing is the name used in North America, and Euronymph include all the european nymphing styles, but for the European people it’s totally different, actually we don’t speak about Euronymphing, we do about Polish, Czech, French or Spanish nymphing, and even others. All these styles have small differences about the leader, the nymphs and especially about the more suitable kind of water for any style.
I’m from Spain and my biggest influences are French and Spanish nymphing, so I’m into long leaders and small nymphs for my nymph fishing. I fish mostly in small rivers where I can find very spooky trout and in this kind of water the best alternative is always fish upstream. Upstream nymphing with small nymphs is challenging, very technical and absolutely fun to use!
The best kind of water for this technique are all these alpine creeks and rivers, with shallow, fast and crystal clear water. These scenarios alternate current and small pockets water with, from time to time, deep pools. That’s why this technique is very dynamic and you have to change your set up and nymphs very often.
Maybe now you are thinking: Euronymphing? Ok, just heavy nymphs, long rods and tight line to feel the strikes. Well, it’s a bit more complicated so let’s talk about it.
For my upstream nymphing I use two different set-up. When the water level is a high I like to use long rods to fish in close and when the water level is low is use a shorter rod to fish in a longer distance. Maybe it would seem like nonsense but I will try to explain it.
When the water level is high, you could stay closer to the fish without spooking them. In this situation I mostly fish in a 4-9m range and a long rod and leader allow you to have more control of the drift. I use a Guideline LPX Nymph 10,8 feet and 2 or 3 weight rod and a 4x level leader. My leader is always a bit longer than my fishing distance so I only use the leader and the line is always in the reel. I use two sighters in different colors (white, pink, yellow…) separate for 50 cm(all of them in 5x) and I use a 20% longer tippet than the average depth(mostly a 7x). This is very important because you could use the same setup for different depths, even in the same cast you could start using the shallow water indicator at the beginning of the current and 2 meters downstream you could use the upper indicator when the nymph came to the pool. Most of the time I use two small nymphs with a 2,8mm tungsten bead or smaller, well actually 2,3mm are the main nymphs I use, in that case, I always use the heavier nymph in the point to feel better the bites.
In the pocket waters I also use a dry dropper (for me this is also a nymphing technique) and sometimes in shallow water I use only one nymph. And how to cast a couple of small nymphs up to 9 or 10m? Well, you could use different ways but the easiest is to make a back cast in the opposite direction of your target, let your nymph land to the water and use them like an anchor to do the forward cast, with some practice you could catapult your nymph to incredible far distances.
And how to feel the strikes? In this way of nymph you need to have direct contact with your nymph to feel any bite. Remember, you are fishing upstream and the nymphs are coming to your position so, when I finish the cast I keep the rod in an horizontal position and I lift the rod at the time the nymphs are coming to my position, it’s important don’t to lift the rod too fast or you will drag your nymphs. The nymphs’ drift should be as natural as possible while still having contact with them. This is not easy, I know, but if you can do it, you will catch a lot of fish…
On the other hand, when the water level is low in this kind of river, it’s absolutely not possible to stay close to the fish without spooking them. So it’s necessary to use other different equipment, actually it’s also a good alternative for dry fly fishing. I use a Guideline LPX Tactical rod 9’9 feet and 2 or 3 weight, a very thin fly line like the Guideline Fario CDC, a 12 feet 4x tapered leader and again the two sighter (5X) setup and a 1 to 1' 5m tippet(mostly 7x). I always use small nymphs here, mostly just one, but I could also use a dry dropper or sometimes two nymphs. I only use two nymphs where I find selective fish feeding close to the bottom, I use the light nymph (without bead head) in the point and the other a bit heavier in the upper part, this one sink the light nymph to the bottom. It’s better not to use a long distance between the nymphs to keep the connection between them and keep feeling the bites to the light one. The fish will mostly take the light nymph, so very often I tie the tippet directly to the bend of the “heavy” nymph hook or even better I make a non-slip loop knot from the eye of the heavy nymph hook. In this way, I still have the connection between the nymphs but the setup is less rigid and the light nymph can drift more naturally.
This nymphing technique is my favorite but maybe the most challenging and very often also the most frustrating, especially because it’s not easy to feel the strikes. In this kind of waters, it’s not easy to keep direct contact with the nymph, because you'll probably drag the nymph and lose effectiveness. Detecting the strike is something more visual, you have to see something strange in your leader, in the case of any movement upstream of your leader, try to hook on! With this nymphing technique very often part of your leader (or even the whole leader if you are doing long casts) could be floating on the surface, so a good idea is use a line’s floatant in the leader and the upper sighter to keep them floating and visible. Even after using the floatant, it could be difficult to see the sighter while long casts are necessary, in the case I use a spiral sighter. Cast the nymphs with this spiral sighter is a bit more harder but it will solve all the visibility problems.
And… Which nymphs do I use?
I like to use small nymphs always, for this kind of fishing, I like simple and hydrodynamic nymphs. This nymph can sink faster than others and I can use smaller sizes but still can fish close to the bottom. But, why should I use this kind of nymph if I can use a bigger and heavier nymph, they could be less hydrodynamic but they also sink to the bottom? The answer is easy, these small nymphs have a more natural drift and the fish would prefer them 95% of the time, at least in my experience.
I use very often perdigons or very skinny nymphs in different colors, from the more shiny models to natural colors.
How to choose the correct nymph? Well, you know fishing is not an exact science but in fast water and active fish, the nymph with shines and hot colours are a good choice and on the other side, for slow waters and shy fish better to use natural colours.
The size is also important, so I always start with a small nymph and after A few casts I repeat with a bigger size nymph.
Maybe its more easy to understand this with an example: I arrived at the upper part of a small pool with 70 cm deep fast waters.
I’ll start to fish with two nymphs. A small natural (olive or brown) nymph in size 20 with a 2mm tungsten bead and another natural nymph in size 18# with a 2’3mm tungsten bead. After a few cast (6 to 10 more or less) I will change the point nymph for the same nymph in size 16# and 2,8mm tungsten bead and make another few casts. Then I will change the point nymph for other in the same size 16# and 2,8mm tungsten bead but in this case with a shine or hot colors and make another few casts.
After this sequence I do two steps forward and repeat it again.
This is the proper way to start fishing in any place, of course you could adapt the fishing in base with the results. If I note the trout prefer the shiny nymph I quit to try the natural-colored nymphs (Or maybe just the opposite). Here It is very important to observe what is happening and draw your own conclusions.
If you have arrived up to here, I just can say be patient, develop your technique, be open to try new things, enjoy your time in the river and of course respect and take care of the rivers and the fish.
Miguel Blanco Blázquez.