[new] Nymphing By the Numbers with Kelly Gallup = DVD F17

page index:

One Fly Rig (#1 in video)

@ ~17:30

@ ~19:00

Rod tip to top fly is not as steep as one fly rig
Top Fly tied off on leader end to eye and hook bend for tippet for emergent situation, so head of top fly is more like emerger’s actual orientation
- Eye to eye makes fly ride sideways
Use nymph for point fly on end; use emerger for top fly closer to rod
This is the system he uses most frequently when there is an active emergence going on

@ ~20:45

This is the system he uses most when there is a very heavy emergence going, so point fly closest to rod rides higher in the water

@ ~44:20 rig setup; fishing it at ~52:50

Leader is one size, then at bottom point fly should be smaller size (he uses 4x in fishing it part)
Fishing it

so he put size 16 Olive Hare’s Ear Baetis as point fly
Dropper is 5x (for clear water) with 18 (could have used 20) Red Sparkle “Crystal” Serendipity midge with tiny hair head, apx 16 inches up from lead for colored water, go to 4x flouro
Water is 2 ft deep 54:58, since slow water he shortened indicator to 3’= 1.5x water depth above dropper, may have to make it 2x water depth; his idea of softer water:
- he comments that this is his least favorite way to fish fast water, he could add more lead, but then will get hung up, so instead he casts further out to give it more time to sink
As hatch starts, fish move to softer water near the edge of the river
He typically casts apx 20’ of line when nymphing, occasionally up to 25’
Don’t “line” fish by throwing line over where they may be, be sneaky, open loop up when casting nymphs by stopping rod tip a little higher at end of backcast [this will make tangles less likely]
He changes flies after 10-15 minutes max if no luck
As indicator comes towards him, he strips line to remove slack, then recasts rather than let fly past him
1:10 he moves to another location and I stopped watching for now

@ ~46:00 -52:50 rig setup

3 flies is a “cast of flies” or a “brace of flies” (though brace is a pair of something, so that term is probably incorrect)
Davie Wotton uses a lot of 2 and 3 fly rigs with his wet flies
Kelly uses this system a lot for steelhead
Weight is at the end of the leader
Flies are spaced as much as 3 feet in the water column, but typically 16-18”
He typically uses 2x leader and puts knots on it in advance
Using shortest length dropper on topmost and middle length dropper in middle helps reduce tangles
Diagrams shown aren’t how it actually looks in the water since not such as steep leader angle and dropper slanting towards river bottom

Some people use this sytem with only 2 flies, but if doing that, might as well use system 4
Top fly can either be wet fly or different type of fly than others
Works poorly due to tangles in turbulent water, especially turbulent shallow water
He prefers dropper over tag end of knot because when one fly gets lost, cut off, etc., have to tie another blood knot that shortens space between flies

Additionally, double thickess of dropper tie off straightens dropper away from leader

closeup @ ~ 52:13 - doubled up line helps to keep dropper from wrapping around leader

dropper loop closeup

@ ~53:40

last updated: Thu 2025-03-20 6:25 AM