By Aaron Motley
November will be the second fall stocking by the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, and this offers a great opportunity for anglers to work on detecting subsurface strikes from trout. These strikes can be 2 inches under the surface, the middle of the water column, or the bottom of the water column. The way an angler may set their leader system up will vary for the area in the water column that the fish are feeding. Stream velocity and depth should be factored in as well.
First let’s look at a strike just below the surface. If using a 9 foot leader, tie a dry fly to the end of the leader. Next, tie 5x or 6x tippet onto the leader with a surgeon knot 20–24 inches in front of the dry fly. Lastly, tie a zebra midge size 18 or 20 as your dropper at a length of five inches long. A variation on this system can be a 7½ foot 3x or 4x nylon leader tied to a tippet ring. You create two tags, the first by adding 24 inches of tippet to the dry fly of your choice. Next, tie on your 5 inch tag of a size 18 bead head Frenchie.
Fishing in the middle of the water column can easily be done by fishing a dry fly with a dropper. The size of the dropper and length are determined by the velocity of the stream, and the depth at which you want your fly in the water column.
Two ways to get your flies to the bottom are: Split shot or custom tying flies that get to the bottom by using heavy tungsten beads and adding weighted wire under a fly pattern. When using split shot 10-12 inches in front of your fly, place your strike indicator on the leader 1½ -2 times the depth of the section of stream being fished. Strike indicators will vary. Colored wool will help detect the most sensitive strikes and will land gently on the water. For a nymph leader, try a 9 foot 3x with 24 inches of 4x nylon sight indicator, and tie on a small metal tippet ring. From the tippet ring, attach fluorocarbon 4½x Trout Hunter tippet, length can be 24-48 inches to your anchor fly. A dropper fly can be added at a length of 14-18 inches.
Stop by Hunter Banks Fly Shop, and let us help get the supplies you need for trying various nymph fishing tactics. From tippet rings, colored nylon indicator line to fluorocarbon line, Come see us at either of our locations in Waynesville or Asheville!
Aaron Motley is Operations Manager at the Waynesville location of Hunter Banks. His waterfowl hunting addictions supports his fly tying addiction. He learned his fly-fishing craft from “fishy” people and pursues large trout, bass, and musky on a daily basis. He teaches others to do the same