Nymphs are commonly found under or on rocks, in aquatic vegetation, fallen tree branches in the water, and even in gravel, sand, or loose sediment. They do not have wings nor can they fly in this insect stage.

Depending on the species, dragonflies can live for just a few months or several years. They spend the majority of their life as nymphs or larvae that are unable to fly. Dragonfly nymphs typically live underwater, feeding on invertebrates and even tadpoles and small fish.

During emergence, crawl the nymph along the bottom toward the shore. The use of a floating line is effective in 10 feet of water or less. Use either sinking tippet, sinking dressing or a weighted fly to present quickly.

Fly fishing is easily one of the most iconic and popular forms of fishing out there and fly fishing with nymphs is one of the core techniques an angler needs to master. Nymph fly fishing is referred only as nymphing and that is the term we will use moving forward.

You can so add split shots above streamers to add a jigging – up and down action when retrieved. Placing two split shots above the fly a few inches apart will allow the streamer to roll along the bottom like how a dead minnow or baitfish would.

Stotz are designed not to damage the line. Pick up and gently close them with a stotta tool. I find they do so little damage to the line that I feel safe to use them directly on a hook link.

The beadhead pattern will help get your rig to the bottom, but start with a little more weight, placed about one foot up the leader from the top fly. If you make four casts without ever feeling the flies tick the bottom, you need more weight. Add more putty or a couple small split shot.

From here, the elements of a single-fly nymph rig consist of a leader, tippet, fly (your selected nymph imitation), weight, and strike indicator. And though this isn’t the actual order of how they will line up, this is the order in which most anglers prefer to assemble them.

Tippet, on the other hand, is the same diameter throughout, so it refers to the entire length. The X system is used to measure the diameter. To get the diameter in thousandth of an inch, subtract the number before the X from 11. For example, 5X tippet would be 11-5 or 0.006” of an inch.

The double nymph rig is an effective way of presenting more than one food option to trout. This also allows you target different sections of the water column. There are many variations of how to rig for nymphing and many variables that go into nymphing a particular section of water.

The first fly you tie to your tippet is also called the point fly. The second smaller fly is called the dropper, the trailer, or the trailing fly. I tie my dry-fly droppers off the hook bend of the point fly using 12 to 24 inches of tippet.

A point fly is the leading fly in a multi-fly rig. This is the fly you attach to your leader or tippet. It is the guiding fly in your setup.

One of the strongest and most dependable knots is the Pitzen knot—also know as the Eugene bend knot, 16/20 knot, or simply the fisherman’s knot. You can find out for yourself how strong this knot is by simply tying two hooks together with a single strand of nylon monofilament.