Is Euro Nymphing Really Fly Fishing?

After Kelly received countless questions his road tour about euro nymphing and competition angling, he decided to sit down and share his thoughts.

How do you feel? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

[immanuelcan]

What euro nymphing really does, much more than indicator fishing or dry fly, or whatever, is acquaint the angler with the structure and flows of the deep runs. Even if one is not going to euro forever, the learning you get about drifts, speed of deep current, bottom structure, hydrodynamics, and so forth is absolutely invaluable to every other style of fishing. And it catches a ton of fish in situations where nobody else catches anything.

[DanieHattingh]

The first time I heard the term "fly fishing competition, " I thought the guy was joking. He had a very dry sense of humour. For me, about 30% of fly fishing's appeal is being ALONE on the water somewhere. 😂

[joeborgione]

I took up euronymphing a couple years ago years and really enjoy it. I also love dry fly fishing. That said, I just don’t understand all the smack talk that euronymphing isn’t fly fishing, and yet a bounce rig under a bobber is.

[jaymcgann]

Hey Kelly, I've been trout fishing for nearly 70 years. I'm down with what you said. The best fly fisherman is a ten year old kid with garden hackle because no one is having more fun. When I was 12 I was looking at a collection of wet flies and I was sure the names gave them magic. They're still magic,

[joshlokan]

I have not been fishing for near as long as Kelly, but here is my take...and a story to go with. I should note, I'm not a competition angler or guide. I do Euro fish a ton (tight line nymphing that is) and have been fishing for a long time. I'm just a regular angler like so many of us out there. Hopefully this story, and perspective, will be useful and reduce some confusion and/or anger about Euro nymphing. Maybe it will...maybe it won't. But is has helped others in the past. So hear goes...

To start, I agree with everything Kelly had to say and I've had the same question(s) but on the water just as much as at shows and conventions. Based off my experiences, and having had several years of being asked the same question(s), I believe I have come to what I think peoples confusion about Euro nymphing is based off of. It comes more from what I've learned on the water than at the shows. Here is why and a real experience to help illustrate.

I was wade fishing and was on a river with a ton of brush. From the car to the water took me 30 minutes. Once I got to the water I ran into 2 guys who were already there. They were very nice despite I had accidentally scared the crap out of them. The brush was so thick that I wasn't able to move up or down river without having to retreat back in the brush. Turns out they were floating in a boat and said they were just wrapping up and I could fish once they were done. Very cool of them, and so I sat on the edge and waited.

I sat on the side and watched as these two fished. Both were indicator nymphing. Their cast was fine...just a water load, but their drift was terrible. Both had constant drag on their lines and they would pick up about the time their line would get in front of them. This of course never gave enough time for their flies to reach any kind of depth (plus the drag). Well, they finished and both reeled in. They went over to their boat, put their gear away, and then invited me to start fishing.

So I did. I hoped up and un-hooked my fly. They both immediately said the same thing. "WFT??? Not another Euro fisher!!!" They went on for a bit.... I waited and simply said, "yeah I know. It's got a bad reputation with some people." They seemed to appreciate the comment. So I started fishing.

First cast, on the drop, and virtually right where one of the men had been fishing, fish on. Both men lost it! They couldn't believe I caught a fish on the first cast. I reeled it in and then they called me over to their boat and began rattling me with questions...same questions Kelly had been describing. Only difference is that I had demonstrated this techniques effectiveness right in front of them. I won't go into it so I'm not writing a novel, but I answered all their questions.

Ok, so my point. Their concerns, and I find this to be with everyone, is that they had heard Euro nymphing was this ultimate style of fishing. They also heard that is was the best/only way to catch fish on a regular basis. They didn't have ambitions of becoming competitive anglers, but they were very concerned with if they were going to have to use Euro nymphing tactics in order to catch fish! This of course is non-sense. Like Kelly said, all 4 main forms of "fly fishing" can, and will, catch you fish. It is situational based (this is a deep conversation) and is dependent on the anglers abilities to fish that particular style. I have learned that angler ability (or lack of) is the cause for "fear about Euro nymphing" simply put.

To wrap up my story....what did I do then? I showed them how to catch fish with their indictor rigs. I got one of the gentleman to land a fish, and the other to hook one but didn't land it. I then told them they should look into Euro nymphing, but reminded them that it was simply just another way to catch fish. I also reminded them to practice their indicator fishing. From there they got into their boat, offered me some bug spray (which I took them up on), and they headed down river.

Euro nymphing is not to be feared, cussed about, or whatever. Will it be another "flash in the pan" with popularity? I don't know. I'm still going to fish the technique regardless. It is simply another way to fish. Lastly, I really value something I've heard Kelly say in his videos for years, and I find he is exactly right. "The more arrows in your quiver the better you are." Best saying I've heard about fly fishing. Just keep learning and keep fishing! You da man Kelly!

Cheers!

[CO-PE-]

I couldn't agree more. Euro nymphing reminds me of nymphing before strike indicators, but the flies and leaders are different. I try to master each kind of fly fishing and have fun doing it.

[PeachyFlyFishing]

Hi Kelly, thanks for sharing and thank you for your streamer techniques which I find very interesting. However, I wanted to point out that there are a number of assumptions that you make here which are just factually incorrect, and usually seem to be made by people who have never actually fished in a competition. Firstly, comp fishing is not all euro-nymphing, far from it. Yes euro-nymphing is definitely a core technique but it is just one arrow in the quiver, a good comp angler needs to be effective at ALL techniques. I fish comps in Australia, and if I could describe for you fishing in the most recent national championships, we had 5 x 3hr sessions, 2 of them on rivers, 2 of them lakes from a boat (loch style), and 1 small lake from the bank. Over those sessions I caught 9 fish in the lakes and 20 in the rivers. The 9 lake fish were all on either streamers or wet flies. The river fish were 11 euro nymphing, 7 on nymph under dry, 1 swinging a streamer and 1 on dry fly. It is not unusual depending on the river for an angler to catch at least half of their fish on dries. I recently did a workshop with 2 former members of the Spanish team, former world champions. Yes they are incredibly skilled euro nymphers, but I assure you that their dry fly fishing is also truly amazing, as is their technique across all the conventional fly line tactics. I don't know about your comp scene over there, but I can assure you that on the world stage successful comp anglers are very well rounded and skillful across all techniques, and will use whichever is the appropriate technique for the water they are given. Comp fishing is not for everyone that's for sure, but from my perspective it's a fantastic way to develop your angling skills, it's a humbling experience, and it's great fun. I've met some great friends and had a blast doing it, I don't understand why people feel the need to put it down when they have never actually tried it. Or perhaps they have, but got their arse handed to them and then never came back, that happens sometimes from Oz! :)

[damonm]

Can't help but chime in. But first, a disclaimer: I have nothing against competitive fly fishers, and acknowledge that competitions cultivate some exceptionally well-rounded anglers. I recently took note of the words of John Atherton regarding the nature of fly fishing, as it was, in the early post-war period of the late 40's. One detail he mentions is that fly fishing was inherently not competitive. I think that speaks to the nature of the criticism regarding the modern world of competitive fly fishing; there's something about it that is contrary to the roots of the sport. There's something about the fixation with catching as many fish as possible in a given session that challenges tradition. I own several euro rods and enjoy keeping up with the pace of innovation in that arena, but recently, while waiting for a Hendrickson hatch to come off, looking for rising targets with my dry fly rod, I watched a euro nympher work a run above me and it was an interesting vignette of the controversy. He waded quickly through water that would soon hold rising fish to hammer a swift run, quickly taking 3 fish before moving on. In one way, it's the fishing equivalent of driving around with your middle finger raised. I get it, I've been that guy, and likely will be again at some point. But as I get older, and spend more time on the water, I realize more that I'm a steward of a tradition. I'm a steward not because I choose to be, but because everyone who picks up a fly rod and attempts to fool a trout inherits the stewardship. I don't fault the euro nympher who fished above me or begrudge his chosen method and timing, but I do hope that from time to time, he picks up a dry fly rod, or swings a wet fly, or nymphs with a tastefully named, bead-less classic.

[MichaelBrewick]

Dad tells a story about drinking in a bar in Livingston one night in the eighties, BSing with a couple older locals. On the subject of a huge brown mounted on the wall the one local says he caught it on a royal wulff. "That's right" says the other guy, " you never fished anything else hardly. A size 6 wasn't it?" "Yep. Couldn't ever see those damn little 8s"

[howardcrostonflyfisher]

A big fan of Kelly and his straight talking views, of which in the main I agree with and one of the few I can listen too at length. This one I’m afraid is a bit wide of the mark for me and if serious shows a lack of knowledge of competitive fly fishing . “Euro” is one method that is wildly used in competition and when practiced at a high level is in some aspects more difficult than a lot of methods that utilise more fly line . Outside of maybe the top 10% of anglers in the US at least, “Euro” in the states seems to some degree to have become slinging overweight flys and even shot / indicators on all mono rigs- a long way from its roots and all prohibited under the rules in an actual FIPS event. The fact is that at world and Euro level, to succeed you need a high level of ability in all aspects of fly fishing, including being able to adapt to non game fish like Chub / Dace or common European whitefish . It’s as far from a Euro nymph world championship as you can get. The part of this post that probably pushed my buttons the most is the divisive nature of it - one group of people who stick hooks in fish for fun one way throwing bricks at a group who do it differently, a very dangerous path these days and very prevalent in the comments. If at some point the “Anti’s” come for our right to fish they won’t distinguish between a Comp angler who thinks he’s the best in the world because he can flick tungsten, a spider swinger who thinks he’s morally superior because he sticks his fish on cane or a meat chucker who occasionally makes them wear it when they didn’t eat it, they will come for us all as “sport fishers”, and in some countries that is sadly much closer than we think . On a different note I’ve called into the Slide inn about 10 times in the past hoping to meet the man himself, think he’s been fishing every single time…. Probably Euroing the S##T out the Maddison 😂

[amatuerballer]

I compete, and I will say, in competitions I use all methods of fly fishing. Not just tight lining. All the guys on team USA also implore all the methods, it just so happens that often the best method for conditions is tight lining. I got beat in a comp last year by a guy fishing dry dropper. I don’t own a shop so I’d never comment on what it’s like to be a shop owner. My guess is Kelly has never competed, I may be wrong, but there’s a hell of a lot more going on than just tight lining. Half of the comps are on lakes. So you have to understand still waters and different line set ups to get to the fish. You have to be a pretty well rounded angler to be a good competitor. My 2 cents.

[neiltravis]

Thank you Kelly. Great take on this way of fishing. Never been a great fan of competition in fly fishing. Have a great summer.

[jeffersonstowers]

Personally, I’m not at all interested in competing when fly fishing; for me, it goes against every reason I go fishing. But, I will say the nymphs used in Euronymphing have been a revelation for me: the less crap I attach to the hook the better. What could be more simple than a Wallts Worm? But it catches more fish (for me), than anything I’ve ever used.

[sergtang]

I wanted to know more about fly fishing competitions so I went to see a competition that was taking place here in Canada a few years ago. It’s certainly not my type of fishing but I have a different look at those who compete. They used several techniques, several types of flies and managed to catch fish where local fishermen did not. It was in reading the river, their knowledge, the quality of the presentations, the precision of the casts that they impressed me.

[GABABQ]

Fishing is fishing. Get out and fish.

[judecharette]

Its funny because some euro guys like George Daniel say something similar about fly fishing. George said that euro nymphing can get in the way of beginers develpment because it's so effective. They won't want to do anything else.

[jeffgore]

Learning how to Euro Nymph sometimes is the difference between a good day and a bad day. It is really a good tool for catching trout it’s the way flyfishing has evolved.

[hansziegler]

I'm really trying to figure out where all these comments are coming from. Did any of you listen to what Kelly is saying, or do you not like the the title of the video? All he says is that he doesn't like the flies, and it shouldn't be the one representation of competition fly fishing. I believe he has enough clout in the world of fly fishing to have these opinions, and I tend to agree with him. He's not judging anyone on how they're fishing, and neither am I. Fishing is fun, do what makes you happy. Just wanted to add that when you're euro nymphing, you're not casting or mending. These are two skills that are necessary to all other types of fly fishing. You can get butt hurt about that, but it's true.

[wylde-lyfe]

Spot on, love the varied comments too. Make it a multi-level thing including Euro, Stillwater, and Tenkara, watch people lose their s**t. Why does everything need to be competitive?? What floats my boat is the variety of places, fish, and the art form that fly fishing encompasses. My former father in law was British, fished cane, used silk line, tied his own flies. The effort that produced his eventual catches and the peace it gave him doing it inspired me to try the sport. I now do as much of it as I can get away with, and I enjoy floating as well (both rivers and lakes). My winters are spent joyfully tying, trying new methods and materials, reading and watching fishing videos. Might we also include multiple species fishing in a world champion competition? Say for instance saltwater, pike, bass, carp? I agree with Kelly about it being whatever suits your mood, just go do it, get out there, fish and enjoy! Good grief, get a grip folks!

[seanl]

Aup and greetings from across the pond 🇬🇧
Firstly I'm not a competition angler, I'm not good enough.
I am a pleasure angler who follows the match scene purely to improve my own knowledge to help me catch fish.
Some of the best naturalists I've had the pleasure of meeting are competion anglers who have an uncanny ability to read the water and the enviroment around them to help them catch fish.
Not really sure what you guys & girls get up to your side of the water but we can fish all different disciplines many times a day folliwing the fish up and down in the water column.
There's no point fishing a weighted nymph if the fish are taking drys and buzzers in the top 12 inches of water. It's the ability to read and anticipate the environment were fishing in that makes good anglers.
As the purist would say there matching the hatch. Its just the hatch usually starts at the bottom of the water column.
Tight lines all 😊