thedrake
Posts: 1505
Joined: 11/14/2005
From: Hollidaysburg, PA
Status: offline
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Ultimately, you'll catch more fish while nymphing, than by swinging streamers in most situations.
To nymph, you'll need some small shot (BB through the smallest sizes), some good indicators (I like fish pimps, but there are plenty of other good brands). A 9 ft tapered leader (for steelies, I typically use 3x)...And some nymphs.....
As far as flies go. Have glo-bugs and sucker spawns in various colors (14-18), flashback pheasant tails (12-18), hairs ears(12-18), copper johns (12-18), green caddis larva (14-18) .....just to name a few.
For a nymphing set up, tie your first nymph onto the tippet, then tie on a piece of tippet to the bend of the hook, cut it off to about 10", then tie on another nymph or egg to that piece of tippet. About 10-12" above your first fly, attach your shot to the tippet, spacing them out about a fingers width apart from each other. I start out attaching my indicator about 1.5 to 2 times the depth of the water, above the shot.
Make your casts above you, and let the indicator drift until it gets down to you, but no further (the fish below you, chances are have already been disturbed by you, and arent to interested in eating while you're standing on top of them). If the indicator stops, gets pulled under, or goes off in a different direction, set the hook. Sometimes it will be a fish, and sometimes it will be the bottom of the creek. The only way to know, is to set the hook. If your flies never hit bottom, add more shot, or switch to bigger shot. If your flies get stuck on every cast, remove some shot. If your indicator is constantly going under, move it closer to your fly line.
When nymphing you want to make sure your flies are drifting naturally along the bottom of the stream, where the fish are. If you want to know how your flies are drifting, watch your indicator. Remember, your indicator indicates two things, they indicate strikes, and how well your nymphs are drifting. For example, if your indicator is not going as fast as the current, you know your flies arent either. To get good drifts, learn to mend your line....
Mending line......The best way I can tell you how and when to mend is to have you go fishing, make a cast across a stream, and notice as some of you line goes down stream very fast, some line goes slow and some barely drifts. When this happens, you'll notice your fly getting pulled faster than the current it's cast into, since the line before it is going at a different speed, and therefore your fly drags, instead of drifts. Mending line is where you compensate for different current speeds. It's pretty simple to do. Let's say you make a cast, and your fly line is drifting faster than your indicator. You'll want to lift your rod slightly, and make a quick flick of the wrist to send only the fly line that's being pulled downstream faster, upstream to compensate for the difference in current speed. If your fly line is going downstream slower than your indicator, throw the mend downstream to compensate for the slower current speed. You may have to mend more than a few times each cast to get a good drift. After doing this a while, you'll get a feel for it. To get good at mending, you have to watch the changes in current speeds, and be able to mend according to thier speed, before they affect your drift. In my experience through guiding, teaching someone to mend the right way, makes the biggest difference in their ability to catch fish.
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Techniques for new guys - 
Nothing like having the guys finally come out to poke fun at you, only to see you reeling in a 16" trout! 
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