June 4, 2021 Joe Rotter

Super Simple Beginner Nymph Setup // Less Tangles and Snags!

Before you scroll down and click the video, consider these thoughts. Your setup should be a joy to fish and cast, this rig does, and in order for you to get good at drifting and presenting a fly you need REPS. Many reps. Lots of casts, thousands of drifts. An angler must have a smooth and efficient tempo, presenting their fly over and over again and in the process you'll figure out all sorts of little hacks to make your fly look natural. You'll turn into a Ninja in no time if you can stay untangled. The truth is most newbie anglers presenting a nymph spend half of their time retying and untangling some complicated rig they learned on YouTube. Probably from me and that's a shame. Simple is awesome. Follow this recipe, get back to the basics and go have a kick ass time moving fluidly throughout your fishery.

While there are anglers that can and should utilize more complex rigs, if you are looking to improve your fishing abilities; the Keep it Simple Stupid approach is best. If some things on this list annoy you while fishing, try the setup diagramed below. You'll be faster and now able to focus on all the other skills like mending, stalking trout, and reading water because you won't be picking apart a birds nest every 5-10 minutes at 15 minutes a pop.

Threats to a Nymph Angler's Tempo and Efficiency:

Tangling your fly/indicator/tippet
Snagging Bottom
Snagging Behind You
Standing on Your Line (or snagging your handling line in the grass/shrubs)
Trying to cast too far
Trying to feed too much slack line downstream
Changing flies too much
Setups that take too long setup (2 fly rigs)
Not Having a Well Developed Casting Strategy (consistent use of roll, overhead, or water based casts) for every drift.
Nymph setups that are too heavy