# Nymphing in Saltwater



## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

I have dead drifted flies with success plenty of times before for reds/trout but was thinking of trying a nymphing set up with an indicator to see how it would work in creeks. In my mind it should be no different , just now with an indicator.

Has anyone done this before?


----------



## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

There was a thread on here a while ago about catching reds with a dropper, but I've never tried it and I'm too dumb to find the thread again.


----------



## Surffshr (Dec 28, 2017)

I’d like to try it in the surf. Of course, I’ve never actually nymphed but the technique seems applicable.


----------



## Bill Payne (May 22, 2018)

SomaliPirate said:


> There was a thread on here a while ago about catching reds with a dropper, but I've never tried it and I'm too dumb to find the thread again.


Was it this one?
https://www.microskiff.com/threads/popper-dropper-for-reds.60796/


----------



## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

Bill Payne said:


> Was it this one?
> https://www.microskiff.com/threads/popper-dropper-for-reds.60796/


Yep!


----------



## Bill Payne (May 22, 2018)

I remember reading that but completely forgot about it. I'll have to try it sometime.


----------



## tx8er (Jun 3, 2016)

BrownDog said:


> I have dead drifted flies with success plenty of times before for reds/trout but was thinking of trying a nymphing set up with an indicator to see how it would work in creeks. In my mind it should be no different , just now with an indicator.
> 
> Has anyone done this before?


Interesting thought. 
Suggest opening your loop when casting to prevent tangles.


----------



## tx8er (Jun 3, 2016)

SomaliPirate said:


> Yep!


I’m going to try that this upcoming surf season here in Texas.


----------



## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

@Baydreamer35 and @EvanHammer ...yall ever trout nymph/dead drift for tarpon?


----------



## Cej2525 (Jan 22, 2019)

I use the popper/dropper rig quite often. I actually tied up some smaller #4 Double barrel poppers and use #4 clousers under it. I can cast it on a 6wt which makes for a much more enjoyable day of blind casting.

I haven't done any saltwater nymphing though it sounds like a cool approach. There have been plenty of times we have found fish stacked up in the winter with a little current running through. you could cast out a decent crab pattern and pick up fish with out issue.


----------



## EvanHammer (Aug 14, 2015)

TidewateR said:


> @Baydreamer35 and @EvanHammer ...yall ever trout nymph/dead drift for tarpon?


Only place that has worked is at Da Rig. Can't get the technique to produce anywhere else.

Try using a dragonfly in place of the indicator for even more hook-ups.


----------



## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

I would need to first learn how to "nymph", then find out how to do it in salt. I never learned how to freshwater flyfish


----------



## karstopo (Nov 28, 2019)

Just let something tasty looking, maybe with a little added weight, drift in the current, isn't that basically "nymph" fishing? Isn't there Euro nymph fishing, tight line, and/or the type done with indicators? I drift little weighted shrimp patterns with the current in the surf here, but just use long fluorocarbon leaders on floating fly line and forgo the indicator. The indicator might help keep the fly out of the roots or rocks or shell wherever those are a problem.


----------



## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

karstopo said:


> Just let something tasty looking, maybe with a little added weight, drift in the current, isn't that basically "nymph" fishing? Isn't there Euro nymph fishing, tight line, and/or the type done with indicators? I drift little weighted shrimp patterns with the current in the surf here, but just use long fluorocarbon leaders on floating fly line and forgo the indicator. The indicator might help keep the fly out of the roots or rocks or shell wherever those are a problem.


Correct I’ve drifted plenty of flies but thinking an indicator might make it easier to detect fly location while drifting structure, controlling depth, and helping anglers notice strikes beyond watching the line.


----------



## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

K3anderson said:


> I would need to first learn how to "nymph", then find out how to do it in salt. I never learned how to freshwater flyfish


Would be a great way to approach micro poon in creeks or moving water.

I've thought about getting a 3wt nymph rod just for that purpose.


----------



## BobGee (Apr 10, 2019)

BrownDog said:


> I have dead drifted flies with success plenty of times before for reds/trout but was thinking of trying a nymphing set up with an indicator to see how it would work in creeks. In my mind it should be no different , just now with an indicator.
> 
> Has anyone done this before?


A lesser known “nymphing” method is dead drifting a streamer or woolly bugger under an indicator. Deadly on big fish tail water. This sounds like it would work great on tidal creeks. You could throw it 60 feet upstream, let it come past you and then stack mend downstream. You can get a 120 foot drift. And you could do it with a 5 or 6 weight.


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

We never dead drift (nymphing?) for tarpon - but we do something pretty similar when hunting big tarpon in rivers along the gulf coast of the 'glades... 

These big girls hold in rivers before and after the migration - like big salmon do up north.... First you have to locate them and that means sneaking into a place (river bend, river fork, places where there's strong current with a current break somewhere very close by... as well as downed tree they can lay behind) where they're holding quietly. Your belief that there might be big fish will be confirmed when one rolls or feeds (two entirely different propositions...). In my experience if you don't spook them - where you see one roll marks their exact position...

Once we've located them we simply toss a big fly up-current and across allowing it to sink near the bottom so that the fly is literally crossing almost in front of where they're holding before starting a long slow strip to get the fly moving across the area the fish are holding in. Do it just right and be holding onto that line since occasionally before you even start stripping a big fish will try to take it away from you...


----------



## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

BobGee said:


> A lesser known “nymphing” method is dead drifting a streamer or woolly bugger under an indicator. Deadly on big fish tail water. This sounds like it would work great on tidal creeks. You could throw it 60 feet upstream, let it come past you and then stack mend downstream. You can get a 120 foot drift. And you could do it with a 5 or 6 weight.


Thanks! This is the crux of my question and what I want to try. In my mind it should work great.


----------



## Cej2525 (Jan 22, 2019)

As far as dead drifting a fly for redfish, it works...

I've done it quite a few times when redfish are stacked up in the winter. I wasn't using a nymph thou. It was a olive redfish crack or crab pattern with no indicator. I knew the bottom was nothing but mud so when the drift stopped I just set the hook. An indicator would be fun though.


----------



## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

I've trout fished, "nymphing" as you call it, with and without an indicator. If I'm going to use an indicator, it will have a hook in it. I've had trout hit my indicator too many times. So I'm thinking a big gurgler, with a clouser or shrimp pattern dropper, just going with the flow. 
Euro nymphing is basically what we did years ago, only we called it high sticking. Keep rod tip high and your line off the water, keeping direct contact with your nymph. I don't see this as on option for salt because you would be fishing only as far away from your boat as you could reach.


----------



## fatman (Nov 23, 2012)

bobbers are for fat kids.....


----------



## Cej2525 (Jan 22, 2019)

Then I eat butter by the tub...


----------



## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

I've never been accused of being skinny....


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

You don't have to use one of those bobber looking things, but just a simple strike indicator you make. I have a friend that religiously uses one when bluegill fishing fresh water with a weighted bug he just bumps here and there and just watches his strike indicator. It only has to be just big enough, with a little floatant you add to it, to keep it from going down until a fish eats the bug below.









So you could use different sizes, according to what size bug you are nymphing/dropping.










You can even buy them pre-made, but they are simply made with some brushed out yarn, tied with a simple slip knot in your leader or tippet and just add a little wax or floatant to keep it riding high and dry.

Also, by keeping your leader made with either mono or mason, it will help it to ride high, then your tippet can be made using fluorocarbon, which helps it to sink well and use less weight on the fly. That's how I mostly use a nymphing effect in the salt, with flies that just sink with the hook weight or just a bit more weight somewhere on the fly to keep it down, but not too much to pull the butt leader down (the one I described above) or even the floating fly line you are using. Then cast up tide to the fish and let the fly sink down to the fish zone and just bump the fly here and there as it drifts by and without even using an indicator, I watch the fly line as my indicator. But if the fish are riding shallower, then an indicator with solve that problem. But all that being said, when doing this in some sort of current, it's best to learn how to "mend" a fly line, to get out most of the slack in the fly line, otherwise, you'll miss a lot of strikes.

Like what some of the others here and on that other thread said, in the link provided, I've used plenty of dropper rigs in the past, where I had a sinking fly a tied off to a popper fly, in a "popper/dropper rig. Yes they do catch fish and at times will get that fish that comes up and eats the indicator popper fly. But they are a PITA to cast and in the end, I really don't like them. I guess I'm not that eager to catch that fish that way. 

Ted


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

lemaymiami said:


> We never dead drift (nymphing?) for tarpon - but we do something pretty similar when hunting big tarpon in rivers along the gulf coast of the 'glades...
> 
> These big girls hold in rivers before and after the migration - like big salmon do up north.... First you have to locate them and that means sneaking into a place (river bend, river fork, places where there's strong current with a current break somewhere very close by... as well as downed tree they can lay behind) where they're holding quietly. Your belief that there might be big fish will be confirmed when one rolls or feeds (two entirely different propositions...). In my experience if you don't spook them - where you see one roll marks their exact position...
> 
> Once we've located them we simply toss a big fly up-current and across allowing it to sink near the bottom so that the fly is literally crossing almost in front of where they're holding before starting a long slow strip to get the fly moving across the area the fish are holding in. Do it just right and be holding onto that line since occasionally before you even start stripping a big fish will try to take it away from you...


Bob, like your deal, (and I don't want to give too much stuff I keep under my hat away) we've caught lots of grown tarpon using a basically a "dry-fly" method. Yes, a surface fly on the surface, dead drifting and mending the fly line, just like fishing for wild run rainbows in a stream. Those eats where they suck the fly off the surface, will send chills down your spine fo sho!  Also some of the largest reds we've ever taken on fly using the same method (one being 6lbs from a record).


----------



## Flyboy (Aug 26, 2019)

You also might want to check out the Pop-n-fly. It’s essentially the fly fishing version of a popping cork. You could fish it as the indicator but then add the occasional hard strip to your drift to act as an attractant.


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Flyboy said:


> You also might want to check out the Pop-n-fly. It’s essentially the fly fishing version of a popping cork. You could fish it as the indicator but then add the occasional hard strip to your drift to act as an attractant.


Have you've ever use those things? It looks more like hardware fishing than anything fly fishing related. It's like those bobber looking indicators. You may get that "look" from your fly fishing buddies.


----------



## Cej2525 (Jan 22, 2019)

After reading this post I've been reading other articles on "Dead drifting" flies in saltwater. It has definitely peaked my interest! I'll be giving this even more wet time next outing for sure.
That is if the wind in south Ms will calm down any time soon.


----------



## BobGee (Apr 10, 2019)

Cej2525 said:


> After reading this post I've been reading other articles on "Dead drifting" flies in saltwater. It has definitely peaked my interest! I'll be giving this even more wet time next outing for sure.
> That is if the wind in south Ms will calm down any time soon.


I’ve been thinking about freshwater trout tactics that would probably work in the salt. A lot of people are swinging flies in the winter on the big trout rivers. Just like steelhead. You throw across the River (angle depends on current speed) and just let it swing. Don’t strip it. Just a little jiggle. Fish often followed it and hit it when it stops at the end. People use small Spey rods but that’s not necessary. Cast. Swing. Take 3 steps downstream. Repeat. Should work on tidal creeks on a falling tide if it’s not too muddy. Maybe tie a big soft hackle that looks like a shrimp. Or a Clouser. Maybe a sink tip. 

I’m stuck in the house today and may be going a little crazy. But you sure could cover the water. And it would be a change of pace when whatever else you’re doing isn’t working.


----------



## Cej2525 (Jan 22, 2019)

I just got a OPST Skagit set up for my 7wt and my 5wt. I purchased 2 sink tips at 2" and 6" per second. It's currently the only sink tips I have. I may try this big swing on some of our coastal river systems.

Where indicators are concerned, I love the Kahuna LT from Rio. I have the small and large sizes. I use it all the time when blind casting sinking flies for reds. On a long cast I just don't have the eyesight to see the tip of my line. These allow me to either see my line better or more of a disturbance on the surface when I do get a take and my line twitches. Plus they are very low drag.


----------

