Bobber Fishermen Unite!

Ask any subdued and stoic fisherman staring into his high dollar Scotch at your local fishing bar how he did on the river today and you better have laid aside 30 minutes for the inevitable forthcoming mind numbingly boring dissertation. This will likely include...

• Lots of chest puffing, 4-5 minutes, about why he is DFO; if you are you'll know what that means
• 7-10 minutes of fly selection, including mayfly sub-stages you have never even heard of
• 3-4 minutes of mispronounced Latin identifiers about genus, species, sub-species, etc.
• 12 minutes of the effectiveness of 8X tippet made by some surprisingly secret manufacturer in France
• Enough boring lackluster conversation to remind you of the adults talking in any Charlie Brown episode...that funny wah, waahh, wah, wahh sound

See, you already want to discontinue reading this entry. Identifying the nymphers in the crowd is very simple. Look for the guys and gals bellied up to the bar having an absolute ball. Shots, toasting, smiles, and comfortable with themselves exhibiting complete satisfaction. I might add that these folks are generous and are not afraid to buy a round for the bar...even the guy sitting quietly at the end of the bar glaring at the folks having fun. A conversation with nymphers will include things like...

• Dude, do you know what time the Red Sox play tonight?
• Fishing, yah, we wrecked 'em today. We landed the first fish...
• 8X? No, why...you can land every fish on 3 & 5X. Who fishes with 8X anyway?
• Hey, man can I get you another beer? Cool.

Here is the begrudging but necessary disclaimer. I love all classes of fishermen, love to dry fly fish, and by no means intend to upset the DFO's...but seriously, you should learn to get over yourselves. Fishing is supposed to be fun. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

What a number of DFO's don't realize is the difficulty of being a top notch nymph angler. It's not just tossing the fly out and hanging on til the inevitable grab. It's not bait fishing, although I don't mind that pursuit either. Let's quickly break it down. Dry fly fishing requires you to fish only the top centimeter of the water column. Dry fly fishers can see the fish eating, obviously eating, you know where he is and he is eating. With the proper presentation, the fish will eat the fly. You can see everything. There is very little imagination in the DFO's world. 1 dimensional fishing. In the nymph world, you have to understand the entire water column and sense what is happening with the flies subsurface. Do you have to cast as far, no, but in certain situations you do. Do you have to pay attention, think about depth, read the micro currents in 3 dimensional scale, yes. Does buliding the nymph rig require more knowledge? Yes. Length, weight, leader design, bobber placement and so on. I believe that effective nymph fishermen are more well rounded andglers than effective dry fly fisherman. If St. Peter judges the total number of fish caught, and how well rounded your fishing knowledge is, I see more nymph fishers gaining access to the hallowed halls than DFO's.

Nymph fishing can be so very subtle. The bobber very rarely goes under and swims upstream, well it does, but only when you are checking out a giant eagle flying over head. Most of the time it may just pause, ever so slightly, and boy go ahead and hit it hard. I'm talking about a movement of 1mm, yes, 1/10 of a centimeter. Nymphers and only nymphers know what I am talking about here. The best nymphers are striking every movement contrary to the current and consequently catching the most fish. They don't pretend to know if it is a fish every time. A boatload of fish have been caught when an angler is really tuned in! If you really want to increase the difficulty, try sight nymphing without an indicator. A truly entertaining exercise and upper level fishing. See the fish, present the fly, and watch for any movement towards the fly. I challenge DFO's to execute this difficult task. You will indeed learn something. Having as many tools in your bag allows one to catch fish anytime. Why limit yourself to only one discipline?

Guides love nymph fishermen. Just put on the bobbers and commence with the often talked about but seldom executed catching version of fishing. This faction does not care about the difficulty of a dry fly situation and is not at all embarrassed about dredging the bowels of the river. They have never heard the famous line..."That's why they call it fishing, and not catching." Fishing is fun and getting the net wet often with great looking Rainbows is damn cool. You know what, the fish fight just as hard if they are hooked subsurface. You also don't hear many dry fly fellas recanting the days tale with 40+ to hand. Well, let me add a qualifier...you do hear that story, but us nymphers recognize this value is a load of shit. Of course it happens, but not with the regularity it does while fishing on the dark side. Once again, another damn disclaimer. Nymph fishers can string several Kick-Ass days together and really get their fix!

The reason a number of guides love to nymph fish is directly correlated to success. If you have ever been guided, as I know most of you have, you must have realized the guides can have a touch of ego. It is not that they feel above anybody, because they truly don't. Remember, they are sitting in the middle of the boat, and any guide will tell you the goal is to move to the King's seat in the front of the boat. It is just that it feels pretty good to be out fishing the boats around you, and guides are fiercely competitive. Not that they lose sleep over an underwhelming day, it just may cost them an additional $40 in Bombay Sapphire trying to ease the pain.

Clients and recreational nymphers love to nymph for various reasons. It still qualifies as fly fishing, beyond what the rest of the fishing population believes. There are many facets to fishing, and why not be involved in them all. If the fish are not eating on the surface, why not put the flies in the sub-surface arena? Isn't that truly matching the hatch? Put that in your pipe and smoke it. It requires greater knowledge to be really good at nymphing. Reading and understanding the entire topography of the water system is crucial. Making mental maps and placing the fly into imagined holding lies requires analytical thought. You can take it to any level you want to. I will say it yet again..."I have met a lot of great dry fly fishermen, but very few great nymph fishermen."

Life is so full of difficult situations. Fishing does not have to be one of them. Fishing can and should include days where you rope 'em all day long. Landing a fish with in sight of both the put in and the take out and a pile of fish in between is very cool. I think this can be cleansing for your soul, in the same manner that DFO's feel a sense of accomplishment after working hard for a couple eats. There is a certain satisfaction of being successful all day long. It sure makes the cold beer taste better. All your worries drift downstream leaving you feelings you can't get elsewhere in life.

The reason for writing this rant about nymphers is to validate their experiences and techniques after hearing so many fly fishing snobs beat up on this faction. If everybody was DFO, there would be a ton more pressure on finicky sippers. The rising fish are not strangers to negative reinforcement. So DFO anglers should appreciate and applaud nymph anglers. It gives them room to pursue their own battles.

Nymph fishermen as a class are fun, willing to learn, excited about the sport, easy going, unpretentious, and they are definitely welcome in the fly fishing world. Nymph fishing is not the easy way out as some believe. It requires a skills set that may be overlooked and under appreciated. I am here to promote, recognize, and encourage nymph fishermen around the world to not lay down their rods or hold their heads in shame. Stand up and fight my brothers and sisters. Drink draft beer, laugh until your sides hurt, and extend the net in honor many times a day! Bobber Fisherman Unite!