ZEBRA TROUT FLY FISHING CATALUNYA (3)

Nor should we forget to use a good sunscreen with great protection against UVA rays and always wear a cap or a hat. The effects of the sun on the rivers of the Pyrenees are devastating and you have to protect yourself properly from it. I also recommend long-sleeved shirts.

Nymph fishing is very convenient and quite interesting if you want to obtain acceptable results on any fishing day. As the rivers of these latitudes are torrential, the Czech Nymphing is the indicated system and by the way very effective. The modern nymph basses prepared by many brands, Hanak, Hends, Rio, Soldarini will help us a lot to present our nymphs in the wells and streams of the river. This type of fishing is very grateful in terms of results and the technique that does not require great skill in casting, unlike what happens with the dry fly. Just throw a few meters, from 5 to 10 meters, to get some catches. Normally I use fine tippets, although not too much, between 12% to 15% or what is the same 6X to 5X. I use the twelve in low waters and the fifteen for tumultuous or high waters, it is usually enough, but if we nail a large trout we will appreciate having a line as thick as possible since breakages are frequent and not only due to the strength of the fish but also the breaks produced by its sharp teeth.

Indeed, the sharp teeth of the trout, and especially in the Mediterranean trout, cut the most resistant threads very easily. Fluorocarbon lines are slightly stronger than the softer nylon lines used for dry fly fishing.

I have a friend who specializes in fishing for large specimens of zebra trout. He usually places himself with his nymphs in wells that he knows very well and that often give him great catches. I remember a telephone conversation at the foot of the river in which he was calling me as he lost large specimens of trout that broke his line. In the first call he fished with a fourteen hundredth to finish with 25% and fishing a huge trout of 84cm in length. The trout was duly measured and photographed on a hot August afternoon a few years ago.

The nymphs that I normally use are the famous Perdigon with the Segre, Gasolina and Verdina models. Other very effective nymph models are the hare’s ear and the pheasant’s ear, both in all imaginable models. It is very convenient for the angler to have different nymph weights and different sizes. As the Pyrenean rivers are very rough and impetuous, it is necessary that the tungsten heads go from 2.3 to 3.8 even 4mm. The bodies of our nymphs can also be plumbed with lead wire, but then tungsten balls must be discarded because otherwise the nymph will not swim correctly and will have a disastrous effect underwater as if it were a dead weight or a stone. The nymph must move at a good depth, almost glued to the bottom, but with ease.

As the Pyrenean rivers are large, fast and with tumultuous waters, it is convenient that the launches with the Czech Nymphing are close. With 5 or 10 meters will suffice in most cases. The rod and the nymphs must work at an inverted 90º angle, that is, the nymph rod works flat and straight in front of the fisherman and the nymph line goes completely straight down, taking the nymphs a few centimeters from the river bed, which is where they will bite the brave trout of the Pyrenees. This detail is especially important because the nymphs that drift slanted, very inclined and that do not reach the proper depth, that is, almost bouncing off the rocks at the bottom, will fish much less. For this I recommend using fluorocarbon lines with weights 3 and 4 nymph rods with lengths of 10 to 11 feet, with 10.6ft and 10.8ft being common.

The advantage of nymph fishing is that you can fish all day with this method as Czech Nymphing is a highly effective system for catching not only trout but any salmonid including large Atlantic salmon.

It is a system that I am prone to avoid because despite its effectiveness I find it boring and not very interesting compared to the beauty and emotion of the dry fly. For my taste, I prefer to charge two pieces with dry fly than triple with nymph and specifically with Czech Nymphing.

~Carles V.