Between recreational trout fishing, guiding trout anglers, competition trout and grayling fishing, steelhead fishing and steelhead guiding, I work with nymphs A LOT! With all this experience, let me tell you that there is no "pat" way to effectively fish nymphs. I use and teach no less than 7 different rigging techniques, all have their time and place. The Right Angle system I will describe below is just one of those, but it may be the most universally applicable.

First, let me roughly define nymph fishing. Nymph fishing involves any fly presentation intended to mimic free flowing submerged aquatic food. One can "nymph fish" with anything from eggs to streamers and all points between as the techniques involve rigging and manipulation more than flies.

One worried point about fly-fishing in our country is the direction that our domestic media is taking us. While, out of one side of our mouth, we are complaining that the sport is no longer on the incline; the other side of our mouth spews gibberish effective only at selling magazines. Readers are left with grande images of what fly-fishing can be, but are hardly given the information to get there. Authors are celebritized and waters are hallowed but novices remain novice. Heck, many of our pedestals are occupied by celebrity novices who are merely excellent writers.

My goal has been, and will always be, to offer useful information in a clear format that the angler can apply immediately and enjoy success. This is why I teach the Right Angle system to all of my steelhead clients and it's where we start when I teach my Versatile Nymphing class. It's an incredibly simple rig that will get folks into fish with minimal technical skill. Obviously the amount of success is dependent on the species and conditions. But in a nutshell, cast above the fish, retrieve at the speed of the current, and set the hook when the orange fuzzy thing goes under!

Why the Right Angle system? Well, there are a few basic reasons why this rig is so well suited for novices yet equally applicable to even the most weathered nymph fisherman. First, as a dedicated nymph rig, the system is quick to build and versatile across all water depths, types and speeds. If it has a drawback it is that it cannot too easily be converted to a dry fly or streamer rig.

Second, the right angle concept allows the angler to take the tapered leader concept and toss it out the window--where it often belongs! Now, before the emails start let me clarify that there are indeed valid uses for tapered leaders but I cannot think of one that applies to nymph fishing unless you are speaking strictly of fishing nymphs in the film. Taper is required when the angler is choosing to cast a lightly weighted, or un weighted fly a considerable distance on a long leader to a very specific location. The leader's job then is to transfer the energy of the cast from the fly line through the leader, dissipating the energy as it goes down it's length. The end result should be a highly accurate cast (a result of considerable line speed) that delivers a fly, or flies, gently to a specific locale. This is not nymph fishing! Nymph fishing is about getting your fly or flies quickly down to fish that are typically in broken, moving water hovering in the bottom cushion, having them drift an a natural aspect, and being able to detect the often subtle take.

By taking the taper out of the game, the angler may now use a uniformly thin "dropper" that will slice through the water at an even rate eliminating a bow in the line that will eat up sensitivity in strike detection and greatly reduce sink rates. The result will be a near direct connection between the indicator and fly, less required weight (meaning easier and more accurate casts), less weight will spook less fish, and the fly will get to the fish faster and remain there longer. The short heavy leader butt will turn over the indicator, and the dropper with weighted flies or small shot will follow along just nicely. In fact, a good caster will appreciate how the rig can be "Tuck Cast' for great pocket water fishing!

Lastly, the rig is valid across any water type you may encounter. As long as the dropper is of substantial length to reach the bottom, mere adjustment to the amount and placement of weight (or weighted flies) is all that is required to switch between shallow and deep water, slow or fast runs, long drifts or pocket water. The more weight you add, the more vertical the fly will present behind the indicator. The less weight, the more horizontal the fly will present. In any case, as long as the angler is removing drag and not holding back on the flow if the indicator-the fly and indicator will be in a near tight-line relationship and strikes will be immediately detected.

My choice of indicator is paramount to the success of the rig. Note I am not calling it a "bobber" or "float" since it's sole purpose is to be a sighter on the leader. It is not intended to support the fly or flies at a fixed level in the water! My friend Steve Sywensky uses this analogy: a rifle has the ability to shoot accurately over long distances, the limitation being the shooters ability to see the target and sights. Adding a rifle scope does nothing to change the gun's ability, it simply increases the shooter's ability to use the gun. Likewise with an indicator! Obviously the indicator must allow for the right angle rig, so adhesive, pegged or stemmed indicators will not work well. It also must be visible, sensitive, and hold up in heavy water where near surface hydraulics suck many indicators under and induce drag. Please see my tutorial on making the indicator that I use.

On all of my fly lines I start by nail knotting a short section of stout mono to act as a preface to my leader. Be sure to coat the knot with some type of sealant to smooth it out and to seal the core of the fly line from water logging and sinking.

Option 1: Blood knot a section of hard nylon to the leader preface, this will be your leader butt and will act to turn the rig over and create separation from the fly line. . For trout I tend to use 2X material and make it about 6 feet long. For steelhead I use 15-pound monofilament and make it 3 to 4 feet long. The length will depend on how spooky I expect the fish to be. Shorter sections will improve casting ease.

Option 2: Tie a Perfection loop in the preface section and clinch knot your leader butt to it. I prefer Option #1 since it is smoother.

Build your own indicator (Click Here!)!

Tie the butt section directly to the O-ring of the indicator using a simply Clinch knot. For maximum performance I tie to the side of the O-ring.

Form an open loop in the butt section and tie your dropper to it using a Clinch Knot. I tend to use about 4 to 6-feet of tippet for my dropper. For trout it will usually be 4X or 5X degreased fluorocarbon. For steelhead it will usually be 2X or 3X nylon monofilament. The dropper length is independent of the depth of water to a degree. Obviously it must at least be as long as the water is deep, but going too far toward the extremes will make your job harder (too long) or reduce your versatility (too short).

Slide the dropper's Clinch Knot down and against the leader butt's clinch knot. Note that there will be zero stress on the O-ring when a fish is hooked.

You can clearly see the Right Angle!

Tie on your fly and go catching! (Dropper tied short for photograph!)

For trout I will not use split shot, instead preferring to use teams of weighted flies so that I am fishing the flies and not the weight. For steelhead, our state regulation limit us to a single hook point so my variability there is severely limited forcing me to add split shot about 8 inches to a foot above the fly.

This system can be easily adapted to balloon indicators by tying the leader section to the balloon's knot and affixing the dropper as shown above. Balloons are nice for very cold weather but are not as sensitive or telling as the yarn indicators I prefer.