Troutbitten

Three Ways to Dead Drift -- Critical Nymphing Concepts #4

Feb 4, 2024

Experienced fly fisherman, Austin Dando, and host discuss three critical nymphing concepts: bottom bouncing, strike zone rides, and tracking flies. Emphasizing the importance of mimicking natural movements to attract trout while dead drifting nymphs. The episode provides valuable insights on rigging techniques, mastering the strike zone, and the art of tracking nymphs to enhance fly fishing success.

44:58

Episode guests

Austin Dando

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Bottom Bouncing simulates natural drift between rocks for a slow, controlled crawl.

Strike Zone Rides focus on optimal gliding in areas where trout forage naturally.

Deep dives

Bottom Bouncing:

Bottom Bouncing involves allowing nymphs to naturally touch down and regain footing on the river bed. The goal is a slow crawl with the river bed's friction controlling the drift speed, providing more control. The approach aims to simulate nymphs bouncing between rocks naturally without getting snagged, leading to a magical drift when executed effectively. Rigging includes drop shot rigs for quick bottom reach or traditional split shots with unweighted flies.

Introduction

2min

Mastering Dead Drifting Techniques in Nymphing

13min

Insights on Rigging for Bottom Bouncing with Nymphs

3min

Mastering the Strike Zone for Successful Nymphing

9min

Mastering Nymph Tracking for Effective Fly Fishing

7min

Rigging for Tracking in Nymphing Techniques

3min

Mastering Fly Fishing: Understanding Fly Weight and Size

4min

Exploring Critical Nymphing Techniques and Trout Behavior

3min

This episode features what might be the most important concept of nymph fishing. There are three different ways to present a dead drifted nymph to the trout -- three ways to imitate what trout commonly see from the naturals. While trout eat dry flies in one plane (the surface) the complexity of currents underneath introduces more difficulty, simply because trout might be looking for food in multiple ways.

My friend, Austin Dando, and I break down one of my favorite topics in fly fishing -- the three ways to dead drift nymphs: bottom bouncing, strike zone rides and tracking the flies.

All three of these methods are viable. All of them produce. A nymphing angler dedicated to improving should consider what level to focus the presentation and how those nymphs might best look natural within that level.

This is a technical topic that is built on many Troutbitten resources that have come before it . . .

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Nymphs: Three Ways to Dead Drift: Bottom Bounce, Strike Zone Rides, Tracking
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Locating the Strike Zone -- Tight Line Skills #6
READ: Troutbitten | The Water Column and the All-Important Strike Zone
READ: Troutbitten | Drop Shot Nymphing Series
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook