How to Begin Your Tight Line & Euro Nymphing Journey

You may feel tempted to race into Euro nymphing. I get it. You want to catch more trout. I did too. As one of the most impatient people on the planet, let me give you some advice. Make slow and steady changes over time. Don’t rush into Euro nymphing!

Start by making some minor changes to your current system to develop a tight line nymphing system. From there, you can evolve into a full Euro nymphing set up. This approach will help you to have long term success with your overall nymphing game. This post will help you understand that Euro nymphing is a refined tight line nymphing approach. You do not have to go all in on Euro nymphing to get started. This post will help you to understand how to make a few simple adjustments to your current set up to create a basic tight line nymphing system.

Euro Nymphing-Under the Tight Line Nymphing Umbrella

Simply stated, Euro nymphing is a specific style of tight line nymphing. Tight line nymphing is a system for presenting nymphs to trout without an indicator. People have been tight line nymphing for years. There is nothing European about tight line nymphing. The more specific style of Euro nymphing has evolved because of competitive angling rules (no weight on the leader and leaders less than twice the size of the rod). Think of tight line nymphing as an umbrella. Euro nymphing would fall underneath the tight line nymphing umbrella. There are many types of tight line nymphing systems.

The fly fishing industry helped popularize Euro nymphing, which has lead to some confusion for anglers. Euro nymphing is a specific style of tight line nymphing in which an angler does not use any weight on the leader (split shots). Weighted nymphs are presented to fish using a long Euro nymphing leader and a lightweight Euro nymphing fly line. Before making a complete conversion to Euro nymphing, however, you may benefit by making small adjustments to your current set up to develop a basic tight line nymphing system.

Tight Line Nymphing System (Umbrella)

• Use sighter material built into the leader for strike detection (no indicator).
• Present any style of nymphs using a dead drift.
• Can use weight on leader (split shot)
• Stay in direct contact with your nymphs throughout the drift.
• Hold the line and leader off the water while using a sighter to help detect strikes.
• Use any fly line

Euro Nymphing (More Refined)

• Use sighter material built into the leader for strike detection (no indicator).
• Present weighted nymphs using a dead drift.
• No weight no the leader (no split shot)
• Stay in direct contact with your weighted nymphs throughout the drift.
• Hold the line and leader off the water while using a sighter to help detect strikes.
• Use a light weight euro line

Understanding the concept of tight line nymphing is vital to your long-term success. As you start to apply these concepts on the water, you will benefit from taking a slow and steady approach. Tight line nymphing is something that takes time to master; however, with just a few enhancements to your current nymphing presentation, you will see immediate improvements in your catch rate. As you progress, you may find benefits in the refinements associated with the more specific style, Euro Nymphing.

Get Started with Your Current Setup

Any fly shop will be happy to sell you everything you “need” to get you started with Euro Nymphing. My recommendation is to start with what you have! The time will come to invest in more specialized gear, but it’s not now. Give yourself time to develop your skills so that you have a better understanding the changes you are making.

When I began making the transition to a tight line system, I used my old Orvis Rocky Mountain Series 9 foot 6 weight because it was the only one I owned. My initial investment into tight line nymphing was nothing more than sighter material and tippet rings. That’s it! It worked great! I immediately started catching more trout, and  you will too!

You do not need to go crazy and spend money on a specialized rod or other gear when you are getting started! As you build your skills, you will begin to understand the concepts (and catch more trout). I would argue this is the best way to start even if you can afford all new gear. If all you have ever done is cast a traditional fly fishing rig, suddenly switching to a complete “Euro Rig” will not feel natural. It will be like a skier trying to snowboard. or like a righty trying to throw lefty. Too much change at once will have you longing for your old rod back. By starting with what you are currently using, you can focus on making small changes over time.

Initial Changes to Make With Your Current Setup

Step 1: Build and Use a Basic Euro Nymphing Leader

To get started, I followed George Daniel’s advice. I clipped my 9 foot 4X tapered leader at around the 0X  mark and then added about 20 inches of sighter material. At the end of the sighter, I tied on a tippet ring. From the tippet ring, I used a clinch knot to add 4 to 5 feet of 5X tippet. I didn’t even use fluorocarbon at first. I just used nylon tippet because that is what I had!

You can begin by fishing this new leader with a single fly. Or if you know how to tie a surgeon’s knot, you can add a dropper fly (a.k.a. tag fly). The fly at the end of your leader is called your point fly. If you fish two flies, your point fly is generally the heavier of the two. I recommend starting with the heavier fly at the point to make casting easier. You can add a lighter fly as the dropper. One of my most common rigs is a UV Thread Frenchie with a 3.2 bead at the point and a Rainbow Warrior with a 2.4 mm bead as a dropper. You can vary this any way you like. I plan on covering the more in depth in a future post.

Step 2: Change Your Casting Stroke

Once you have your new leader set up, the next thing you will want to change is your casting. Yes, your casting! When casting nymphs using this setup, you will need to use a tuck cast. The tuck cast is not hard to learn. The goal of the tuck cast is to get the nymphs to land in the water first so that they quickly begin to sink upon entry. The tuck cast also helps you to accurately place your nymphs where you want them. The tuck cast is not a lob cast.

The Need for Speed

You will need to get some speed into your cast with abrupt stops at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock. It is easy to get into the habit of dropping your rod tip at the end of the cast. Stop the rod tip at 10 o’clock so that your weighted nymphs hit the water before your leader does. The video below demonstrates the tuck cast.

Step 3: Retrieve Slack

Once you have mastered the tuck cast, you will then begin to focus on retrieving slack and reading your sighter. When you use a tuck cast up stream, some slack will be created in your presentation. It’s important to use your line hand to retrieve that slack and get tight to the sighter as soon as possible. This is not hard to learn. At first, try fishing close-no more than 15 feet. As you become more comfortable with this method, you will be able to manage longer casts. But remember, the longer the cast, the more slack you will have.

Step 4: Read the Sighter

Once you are tight to the sighter, you will want to train your eyes on it. Your sighter tells you how your flies are drifting. You’ll know when you are in the strike zone when your sighter is moving slower than the current at the surface. When the sighter pauses, set the hook by moving the tip of your rod in a sharp downstream motion. This is known as a hook set. There won’t always be a fish at the end of a hook set, but sometimes there will be! I generally will hook set at the end of each drift. First, this sets me up for my next cast. Second, every once in a while, a trout who took my fly on the swing will be on the end! That’s always a nice surprise.

Step 5: Continue to Make Refinements

Okay, so now you are doing it! You’ve ditched the indicator. You have incorporated sighter material into your leader and are dead drifting weighted nymphs to trout suspended from a level piece of tippet material. You are using a tuck cast to get your flies to hit the water before your leader, so they sink quickly. You’re reading your sighter, hook setting, and catching more fish!

Make the Switch to Fluorocarbon

Now is the time to slowly start making refinements to your tight line nymphing system. The first thing you may notice is that your nylon tippet tends to get frayed because it spends a lot of time under water scraping rocks. It’s now time to start thinking about making a change to fluorocarbon. But when you see the price of Trout Hunter Fluorocarbon, you gasp. I know it’s expensive, but it’s the best stuff out there.

A More Affordable Option

If you’re not ready to throw down for Trout Hunter, I have a more affordable solution. Seagur fluorocarbon 4 pound test is the same exact diameter as Trout Hunter 5x. It works great and is only a fraction of the price. The Seagur 6 pound test is the same exact diameter as Trout Hunter 4X. I buy the big spools of Seagur and then wind it onto the Trout Hunter spools (shhhhhh…don’t tell). If you want 6X or 7X, you are out of luck. However, most of the time, you will find 4X and 5X meet your needs perfectly. Fluorocarbon is not only more durable than nylon, but it also has a higher sink rate which helps you flies get down faster. Once you make the switch to fluorocarbon, you will not want to go back to nylon. You will likely lose less flies using fluorocarbon as well.

Ditch the Traditional Fly Line

As you become more proficient with tight line nymphing, you’ll start to notice that your traditional fly line is heavy and pulls on your leader causing drag. This won’t bother you in the slightest at first, but as your skills advance, you will notice it. You have a few options to consider when replacing your traditional fly line.

Option 1

Switch to a full Euro fly line. A Euro fly line is just a very light fly line. It does not have the mass of a double tapered or weight forward line. So, it will not pull on your leader nearly as much creating drag.

Option 2

Another great option to get started is the Rio Euro Nymph Shorty. This works just like a full Euro line except it is shorter in length and easier to take on and off. It allows you to keep your traditional fly line on your reel because you attach it to the loop end just like you would with a regular leader. When you want to throw dry flies, you just remove the Rio Euro Nymph Shorty, and replace it with a regular tapered leader.

Option 3

Switch to a mono rig. While the mono rig is the least expensive of the two options, it may not be the best choice if you are just getting started. When using a mono rig, you essentially replace your fly line with heavy monofilament (15-20 pounds). You then tie a Euro leader to the monofilament. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. There are times when I prefer using a mono rig and times when I would rather have the feel of a Euro line. George Daniel explains this very well in the video below.

Consider a Euro Nymphing Rod

The next thing you will notice, especially if you are working with a shorter fly rod, is that you may benefit from having a little more range. With tight line nymphing, you are fishing close to you. Having a longer fly rod will give you more range. Euro Nymphing rods are designed to be longer to provide more range and lighter to provide more sensitivity. Most nymphing rods are between ten and eleven feet and are generally two or three weight. They are designed with a sturdy butt section to provide power in casting and in fighting the fish. But they are light and playful in the tip section. The playful tip section helps with strike detection, as it provides sensitivity to feel the hit as well as see it with the sighter. 

Making Small Enhancement Over Time Will Reward You

I want to caution you because tight line nymphing is extremely addictive. It is addictive because it works. But that doesn’t mean you need to abandon everything you already know about fly fishing when you are getting started. Nor should you rush into investing in specialized gear. Use your current set up to develop a tight line system.

Slowly make refinements to your tight line system by adding Euro nymphing strategies. Believe me, you will appreciate specialized gear and upgrades much more if you take your time in this process. Becoming proficient at tight line nymphing should be a journey! Take is slow, enjoy the ride, and appreciate every trout your new skills help you bring to the net.

Thanks for reading. Spend more time on the water!

Jeff