Wiggle Nymph Woes

[JasonN 0]

Yesterday I tied up a couple nice-looking brown drake wiggle nymphs. The trout thought they really hit the spot--every fish I saw rise was willing to hit that nymph on the swing past it. I caught one 13 incher, but the 3 larger browns that I hooked all spit the hook pretty easily. (One was in the neighborhood of 17 and was on for about 30 seconds, one was of pretty uncertain size, and one was a real brute, 20+, that gave a couple headshakes and then spit the hook on his first hard run.)

 

I also had a lot of fish strike short and just grab the back, but I'm not counting those as really a problem. I figure they were small fish that didn't grab the whole thing. But the 3 large fish that easily spit the hook concern me.

 

Anyway, I don't think I was fishing the nymphs particularly wrong--kept the rod tip at about a 90 degree angle to the fly in the water so that there was enough slack to allow for the take. And the bigger fish didn't have much of a problem taking, just with keeping the hook in 'em. I suspect it may have something to do with the position of the rear part of the wiggle nymph--maybe it gets caught up in the hook bend or somehow otherwise impedes a good hookset at times.

 

So I'm wondering if anyone's run into this issue before, and if so, is there anything you do differently tying/fishing to correct it?

[mcfly 0]

What is a wiggle nymph?

 

 

[Guest]

A wiggle nymph is where the abdomen of the nymph is tied on wire. The wire is then connected to the hook by creating a hinge so the fly wiggles in the water. The rest of the fly is then tied on the hook.

 

Many of the nymphs swim by wiggling their bodies in the water. I tried some in the past and had a gap at the hinge in the fly. I was concerned they wouldn't work with the gap and gave up on them. I'll have to get some back together now that I see they were successful.

[Guest]

I haven't heard of any hooking problems particular to wiggle nymphs. Are you smashing the barb?

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

I'm not sure what type of water you are fishing, but a lot of times the trout will follow the fly and take it when it is almost straight below you. If you are fishing faster water and you feel a "take" below/downstream your position, the first instinct is to set the hook. Sometimes the "take" you feel is really the trout flaring its gills to suck in the fly and you wind up striking early and pulling the fly out of the trout's mouth before the fish has it securely in its jaws. The trout can't get the fly into his mouth because of the tension in the line.

To increase you chances of a hook up there are a few things you can do when the fly is below you:

 

1. When you feel a "take" try not to set the hook right away. Wait until you feel the weight of the trout or you feel a second bump. The second bump will be the trout closing his mouth and turning away from shore to head back to a holding/feeding position.

 

2. When you feel a "take" lower your rod slightly to feed the fly into the trout's mouth. Feel the weight of the fish then set the hook.

 

3. Keep some slack line in your hand and when you feel a "take" let a few inches of line slide out to provide some slack for the fly to enter the trout's mouth. Feel the weight of the fish then set the hook.

 

By waiting until you feel the weight of the fish you will get a better hook set. Most times it will be in the corner of the mouth stuck in the gristle or in the plate on the side of their mouth. A tough place for them to throw the hook even if it is barbless.

 

Also, some those fish that you thought were small fish were probably bigger than you would expect. When you have the right pattern they listen to their instincts and literally "eat" the fly. They think its an easy meal so there is no need to attack it, they just open there mouth and close it as if Mother Nature was feeding them herself.

 

Hope this helps,

Chip

[FFNC 0]

I would venture to say it's the way you connected the back part too Jason. Some folks got the hook on the front some folks put the hook on the back. Some have the circle going horizontal, some have the circle going vertical on the back part. I have seen some done with mono line and I have seen the wire ones also. How do you tie your's?