No Tournament Nymphing in Fly-Only Waters!
Intro
If you read my statement below, you might think I am against nymph fishing. I am not, on the contrary, I wrote a 300 pages best selling book on the subject. I am also not against droppers, not even against indicators. I have also been an avid saltwater fly fisher for decades chasing different species around the globe. As I am an international fly casting pro who has designed several casts and fly casting variants (eg. like the Snap-T) who are used by thousands if not millions of fly anglers around the world, I am for sure no dry fly purist, although there is nothing more exciting than going with a dry fly for large trout or have exciting topwater action with a mouse for hucho.
Having been teaching fly casting around the globe for decades and even founded the European Fly Fishing Association and its fly casting instructor programme, fly casting is for me the criteria, if it comes to decide whether we are really fly fishing or not. During a correct basic fly cast the line is the casting weight, and the continued tension of the fly line during the forward casts enables the line to enrole. This is a basic fly casting principle which all fly casting instructors around the world teach. Whenever the line loses its tension, the tensile forces succumb and as a result the fly cast collapses. If the line is not on tension during the forward cast, it is the casting weight (nymph or streamer) that enables the cast to reach the target. So whenever the fly line is not active any more, as it is not heavy enough to pull the used weight of your nymph or treamer through the air, I do not call it fly fishing. You might film the casts of the tournament techniques (Czech, French, Spanish, ...) and will soon recognize that the forward casts show no tension in the fly line. Some do not even use a fly line at all. It is still nymph fishing, but for me it just does not meet the criteria for fly fishing.
The following article was published on my website in 2010
The red remarks were published later to adapt to changing rules and tournament techniques.
Fly Fishing Championships
In the 1980ies int. fly fishing championships organized by FIPS Mouche became popular. One of those championships took place in Poland, but the local people there did not have any proper fly lines at all. So they were allowed to use common monofilament, too. They just knotted 0,50 mm monofilament directly to the rod tip. With this setup the only possibility for them was fishing heavy weighted flies and droppers on short distance, in fact more or less directly under their rod tip. They just made the flies roll over the river bottom for a few seconds similar to an old technique even used by poachers with worms in former times.
Was it something new? No, but it was definitely a very good mean to sell the excellent Czech Nymphs. Yes, the nymphs are really good, but is the so called Czech Nymphing really fly fishing? BTW, this refers to all tournament techniques that do not use the fly line as the casting weight.
What is fly fishing all about?
Fly fishing is an angling technique performed by using a fly rod and a fly line by which the latter with its special characteristics is used as the casting weight which loads the rod. Provided the rod is handled correctly the fly line travels through the air, constantly unrolling in a beautiful loop which pulls the dry fly/nymph or streamer through the air finally delivering it to the target. Carrying the imitates with the help of a fly line through the air by harmoniously co-ordinated movements and an unrolling loop is the core element of fly fishing and therefore the determining criterion by which fly fishing differs from other kinds of angling.
Günter Feuerstein
If you call the fishing with a bubble and dry flies fly fishing, then probably for you Czech Nymphing is fly fishing, too. If you are of the opinion fly fishing is done with a fly line that is used to carry your fly, nymph or streamer to your target then Czech Nymphing cannot be called a fly fishing method.
As weighted alibi flies (the hook melted into in the drop like end weight is far too small to catch fish) up to 10 g(!) were used in competitions (meanwhile regulated) and are still used by many Czech Nymphers in special situations where the regulations allow it, it is obvious that it is completely impossible to make any overhead false casts with them (at least not with a proper technique and class 3-6 grayling/trout rods). Quite often you see these Czech Nymphers even fishing with very long leaders only maybe using a meter of fly line out of the rod tip, somethimes even less.
It is easy to calculate, that the weight of a thin leader (may pull a dry fly through the air on a certain distance) but is not able to pull a heavily weighted nymph through the air by using false casts. Otherwise all manufacturers of fly lines are wrong.
If the fly line is not used as the weight which carries the fly or nymph to the target but a weighted end nymph or nymph system is used as a casting weight that takes over the control in the air and is finally pulling the leader and line to the target. IMHO this cannot be called fly fishing.
If it is only about to catch fish on a nymph no matter what tackle is used, one can fish this system much more effectively with a match rod (more distance, better control). In my home country Austria, the so called Tirolerhölzl was created a long time ago to fish multiple nymph systems at the speed of the current or even a bit slower -especially for grayling. Therefore a spinning or light match rod is used. Because of the declining numbers of grayling and the possibility to even fail hook fish on intention with it, the Tirolerhölzl is meanwhile forbidden in many Austrian rivers and even whole Austrian provinces by law.
In Austria governments have recognised this fishing method to be a problem. But now it starts entering even fly only waters again but through the back door under a new name and under the cover of being a fly fishing method. Some newer publications were even talking about it as European Nymphing. What a ridiculous development!
Should this really be called fly fishing?
Why do you need a fly line for Czech Nymphing shown in the following videos and why a fly rod at all? That works much better with other devices (e.g. Toc-Toc).
Not in fly-only waters!
Hereby I request all owners of fly-only-waters to think over their tackle regulations and adapt them in order to stop that development and to protect waters from poaching as it is easy to attach additional bait on the hooks.
In my opinion it would be wise and to ban all nymphs, nymph systems and streamers which cannot be cast by using multiple overhead false casts on an average distance of 15 m with the fly line in use. The fly line has to be used properly to carry our patterns to the fish otherwise we will loose this traditional technique on the long run. History has proofed that all developments that lead to a progress (in this case more fish) are difficult if not to say nearly impossible to turn back if the point of return is missed.
Please support this attempt to change the regulations in your fly-only-waters in a way that Czech, French, Spanisch and other tournament techniques (also using using mono rigs without fly lines at all) will be forbidden. Thanks to all who have already implemented such regulations to avoid this development!
To put it clear: Tournament techniques should not be forbidden, but they should only be allowed in waters which can be fished by other angling methods than fly fishing, too (natural bait, spinning, centerpins), but not in fly-only-waters!
Our fish populations need protection!
Competitive anglers try to train for competitions in fly-only waters. The really bad thing about it is that at the Fips-Mouche championships, quantity takes precedence over size, and competition anglers therefore target juvenile or smaller fish on purpose. Juveniles are very sensitive and should be protected as much as possible as they need to grow. Fishing for them with a counter is a shame. Such irresponsible behavior should wake up every water owner or tenant to counteract such developments.
tournament techniques - a destructive development
a positive development at Idrijca
Please feel free to share the link of this article to preserve fly fishing on the long run as a unique, beautiful and elegant way of catching fish.
Günter Feuerstein