Euro Nymphing

  Euro nymphing has become very popular in recent years, one of the reasons is that this style of fly fishing does not require you to master all the different fly fishing casting techniques, it by passes the use of fly line and uses a simplistic flip cast. It has also become popular because it works!

Euro nymphing is  competitive tournament fly fishing which has certain rules such as no split shots attached to the line and no floating strike indicators. Teams from around the world compete for the World Championship every year.

It was 1989 when Wladyslaw “Vladi” Trzebunia with the Polish team won the World Fly Fishing Championship in Kuusamo, Finland. Since that 1989 competition, the nymphing that method Vladi pioneered has been imitated throughout Europe.

Polish nymphing, is basically a tight-line technique that uses weighted nymphs and a longer 10’-11’ fly rod to catch trout . The rig used is a double-fly rig with a heavy nymph at the bottom and a lighter one on top with a dropper line and is fished with a section of colored line as an indicator that is tied into the leader. Anglers typically fish with a short leader, a long tippet, and a longer rod that is parallel to the water while pulling the flies downstream. The reason the Polish method uses two flies and not three is due to local fishing regulations in Poland, so the national fishing team stayed with the rig they used all the time.

All Euro nymphing style is derived from Polish nymphing, so they are all basically the same. The main difference is that The Polish method uses two flies with the heaviest fly in the “point” or bottom position and the lighter fly in the top position on a dropper, and most Euro nymphing uses 3 flies with the heaviest fly on the bottom and the 2 lighter flies on droppers above it. 

The Euro Nymphing fishing style

Euro nymphing is my style of nymphing, I always fish close, working the stream in front of you and not taking long cast. When nymphing you must keep tight lines. To keep your nymph 

drifting through the channel of water you selected you must get up close. I keep my cast to about 15 feet, I cast quartering upstream and as the line drifts by me I am raising the rod then as it goes by me I am dropping the rod, just as I get to the end of the drift I raise the rod then drop it quickly right before I pick up to cast again. 

Casting is limited to about 2 rods lengths out and about 2 rods lengths upstream. You are flipping the line upstream, the weight of the flies is what propels it forward, there is no fly line involved. The casting technique is very simple to master. I would call it a lasso technique, you flip the line upstream about 15-20 feet, as the line drifts downstream you follow it with your rod tip, always keeping tension on the line. When you get to the end of the drift and the line is directly below you, you quickly lift the rod and you swing the rod from downstream to behind your head then flipping the line forward, quartering upstream. This motion is like swinging a lasso over your head then thrusting it forward. This is how you work the river. You move upstream 15 feet, take 10 cast, then move 15 feet more and keep repeating. You are working the water close to you and are constantly looking for pockets and pools to drop your line through. Trout are always facing upstream looking for food drifting in the current. The approach in the river is to work your way upstream so the fish don’t see you and get spooked

The nymphs are weighted, and the combined weight and the thin light leader drop the rig to the bottom quickly. You then follow the drift of the rig by following it with the rod tip and pulling the nymphs downstream keeping a constant tension on the line. The rod is held level with the water, and when you feel a hit or see the indicator (colored line) bump, you then set the hook by a quick set downstream, keeping the rod level. If you pull straight up when you feel a hit, you will most likely pull the nymph right out of their jaws.

Euro nymphing fly patterns

The European nymphing style of flies have fast-sink rates. Their slim profile, hints of flash, and tungsten beads drop them quickly into their feeding lanes. The Peridgon, Copper John, both are tungsten beads, body wrapped with wire and a sparse tail. The Czech nymph is a tungsten bead scud pattern, bright green and flashy. There are also traditional patterns like the pheasant tail, hares ear, prince nymph all are tied with a jig style barbless hook weighted with a tungsten bead. These flies are tied in sizes 10-16, the larger sizes are used as the point fly, the fly that acts like a weight and pulls the other flies down..

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    Intro to Euro Leaders

Euro nymphing leaders are constructed with a butt section, a transition section, a sighter section, and a tippet ring. The butt section will vary in length and diameter because of the variety of desired sensitivity and casting characteristics. The transition section is always thinner than the butt but thicker than the sighter to form a taper effect. The sighter section is a high-visibility line for strike detection and a tippet ring is attached for easy tippet replacement. Euro nymphing leaders are traditionally long 20’-30’, but before you choose a leader check your local fishing regulations. New York has a limit of 15’ for fly fishing leaders, you would need to make your own leader. A 15’ Euro leader would be 4’ butt (12lb) 3’ transition (10lb) 1’ sighter (8lb HIVIS) with a tippet ring. This leaves you 7’ for a 5X tippet for your single weighted nymph. RIO makes an 11 foot Euro leader with a sighter section and tippet ring, that leaves you 4 feet for your tippet with weighted nymph. The reason for the long leader is to keep your fly line from contacting the water and creating drag and slowing down the sinking fly. 

Traditional Euro leaders

The traditional Euro nymph leaders are 20’ and 30’ These are the best traditional nymph leaders I found and would strongly suggest buying leaders to start off with to see what works for you, then you could experiment with making your own.

Cortland Euro Nymph 20’ tapered leader, colored sighter and tippet ring

Scientific Angler 30’ Absolute Euro Nymph Tapered leader, colored sighter and tippet ring. 

Standard length Leaders are available from RIO , these tapered leaders are available in lengths of 11’ and 14’ with colored sighter and tippet ring. 

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      Euro Nymphing Rods

Euro nymphing rods are fast action light weight rods, 2, 3 or 4 weight. Euro rods are much longer than the average rod, generally from 10' to 11' in length .The long length of the rod is necessary to work the flies keeping them along the bottom and to give you that extra reach for your short flip cast. 

When choosing a Euro Nymphing rod you must consider rod length, rod weight and action. The action should be a fast action, with a long rod you need a fast action to move the rod tip to set the hook. The fast action gives you the leverage to flip the weighted nymphs quickly and accurately. To start out a 3-weight rod is a good choice. The length should be a 10’6”, this is right in the middle.

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      Euro nymphing reels

The reels are basically small due to the 2-4 wt of the rods. The most important thing is to make sure the reel will balance the rod. A larger 5/6 reel may be needed to balance the outfit out. I always make sure I get a reel with a good drag. This is important now that you are using a 3 wt rod with a 6x or 7x tippet, your drag must be smooth so you don’t pop your leader. I will not use any tippet that that is over 3lb. I use a 7x tippet that is 2.9lb so I don’t break my rod tip. Remember your using a 3wt rod, its light and not designed for heavy lines.

  My Euro Nymphing Set up

My first Euro nymph rod is 10’6” and 3wt, it is a world of difference from my 7’6” Orvis set up. I really enjoy the Euro nymph style, it works for me. I always liked tight line nymphing.

I bought a 3wt reel with a good disc drag. I spooled the reel with a 100 yards of  YO-ZURI HIVIS hybrid fluorocarbon, 8lb test. For a leader I use 10’ of 5x tippet. My bright yellow line acts like my indicator. To the 10’ of 5x tippet I tie on my multi fly rig. I pre tie my rigs the day before and put the on spools so the don’t tangle. My rig is with 7x tippet 2.9lb. I put a size 12 weighted fly on a 5”dropper then a size 16 on the end of the 24” tippet. If I uses 3 flies I put 2 size 16 flies in series on the main tippet. This works for me, I can quickly change flies to find out that perfect combination. I had great success my first time out, it really got me excited about this new nymphing set up.

Make your own rules!

Euro nymphing competition has rules, but your not competing, so make your own rules!

Try this style of fishing, see what you like and what you don’t like, and make your own rules!

Maybe you want to add split shots to your line, add them. Maybe you want to use a float strike indicator, do it.

Modify this method to fit your style the way you like. And most of all have fun with it.