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| Depthcharge Nymph tied by Steven Bird |
I recently visited an artificials-only, catch & release section of the Kings River in
Worms dangling under bobbers...
Even though the weather was nice, the only insect fare in evidence was a smattering of midges & micro BWO’s. The locals were all fishing tiny flies & that seemed the order of the day. Yet, to me, much of the segment seemed too rapid & somewhat less than ideal for the bobber presentation. I watched a few guys fishing a run together, their bobbers barreling downstream for a ten second drift & needing to be picked up & casted again. I could see why the heavy bead-heads are favored there, you have to get down quick for those short, fast drifts.
I
decided the Kings would be a good place to swing a ‘depthcharge rig’. The depthcharge part of this set-up is a
heavily weighted soft-hackle nymph that acts as a sinker. My favorite Depthcharge
pattern is some version of a #6 to #10 peacock bodied soft-hackle nymph like the Brown Hackle Peacock or the Partridge & Peacock, generic ‘getters’ that catch trout anywhere. Though it does catch fish, what it really is, is the delivery system for
the tiny nymph trailing behind it. I build the rig on
a 7 to 71/2 foot tapered fluoro butt section, tapering to 7 or 8 pound test. To
the end of that I tie a #2 metal rigging ring (available from Feathercraft),
& that gives me a permanent butt section. I tie about 2 feet of 6 pound
test fluoro to the rigging ring (can use 8lb test to turn over heavier a Depthcharge) & tie the Depthcharge nymph to that. Next, I tie a 20 inch section of lighter mono to the hook bend of the depthcharge, then tie
the little nymph to the end of that, & that gives me about a 10 foot
leader all together (I like a 9-10 foot rod for this). The fluoro leader to the
depthcharge aids in getting it down, & the mono section attaching the
trailer fly buoys slightly to keep the little nymph fishing above the
bottom.
All
said & done, it was a slow day for numbers, though the size of the fish
more than made up for it, & I ended up releasing four trout for the session,
all over 5 pounds – two on the depthcharge & two on the BWO nymph trailer.
Walking out, I stopped to chat with a few of the bobber guys & discovered
it had been an even slower day for them – the hot hand among them with two
fish, proving: he who lives by the bobber, dies by the bobber.
Peacock Depthcharge
Peacock Depthcharge
Hook: #6-#10 down-eye caddis style (This hook keels & rides point up when weighted over the shank)
Thread: Olive
Tag/Rib: Chartreuse wire
Body: Peacock herl -- wrap the hook shank with lead wire, full length of the body
Hackle: Brown partridge, grouse or speckled
game hen – & finish with a full head.
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| Yep, that's a Pflueger Medalist reel. One I bought in the '70's. Retired it years ago but recently broke it out because it is so cool. Flyfish the Upper Columbia/NE Washington with Steven Bird: http://ucflyfishing.blogspot.com |
