Nymphing the South Fork

By: Phil Hanamaikai

The first time that I fished the South Fork of the Snake River I got skunked. I mean skunked. I had learned to fish on much smaller rivers…let me reiterate MUCH smaller rivers. The average flow of the South Fork during the summer is anywhere from 9000-12000 C.F.S.; that is to say, that there are anywhere from 561,509 – 748,678 pounds of water flowing past a single point every second. Now, the nymph that I was using was under the influence of a very small fraction of that, however, the overall effect was that I was not able to get my fly anywhere near the bottom of the faster runs that I was trying to fish.

The answer: I was not fishing right. I was nymphing as if I was in a stream where my meager amount of line could get to the bottom of the stream bed with a minimal amount of weight. What I needed to do was to approach the river in a manner that would allow me to use the current to my advantage.

The first step was to lengthen the amount of line that I put between my indicator and my first fly. The common belief that you should have one and one half the depth of the area that you are trying to fish seems to hold true here…mostly. I say mostly because it works great if you are in a drift boat. However, if you are trying to nymph from the bank or while you are otherwise stationary you will need at least one and three quarters the length of the area that you are fishing. (This totally depends on the speed of the water that you are fishing) The second consideration is the amount of weight that I was using. I was fishing with a single BB shot. Now, if I were fishing a stretch where the water was moving very slowly this might have been enough. Lately, however, I have been using at least an AB and sometimes even a #6 in addition to that. Some anglers insist that the placement of the weight is crucial to your success. Personally, I feel that if you have the weight on the line it is a good start. Placement might increase or decrease the amount of hang-ups though, not necessarily the frequency of hook-ups. Third, and this has seemed to make all of the difference for me, I position myself at the bottom of the run that I want to fish and fish it from the bottom up. I make sure that I am casting well above the likely holding area in order to allow sufficient time for the flies to get down. This and the addition of the longer tippet and added weight allowed me to essentially “tight-line” the run almost effortlessly. Using a 90 degree nymph rig and an extremely sensitive strike indicator, such as the much touted and scorned “baloondicator”, allow me to see and feel every tick. Keeping in mind the fact that the South Fork takes some time to learn, the angler that is fishing where the fish are seems to have the advantage over the guy or girl that is flopping a line just anywhere. Spending some time with a guide or someone that “knows” the river definitely shortens the learning curve.

With all this in mind, I have always believed that the angler that is on the water is the one that is catching fish. If you are waiting for the fishing to get good you may just miss that day that everything happens! So, get out there and wet a line.

Tight Lines!-Phil

Note: If you are fishing for fish that are very skittish or line shy this approach may require the addition of Flourocarbon Tippet material.