The history of short line nymphing in Nor Cal by Eric Palmer

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://gbflycasters.org/Library_articles/Eric%20Palmer/Towendolly-Oct-2017.pdf

Many attribute this style of fly fishing to Ted Fay but...............read the article.

[tommylee]

Thanks Bill, i will be heading to the Upper Sac next week to do just that. I have been using the Amnesia leader two color indicator since learning it from Bill Carnazzo a number of years ago.

[Mr T]

Great read and a nice piece of history I didn't know about. Thanks for sharing.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

The Granite Bay Flycasters fly fishing club has a lot of good articles on their web site:

http://gbflycasters.org/Library_articles/

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Bill, i will be heading to the Upper Sac next week to do just that. I have been using the Amnesia leader two color indicator since learning it from Bill Carnazzo a number of years ago.

Here is an article by Bill Carnazzo on shot line nymphing:

http://gbflycasters.org/Library_articles/Bill%20Carnazzo/Short-Line%20Nymphing-another%20perspective.pdf

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Many years ago, 1960s / 1970s, several people promoted this short line nymphing to me.

Veteran short line nymphing anglers Neil Hansen Jerry Lyerly, George Innes, Joe Patterson all described to me this method that was attributed to Ted Fay in Dunsmuir at the Ted Fay Fly Shop.

I think that the two fly dropper system with two heavy flies is what we are talking about.

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My brother Dick and I had to learn by trial and error on the Pit River many years ago.

It was not until the second trip that we started to catch fish with this short line nymphing technique.

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~40 years ago I did run into a guy, a CPA on vacation, who was a student of Ted Fay's. He took me out one afternoon for a few hours on the Upper Sac and showed me how to do it. That was really a turning point.

He had a dark colored (mahogany) Scientific Angler floating line that he had whipped a Dacron loop on the end. He then used white fingernail polish to color the thread which made a visual indicator for him where the fly line ended and the mono butt section started.

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In the past few decades Bob Grace and Joe Kimsey, at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir, keep this type of nymphing alive.

http://www.tedfay.com/

Be sure to call them or stop by for info on the Upper Sac, McCloud and Upper Klamath Rivers.

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Bill Carnazzo and Ron Rabun promoted it with their teaching and guiding on the Upper Sacramento River.

They promote the two colors of Amnesia mono for the butt section indicator system.

Ron Rabun is the guy who comes to mind today who is still promoting this style of nymphing.

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The very best guide in Dunsmuir is legend Fred Gordon who will take you out in the summer and teach you how to fish that river.

www.fredgordon.net

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[mogaru]

Euro nymphing (polish,spanish, french etc) is extremely effective and catches a lot of fish. it's best done with a bicolor mono instead a regular fly line(#10 test for more sensitivity) attached to ring which attaches to your leader/ tippet 5x or 6x with to tungsten bead head flies (size 10 to 16). Jig flies work great as anchor flies.

[steelyman]

Be aware that Rio now sells that fluorescent red/green indicator material on small tippet spools in various weights from 1x or 2x down to 4x I believe. Not cheap, however, but with 30 yds per spool, pleanty to share with a friend. It's a good way to reduce the fat knots clunking thru the rod tip.

The Dunsmuir city park was red hot with planters last weekend, BTW.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Here is a great post with a powerful article about the origins of short line nymphing.