Short line nymphing guide?

[James W]

Anyone have a solid recommendation for a guide who's a real pro at the Czech/euro nymphing techniques?
Preferably on the upper sac, but that's not as important as expertise.

In advance, thanks!

[TaylerW]

Guide Doug Oulette has solid euro game.....

[Bull_Dog]

Anyone have a solid recommendation for a guide who's a real pro at the Czech/euro nymphing techniques?
Preferably on the upper sac, but that's not as important as expertise.

In advance, thanks!

Hey James, Rob Anderson here. I worked with Andy Burk at the old Reno fly shop for years. We used to teach classes on the Truckee back in the early 2000's on Czech and Euro style Nymphing. Andy is no longer in the business and we have no water on this side of the hill anyway. I learned very early in my fly fishing career from friend and former Reno Fly Shop guide Jay Cockrum. Although we were really more just "High Sticking and "Short Line Nymphing back then. What Andy and I did on the Truckee was more Euro proper and Jay helped us for years.

Andrew Harris at Confluence outfitters would be a great place to start depending on what you are really looking to learn. Andrew can also put you in contact with Jay Cockrum or you can PM me and I can give you his #.

Rob

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You can put "fly fishing guide" and their name in Google to find their web sites.

Nothing like a day on the water with one of these guys......

[Ralph]

I'd second Doug Oulette. He walks the walk when it comes to Euro. http://www.calvadaflyfishing.com

[Bob G]

I give a strong third recommendation to Doug Ouellette...Doug has an absolutely unparalleled expertise!

Good Luck, Bob

[Dan LeCount]

A bunch of guides from the Truckee area were influenced by Andy Burk and his temporary obsession with Czech nymphing. This obsession started in 2003 when the Great Outdoor games came to Reno. Pete Erickson from team USA came out for the games and was a friend of Andys. They fished a bit on the Truckee. During that time Andy was practically mr bobber from his Fly Shop in Redding days, so he probably had a big fuzzy yarn indicator setup with a 90 degree drop, whereas Pete had a shortline/czech setup. Pete fished behind Andy and cleaned up. Then, in the immortal words of Lefty Kreh, Andy said to himself "I gotta get me some of this." At that point, Andy went off the deep end looking for every bit of information he could get on the subject. Andy would read all sorts of obscure European fishing mags and DVDs and pick up tricks and share them with the rest of us. Almost all of us that worked with Andy, ended up helping with his clinics at one time or another. During Andys obsession, he befriended Vladi Trzebunia, the Polish angler who is largely credited for bringing this style to competitions and also many of the Czech team at the time. Personally I think Andy liked it so much, since it was a modification of what he did as a kid, but really who knows. I do know he got bored to hell with bobbers though.

Andy managed the Truckee River Outfitters shop at the time, and all the people involved in that shop absorbed many of the techniques from him. Matt Parisi then Jason Cockrum and Arlo Townshend were the head guides at the time. Josh Bigelsen, Tim Haddon and myself worked the shop, selling gear and developing flies. Rob Anderson managed the private water programs, travel agency and online aspect of the business.( Later on he and Andy would co manage the Reno Fly Shop and Josh and I would co manage the Truckee store. ) Doug Ouellette guided and managed the fly fishing portion of "The Ghillie" a little tackle shop with lures and flies across town. Right around this time frame, Steve Korbay, a regular at the Truckee store, opened up a fly tying business, almost exclusively dealing with European materials for competition style methods called Fly Tying Specialties.


Truckee area Czech Nymph/Short line Guides -

Jason "Jay" Cockrum- A fantastic short line nympher, and a great choice if you're looking for someone to show you those tactics on the waters north of Redding like the Pit or Upper Sac, but he also guides a bunch in the Truckee area. Great sighter of fish.

Doug Ouellette- A classic short line nympher, with probably the most experience with the techniques. He's also worked with Mike Sexton from team USA and is familiar with a lot of the newer variants. Probably caught more 2 foot plus fish then anyone using short line methods.

Matt "Gilligan" Coles- Matt high sticked back in the day, and has also worked a bunch with Doug O developing short line clinics. Quite possibly the most experienced with the CA side of the Truckee, especially the canyon stretch. Many of us have got clients to hook them, but I think Matt is one of the only guides to get a client to land a 30 plus inch fish on the CA side of the river.

Arlo Townshend- Josh Bigelsen and Arlo probably czech nymph fished the most with Andy Burk and consequently probably absorbed the most technique wise. Arlo is also just a "fishy-guy." The NV side of the Truckee is his stomping ground, but hes familiar with the whole system. I think Arlo absorbed a lot of Andys exploratory nature with fishing tackle as well, always quick to try out new stuff. Arlo also has a ton of big browns high sticked to his credit. Like Jay, he also has great eyes for sighting fish.

Steve Korbay- Steve is a czech/polish nymphing addict and has probably done this technique with the most consistency over the years. For a long while it was almost the only way he would fish. I'm not sure if he guides, but he used to periodically teach euro style clinics.

Mike Sexton- Former team USA member, Mike came to Reno around when Andy was fading out of the fly fishing business. Mike probably has the most familiarity with the straight up euro/competition styles and can catch pure numbers of fish as well as anyone anywhere, which is perfect for competitions. Mike works for the new Reno Fly Shop, which is a completely different business and ownership from the old one.

Dave Stanley- Although Dave hasn't used the straight euro or comp styles as much, Dave nymph fished a long time before bobbers. It seems like those that didn't learn on bobbers, have a natural knack for short lining(like DougO) Plus Dave's been fly fishing constantly for over 50 years, nuff said.

[Spicytuna1]

Dan,

Can you please go into more detail.

[James W]

Dan,

Can you please go into more detail.

Maybe not, that was an awesome response!! Now I've got some work to do and some great leads to follow . . .
THANK YOU ALL!!

[cdevine]

Maybe not, that was an awesome response!! Now I've got some work to do and some great leads to follow . . .
THANK YOU ALL!!

Dan, that scouting report was off the chart! The Truckee is a great river to learn czech style nymphing. So much pocket water and little runs. Very effective. We just need water!!!! Doug and Matt are the 2 guys I'm most familiar with. Can't go wrong. Arlo is a legend as well. I'm sure all of these guys are great.

I just got a 10ft 4wt SAGE ESN. Please snow this winter!

Just as a word of advice. Doug O is really good at this too. You need to get very comfortable with wading especially on the Truckee.