Euro Nymphing the Nantahala River in Western, NC

A great April afternoon euro nymphing and fly fishing the Upper Nantahala River in Western, NC. This was pocket water heaven. I caught numerous wild rainbows, browns and stocked brookies using single-nymph, double-nymph an dry-dropper techniques. I also give you some tips on how I approach pocket water.
Tight Lines!
Cory
#euronymphing #pocketwater #nantahalariver

[@outfaded34]

Just wanted to let you know that you, Devin, and George taught me a lot about Euro nymphing. If we didn't have videos like yours and there's I don't know if I would have even hopped into this sport. Thank you

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Jeremy, really appreciate the compliment! Great company to be associated with. Glad I could help. Tight lines to you and continued success!

[@truthseeker5890]

I certainly like your style, Cory. I know a little but I'm learning a lot from you. Best fly fishing channel on YT... specifically a Euro Nymphing channel. Thank you for doing this.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks so much, Truth Seeker. Really appreciate it! Glad it’s helping. Good luck and tight lines to you!

[@dalesheehan9404]

Awesome video! Love that pocket water. I want to thank you since I been watching your videos I have shortened my tippet a bit and it gives me more control for sure.Keep em coming. Thanks!

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks Dale! Love that pocket water as well. Glad I could help. Tight lines!

[@alexanderbriante6015]

crazy to see you fishing my home water. Love the content man!

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Love your home water! Appreciate it, Alexander. Thanks for watching!

[@daveb7964]

Surprised how few trout you picked up in that stretch :) You're a stud - thanks for the latest!

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Haha!! Thanks for watching big D!!

[@uni_shadow164]

I will be near that Area in late August early September. I plan to fish the Nantahala River and hope to get some nice wild fish too! Great video Cory! I am stocked up with perdigons and waltz worms too...

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Good luck to you, Uni! Make sure you check out the Lower Nantahala as well. It’s a good one and they are literally 5 minutes apart. Perdigons and walts will do the job!

[@PeachyFlyFishing]

Nicely fished mate, good range of techniques and a lovely river! I really like fishing the single nymph as well, I feel like it's more precise to cast, good drifts, less stuffing around with rigging. And you only lose 1 fly at a time.... ;)

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Appreciate it Peachy! One fly definitely has its advantages, that’s for sure. And you are right, Mate...one of the biggest is I only lose one fly to the trees instead of two! Cheers!

[@CalledCollectiveMedia]

Great video man! That was outstanding! I just came to your Channel because I thought your name was awesome but your videos are equally as good! Thank you for sharing and I am looking forward to the next video! Great work

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Really appreciate the kind words! Thanks for watching!!

[@CalledCollectiveMedia]

@@OldDominionTroutBum yeah this was awesome! Have a great day

[@FlyFishtheMitt]

Nice looking piece of water!

[@Pek1217]

Let’s go

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Just a beautiful place. Top to bottom. Thanks for watching!

[@FlyFishtheMitt]

@@Pek1217 Looks glorious...let's!

[@mikehayes9854]

Well done. I don't live too far from here and will be fishing here next week. If ever you get back down this way we should catch some together.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks Mike! You live near some beautiful country. Good luck next week and I will definitely be back for sure!

[@WildBlueDiscovery]

I like the Upper Nanty!! I have a couple videos featuring it. Nice water! Tightlines!

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

It’s a beautiful stream and area! And I know you have a couple of vids. I’ve seen them! I am sub to WBD. Tight lines to you as well!

[@briancramer6250]

Great video! Looks like a wonderful river. Regarding wind, have you tried a drop shot on the point with one or two dropper nymphs? Out here in the west the wind can be a bear and I have had some success with the drop shot method, but still experimenting...

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks Brian! It really is a beautiful river running through a gorge. Unbelievable scenery. I have tried the drop shot in the past, that’s how I started fishing this method. It certainly does have some benefits. But the more I fished and experimented myself, I have come to prefer my weight in my bugs. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@oaksterslive7883]

Nantahala Gorge, My favorite spot in the world

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

It is a beautiful place-that’s for sure. Appreciate you watching!

[@soundbwoikilla764]

Nice slam! When you fishing the bigger pools/runs for example @ 12:00, do you work your way up from the tail or do you target the end of the riffle and move up? Really nice water and video.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks! If the tailout comes out of a run/pool that has a little depth, I always start out there. When bugs are really active, you will find a lot of fish there. It’s always worth some casts to prospect. I really feel tailouts are the most overlooked pieces of water on the stream. Great question. Thanks for watching!

[@jamesnichols8893]

Do you have a video where you explain your set up (rod, line, leader)? Thank you in advance Your videos are helping me with cabin fever here on the Adirondack Coast 😀

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

I don’t, James. I fish a couple of rods, depending on the size and flow of the stream. I have a T&T Contact ll 10ft 2wt and the 10ft 9in 3wt. I use a micro leader. Main leader is approx 18ft of 4x (18mm Sempe or Pezon&Michel) to either 4ft of 4x or 5x sighter to a tippet ring. Sometimes I run straight 4x Sempe or Pezon Bi-color to the ring. From there I’ll run 3-5 ft of 6x-7x flouro tippet. I have the leader attached to a euro nymphing line. Hope this helps and glad I’m getting you through the winters blues!

[@dannybarker442]

Very good video. Have you ever fly-fished the White River in North Central Arkansas?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks, Danny. It has been a while, but I have fished it...one heck of a great river.

[@scottnock5241]

Another great production all the way around!!! The water looked amazing!!! We are dry n low WPA!! Learned a bunch!! Question how far do you space ur dropper from ur dry? Thanks

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Appreciate it Scott! Love water like that. Just a beauty of a stream. I usually space my dropper anywhere from 16-24 inches apart. It really depends on what I see as far as surface activity and/or water depth. If I see they are going after emergers, I might even shorten it to 10-12 inches. But I think a good average spacing would be 18-20 inches. Hope this helps me hope you get some rain!

[@scottnock5241]

@@OldDominionTroutBum I was just curious on the euro rig how you spaced them. I have yet to try the dry fly on that leader but I’m anxious to do so! Thanks for your help bro

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Anytime Scott👊

[@dfzurichch]

Love that pocket water just have to get to the right weight.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Love that pocket water as well. And yes, weight is super important. Thanks for watching!

[@steveyates1136]

That bridge hole is always full of fish. Sometimes so good ones. Run a streamer through there next time. I've caught several over 20".

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Really love that hole, Steve. There are some big ones in there for sure. Thanks for watching!

[@stancotton4983]

great tip on the single fly in pocket water. what rod and reel are you using in this video.thanks

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Appreciate it Stan! I’m using a Thomas and Thomas Contact ll, 10ft 2wt with a Ross Evolutuon LTX reel.

[@davidcasey9005]

Great technique for pocket water. Just curious how you can tell stocked vs native fish?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Appreciate it, David! The way you tell a rainbow- the wilds have vivid colors and their fins are perfect with white tips. The smaller ones will have parr marks. Stockers are dull and their fins are rough looking, rounded, etc. Brown stockers look the same. The wilds have vivid colors as well. Small ones have parr marks. Also the tails and adipose fin normally are red/oranged tip. That is a tell tale sign. But the big stand out on stocked fish are their beat up fins and tails.

[@icedaft]

Beautiful river! What kind of fly line/leader are you using?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

It really is beautiful. Thank you for watching! I have a Cortland Euro line and my leader is 12ft of 18mm Sempe to 4ft of Hanak bi-color 5x sighter to a tippet ring. From there 3-5 ft of 6-7x tippet.

[@chriscrumbley9219]

Nice video. I’ve fished there once and need to get back. When you switched to the dry dropper what was the length on the tippet to the dry and then the nymph?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks, Chris. It’s an awesome place. I had about 4 feet of tippet on and my nymph was approx 20 in down.

[@anthonycarcano8971]

Great video, can i ask what time of year this was?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Thanks Anthony. It was the beginning of June.

[@The_Backstrap_Chronicles]

Great video! What net is that you are using?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Appreciate it Chuck! It’s a Frabill 13 x 18

[@johnmcnamara3084]

I’ve been watching your videos lately on euro nymphing. I mostly use indicators and dry-droppers but I find it much more effective to euro nymph so I want to improve at it! To control for depth, do you simply change weight and how much tippet you drift through the water? So if you have 6 feet of tippet on and want to fish 2 feet of water, just raise the rod a bit to only have 2 feet of tippet in the water? Hope this makes some sense to you

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

John-I really think 6 feet is way too much. I would suggest having your tippet length much shorter. I rarely fish more than 4.5 feet and it is usually 3.5 -4 feet. That covers a ton of normal trout depths. I use a thin leader and if I need to go deeper, I'll just dip my sighter. If you have 4 feet of tippet on and the depth is 2 feet, you would only raise the sighter 2 feet if it was right in front of you...vertical. But if it was 20 feet upstream of you, you would have an angle, so your sighter would be closer to the water. It really boils down to reading the sighter and knowing when it is in the zone. The longer the tippet, the harder it is because your sighter is farther away from the surface. Hope this helps.

[@johnmcnamara3084]

@@OldDominionTroutBum I really appreciate this! Such a detailed reply. You seem to be a great teacher. I will make these adjustments and let you know how it goes. I’ll continue to watch and learn from your videos. Thank you sir!

[@steveyates1136]

That water is ripping. I'd like to see your set up and how much your flies weigh. I would have been using 2 flies with at least 3mm tung. What kind of cigar are you puffing on? I like CAO, AVO, Partigas, R&J. Anyting big with dark wrappers. Double corona and Churchill sizes.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Steve, when I was nymphing, I only had a single fly on and was rotating between a 3.3 bead and a 2.8 depending on the wind and depth. When I dry droppering, I had a 2.3 on my dropper under a size 14 dry. My cigar was a JR knockoff of an Ashton.

[@jonhart-dj7fn]

big 5akeaway here single nymph pocket water

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

That's it!

[@matthewacord437]

Where do you stay when your in that area? Planning a trip to the upper Nantahala.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Matthew, I have a friend that has a house there. Makes it easy!

[@ryantherock7664]

What rod and reel combo are you using here?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Ryan, I'm using a Contact ll 10ft 2wt with a Ross Evolution LTX 4/5. Thanks for watching.

[@holyworrier]

How do you get the bug in the air initially? I tried today, unsuccessfully, on a boat drifting in a modest current.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Larry, I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Could you clarify?

[@holyworrier]

@@OldDominionTroutBum - I'd like to see how you handle your line when you have first entered the stream. How you extend your leader to begin casting. My suspicion is that you let the current extend the leader and fly as you strip line out, enabling you to load the rod and take control. As I was drifting with the current yesterday, with two other chaps in the motor launch, I couldn't load the rod. Tomorrow I'll be wading, which I much prefer over fishing from a boat. I'll give it another go.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Larry, you strip line out and start false casting. It’s not any different than traditional fly casting. Sometimes I’ll strip some line and let the current take it, but other times I’ll just strip, cast forward, strip, cast forward, etc…until the line starts going . If you watch me in my videos, you’ll see me do this. Are you using a euro rod?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Here is a video I did on casting. Perhaps this can help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXrHhqaId554iLs Just don’t over think it. Strip a little out and false cast. Strip a little and false cast. Do it until all your line you need is out. Hope this helps.

[@holyworrier]

@@OldDominionTroutBum - The video is very helpful. I watched it after I came home after a disastrous attempt at Euro nymphing on the Little Red in Arkansas. My rod is a 9’ 4 wt. I just ordered a 10 1/2’ for 3 wt rod, and a 20’ leader with sighter section, and now feel better about my prospects. I will, of course, continue to study your videos. Cheers.

[@nathgriffiths5988]

why don't u put your line under your finger against the cork?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

There are many ways to manage your line and this is one of them. It’s called the vector retrieve. It’s great for faster water. I’ve done a video on managing slack and I talk about the different ways to do it.

[@Christiantoney1]

what net is that?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

It a Frabill 18x13

[@termite122]

if the video didnt play just gotta listen for how many "there you go's" you said to know how many fish u caught..

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

Haha!!

[@trimbullflyfishing3388]

What’s your leader formula?

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

I have 18ft of 18mm (4x) Sempe to 5ft of 5x bi-color sighter to my tippet ring. This is attached to a euro nymphing line. Appreciate you watching.

[@trimbullflyfishing3388]

@@OldDominionTroutBum ha ha how do you see the 5x sighter. Eagle eyes!! 😁

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

@@trimbullflyfishing3388 haha! My buddy uses 4x because he can see it better. Cortland tri-color has colors that pop on 4x.

[@trimbullflyfishing3388]

@@OldDominionTroutBum I’ll have to try it. I’ve just drop to 4x but not liking Scientific angler sighter