What Is More Difficult? Fishing Dry Flies or Nymphs?

Troutbitten

We have a fun conversation for this episode, about what’s more difficult — nymphs or dry flies. This is not a talk about which tactic is better. And this discussion isn’t even about which one we might like more.
What is more difficult? Nymphs or dries? This is a valuable exercise and an important discussion . . .
Just because nymphing might usually produce more trout, doesn’t mean it is easier. And how many trout we catch on each style is not the point. Try getting true, convincing dead drifts on a nymph. It is, quite simply, harder to achieve than a dry fly, because you can’t see success on the invisible flies underneath, and because the complexity of currents is far more intricate in three dimensions.
But many people just don’t take it that far with nymphing. They think their drifts are good enough, because they caught a few fish (maybe more than they did on dries.) But excellent nymphing requires excellent effort. And a lot more trout can be caught by acknowledging that kind of difficulty. The ceiling is high. And realizing that is the value of this discussion.

We Cover the Following

• The confusing boundaries of this conversation
• Why anglers are protective of what they like best
• How that holds an angler back
• Tight line complexities
• Dry fly complexities
• Where bias comes from
• A few streamer thoughts
• . . . and more

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | The Nymph Angler is Sustainable
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit Hole
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