“Nymph Fishing 101”
“A practical approach to Nymph fishing”

A pod of rising Trout is the Holy Grail of Fly Fishing. It is why we do what we do. I love to fish to risers as much as the next guy, here is the issue; what do you do when the trout aren't rising?  If you are going to be consistently successful as a Trout fisherman, you better learn how to fish below the surface. Being a proficient Nymph fisherman is a “must have” tool to have in your fly fishing tool box. Some people, including me, would say it is the most important! My goal with “Nymph fishing 101” is to teach beginners new techniques and maybe polish the techniques of some veteran fly fishers.

The seminar will start at 10:00 am with a coffee and doughnut style breakfast, A Power Point presentation lasting approximately and hour to an hour and a half  followed by (I hope) a spirited question and answer session with detailed discussion. The presentation will discuss Indicator Nymphing, Tight line Nymphing and Dry and Dropper fishing. Segments on fly patterns, reading the water and presentation will also be included. After the discussion period we will break for lunch provided by Irish flies. After lunch we will tie several of the patterns highlighted in the presentation.  
The seminar will be held at the Christiana Cabelas store and the dates for the class are; Class 1 Saturday, October 17th and Class 2 will be Sunday October, 18th. As mentioned we will start at 10:00 am, depending on the length of the discussions and tying portion, I estimate we will wrap up around 3:00 in the afternoon.     

 If you have struggled with Nymph fishing in the past Irish Flies “Nymph Fishing 101” may be just what you need to up your game. Remember, Trout only feed on the surface about 20% of the time. After this class you will be better equipped to deal with the other 80% o the time you are on the water. I look forward to seeing you in class

If you would like to register for this class please click the link here. Please fill out the form on the page and submit it. I will respond with an email with more information and payment arrangement options.  Price for this event is $125.00

If you have had trouble catching Trout in the past or you would like to up your game, give this class some serious consideration, you will be glad you did.  

                                                                             

Well, as I sit here reflecting on what was a great weekend it was, I can honestly say the "Irish Flies" Shad School was a big success! Each day I left my house at around 8:15 am and would return after 9:00 pm. On Monday morning the owner of the company of my "real" job asked me if I was tired. I told him yes, but it is a good tired. There is something rewarding about working hard and achieving the result you are looking for. I do feel the class went well, and I do absolutely believe the people in the class gained some knowledge and are set to take advantage of this great fishery.  Information packets were prepared with directions to the river, recipes for the four fly patterns we tied and performance surveys were also provided. I provided the class with a survey to rate the content of the class. My thought was if I am going to continue to up my game I need the honest feedback of the people attending my events to let me know about areas for improvement. I have already received some of the surveys back and the comments have been great. Many positive, and some suggestions for improvement, which is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you to all whome returned their surveys, I hope to see many more soon.  

The slide show went through the different Shad species we have available. We also talked about appropriate gear, flies, rigging, and fishing techniques. I think the slideshow was well received, and the questions afterward were great. 

After the slideshow and the Q&A session we took a short break to set up and we prepared to tie. We got all 4 patterns in each day. The ability of the tiers in these classes was great! It made my job easy. We tied the One Boot, Micro Clouser, Deer Creek S fly and the Dart. I told the class if they spend some time and fill their Shad box with a variety of these patterns you will be set for Hickories and Americans for years to come.  

After we finished tying we had lunch at the Brandywine Grill. If you are ever in the Christiana Cabelas store stop in the Grill and get the Elk sandwich. It is REALLY good. I would be remiss if I didn't give a big thank you to Eric Williams, the marketing manager of our local Cabelas store. Eric has been very good to me and my "Irish Flies" endeavors. The conference room and cafe set up are perfect for this type of class and I look forward to doing more of this events in the future.

Everybody is waiting for the Shad run to happen. I fished our local Shad river 2 times last week in preparation for the class, and I was there for several hours each weekend day with the class. The verdict...in my opinion it is not "on" yet. On Wednesday evening I hooked one Shad (could have been a Herring) and Ed landed 1. I did manage this nice Carp, and yes, he ate the pink Shad fly. 

On Wednesday the numbers of fish moving through the river system was staggering. Many of these fish were Herring, but, by Sunday evening the Shad to Herring ratio was definitely swinging more toward Shad. As mentioned the number of fish moving up the river was insane! One of the people in the class would stop fishing for LONG periods of time and just look into the water. He said "I have never seen anything like this". Water temps varied between 58 and 70 degrees from Wednesday night until Sunday afternoon. My guess is that the fishing will get better and better as the days go by, this has been confirmed by reports from the last few days. 

As mentioned the fishing was tough. We caught fish both days, but not in the numbers we are looking for. I scheduled the class early on purpose. My thought was the fishing would not be as good, but the guys would have the entire season to go back, use the knowledge they gained in the class, and bang some fish. 

We took a ton of pictures and there is no way I could post all of them here. You can check out all of the photos on the Irish Flies Facebook page here. I would like to thank every body that attended the class. I hope you had as much fun attending as I did hosting. I also have to give a HUGE thank you to my buddy "One Boot" Ed. He spent about 24 hours helping me this weekend. ED, I couldn't have done this without your help. Thank you! Till next time...

                                                                                                                Tight lines  

The Cabela's store in Christiana DE. is hosting an event Saturday, February 28th and Sunday, March 1st.  "Captains Weekend" is a great time to get out, shake off the cabin fever from this brutally cold winter and get ready for the spring season. If you are looking to plan a trip out on the Bay this spring, want help fishing the river or you are looking forward to the many fresh water opportunities we have in and around Delaware you won't want to miss this event. Professionals will be on hand to answer all of your questions. I am proud to announce that "Irish Flies" has been invited to be part of this great event. I will be there Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am till 4:00 pm. Please feel free to stop by, introduce yourself and let's talk some fishing.  

For more information you can visit Cabela's web site here. I look forward to seeing you next weekend. Until then...


                                                                                                                             Tight lines 

                                                                                                                                            Tight Lines...