Many think of nymphing as oversized bobbers, split-shot, and heavy nymphs. Or for those that euro nymph think of long rods, perdigons, and sighter material.
In this article, I overview a different way to nymph that is less common but just as effective as other techniques. Many call it short-leash nymphing, and I have enjoyed learning about it over the past few years.
What Is Short Leash Nymphing?
Short-leash nymphing is just another way to fish a pair of nymphs under the surface of the water. As the name suggests, you fish a short connection between your flies and the indicator. Often between one and four feet. This short connection allows anglers to nymph in shallow water, where many trout feed on emerging insects throughout the season.
It is most effective when encountering trout feeding in shallow water or suspended in the water column. The goal is not to fish the bottom of the deepest holes where anglers often concentrate. Instead, to find feeding fish in the discrete water that many anglers forget to nymph.
Why Short Leash Nymph?
When an insect hatch occurs, trout move from their deep hiding holes to their feeding area. Often, these zones are higher in the water column or in shallow water. This is when short leashing is most effective and makes for an exciting way to fool trout.
I find myself short leash nymphing when waiting for an insect hatch to commence or when the hatch I expected to fish does not pan out. If the bugs do not cooperate on the surface and I can’t find rising fish, I often switch to short-leash nymphing. It allows me to fish shallow water and still have a chance at visual takes.
This surprisingly effective technique connects you more closely with what is happening in the river. It challenges your skills in reading water and insect hatches, making you a better angler as you gain experience.
How To Short Leash Nymph?
There are many ways to short-leash nymphs, but having a short tippet section between your indicator and flies makes it unique compared to other nymphing techniques. This is done by connecting one to four feet of tippet to your leader, usually 3x to 5x down to your nymphs. The indicator shall go above your tippet connection to limit the indicator from sliding.
Everyone uses a different leader setup for this technique. See below for a diagram of how I often short-leash nymphs.
The goal is for your flies to freely drift in the water column where the trout picks off insects. Sometimes, this includes a fly with a bit of weight to get down in the water column; other times, no weight is necessary.
As for your indicator, people use a variety of different kinds. Oros has a few small indicators that are perfect for this method. Yarn indicators work well, especially in spring creeks where the fish are spooky. Palsa stick-on indicators are ideal for short-leash nymphing because of the way they cast and land on the water, and they are extremely sensitive to takes. Lastly, you can always use a dry fly and short-leash nymphs using a dry dropper rig.
As for flies, I usually like a tandem of a heavier fly and a light or unweighted fly. Short leash nymphing is most effective when fishing just before or during a hatch, so matching the hatch is critical. Many nymphs work for this technique, though it is hard to go wrong with your classic pheasant tail, hare’s ear, rubberlegs, or zebra midge. The time of year and expected hatches should guide your fly selection.
Where To Short Leash Nymph?
Short leash nymphing is effective on all of our rivers in the Yellowstone region, though I prefer to do it most on our productive tailwaters full of “educated” trout.
I look for various water types to short-leash nymphs, including shallow slicks, riffles, and slack water. Any water you see trout rising tends to be excellent for short-leash nymphing. Especially where you see a slight color change in the river from light to dark. Many anglers cast over or walk through this type of water, but many trout push into these areas to feed when the bugs are active.
This is true even in winter when trout feed on emerging midges. No matter the time of year, trout move into surprisingly shallow water to feed and can be taken using short leash techniques.
Other Benefits to Short Leash Nymphing
One of the benefits of short leash nymphing compared to other nymphing techniques is how easy it is to change to. Switching to a short leash setup is relatively easy if you plan to dry fly fish but do not encounter rising trout. No split shot is required, nor is going back to the vehicle to grab your euro nymphing rod. Add some tippet and a small indicator, and you’ll be ready to go.
Short leash nymphing is also incredibly effective when fishing from a boat. Targeting the many riffles, slicks, rocks, and other holding water as you fish down a bank. It is easy to cast for beginner anglers and can be fished much closer to the bank than deep nymphing rigs. I witnessed the full potential of short leashing from a local guide on a day fishing the Missouri River out of a boat.
Short leash nymphing makes you look at a river differently. You must understand insect hatches and where trout move to feed on emerging insects. Rather than constantly looking for deep-holding water like many anglers do, you learn to find discrete buckets that hold a surprising amount of fish during certain times. It takes some practice to pick up, but through trial and error, you will catch a few fish and begin to know what to look for. Combining this with some understanding of insect hatches and short-leash nymphing becomes a remarkable skill.
I hope this article opens your eyes to a new way of nymphing. Nymphing does not always have to include split shot or tight lining. There are many ways to do it, and short leashing is a fun tool in the quiver. Next time you are out on the river, consider trying it and enjoy the good fishing that comes along.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you learned something.
4 thoughts on “Short Leash Nymphing”
I was just introduced to this method last weekend from a friend who works at the Blue Quill
Angler. He lived in Craig and was a guide. I’m going to try it this weekend. And that bottom picture of that rainbow, stunning. Thanks for sharing!
Wow that is awesome. It is popular on the Missouri River there so that doesn’t surprise me. Give it a try and report back. Thank you!
Nice breakdown! Thank you. I’ve done this many times but didn’t realize it had a name! 😂
Thanks Derrick! Haha everything has a name these days. Glad to hear it works on your waters!