THE DIAWL BACH NYMPH PATTERN
Diawl Bach, is Welsh for ‘little devil’. This all round nymph attractor pattern can be fished in a variety of ways and it is gives good results in rough water as well as calm. It is suggestive of all sorts of aquatic insect life especially the midge. In Britain and some areas of Northern Europe it has become one of the most popular stillwater flies of recent times. This is quite an acclaim for such a drab, non-descript fly. The secret to this fly’s success is its sparse, nymph like profile making it a fly for all seasons and waters. In North America the Prince's Nymph is King in Britain it is the small welsh little devil the Diawl Bach. 

There is a mystery over who originally created this excellent fly. Was it Jimmy Evans at Chew in 1950, Glyn Isaac of Pembrokeshire or Albert Horne from Cardiff in South Wales? Used on the river Chew, it then gained favor on the competition circuit when it became an essential team component of any cast; its ability to look like an edible, natural food item on a cast of attractors often made it the taking fly once a trout's interest had been aroused by the more gaudy lures. Such is the confidence in the Diawl Bach that many anglers always start fishing - particularly from a boat - with one on their casts; if it takes a fish, then a second one may also go on; teams of three are commonplace.

CUSTOMER'S COMMENT
We fish for steelheads that run up from Lake Ontario into various tributaries. These are spectacular fish that average 7-12 lbs. These steelhead runs are now larger than those on the Pacific coast. Various classic nymphs like Gold Ribbed Hares Ear and Pheasant tail nymphs are your standard flies. One of the most effective is the Welsh Diawl Bach (little Devil) Nymph. One of my fishing mates is Welsh. He discovered one year when the fishing got to be a little tough that a small standard Diawl Bach was just the fly needed to get them back on the bite. fished in the slower deeper pools on a light tippet can induce savage strikes. I guess that is why it is called the little devil.
Tight Lines, Joe Forte, Ottawa, Canada

FISHING WITH DIAWL BACH NYMPHS
The great thing about a Diawl Bach is that it can be fished on any line, from high floater to ultra-fast sinker, from just under the surface to very deep. Fish it up and 'on the hang' on a fast sinker or fish it slowly on floater, just as you would a team of Buzzers. The pattern is proven amongst competition fishers and has won many a match. British fly fishing competition match fishermen use many combinations of nymphs and streamers, the most common perhaps being a Diawl Bach, suspended between two boobies or having a single booby on the point of the leader and using the Diawl Back on a ‘washing line rig’. The chasing trout are lured by the booby, but when the retrieved is stopped and the flies left to hang in the water, fish will often turn and take the nymph. 

It can also be fished anywhere on the cast; I put one on the point, as this is the most effective position, but you will often find fly fishermen using it on either the top or middle dropper as well. The cast must be balanced. If you are fishing a Diawl Bach on the point make sure that your flies above it are not too heavy or too big in proportion with your tail fly or you will get the dreaded tangles. The heavier fly on the point helps to get the flies down straight in the water as well as aiding turnover in the cast. I find it helpful to present a cast in a straight line. If the flies land in a heap they can often tangle and rarely fish well. Should this happen, in the breeze for example, then a long pull to straighten the leader can be tried. 

In deep water I use a floating line and a fast sinking Fluorocarbon type of leader material which is nearly invisible under the water. Sometimes the flies end up under the fish so I fish with a buoyant pattern like a Booby Nymph on the point to suspend the remaining flies higher in the water. I count the nymphs down for about 20 seconds before starting the retrieve. If I hit the bottom I do not immediately pull the line in and recast. If you are fishing more than one fly those still on the dropper are still available to tempt the trout. In these situations I just carry on retrieving slowly. In clear water I use leaders up to 18 foot long with thee flies spread about 6 foot apart. If they are too close together the trout may become suspicious. 

If you are a beginner I suggest that you start off with a 12 foot leader with one fly on the point and another placed 6ft up from there on a dropper. Some fishermen like to place a brash bright fly as 'disturbance' fly on the top dropper with epoxy buzzers or Diawl Bachs behind. The fish often follow the top dropper but as they get near the boat or river bank see the more natural looking flies and reject the attraction of the top fly. If it is really windy just use one fly because the more flies you use the more tangles your risk 

I like to use a plummet to gauge the depth of the water. Do not buy one. Make one out of a lead weight and a marked line. Once I know how deep the water is I adjust the leader accordingly so that the point fly settles in the correct depth on every cast. If the trout start taking the droppers then this indicates that the fish are moving up away from the bottom to feed. Simply decrease the length of your leader so all you flies are fishing at the correct depth. If when you are casting the one of the buzzers are intercepted before the point fly has reached its correct depth then this will indicate that the fish have changed the depth at which they are fishing again (normally because of a change in water temperature or the weather). It is time to adjust the length of the leader to catch the fish feeding nearer the surface.

DEEP WATER BOAT FISHING
Chris Reeves is a local guide and active competition fly fisherman. His favorite match fishing deep water boat fishing technique involves having a very long leader the same length as the depth of the water. He ties on four buzzers, Diawl Bach, Pheasant Tail nymphs or soft hackled 'Spider' wet flies. the trick is to make a long cast down stream, then wait until the boat has floated directly on top of the flies. The flies have had time to sink to the bottom. he then begins the retrieve. The flies move up to the surface vertically mimicking the natural emerging insects as they make their way up to the surface. He keeps his rod tip near the surface above them and makes a stop start gentle retrieve with no slack line. When the fish take they are slightly disorientated at first and move up towards the boat but then hang on as they realize what has happened and try to swim off 

THE WASHING LINE RIG
I like using this set up of buzzers on droppers when other tactics are not working. Rather than have the point fly at the end of your leader, the largest and heaviest fly to help the leader sink, I tie on a very buoyant booby nymph. This keeps the end of the leader up near the surface. I then tie on three buzzers or Diawl Bachs, each on a dropper. They dangle down in the water, off the horizontal leader, just like clothing hanging down from a washing line. It simulates buzzers that are nearing the surface just before they reach the top and emerge into adults. I tie the leader onto an intermediate or slow sinking line. 

In August during a heat wave I went to a local fishery in Southern England. Talking to a few of the anglers on the lake they said that the fishing was slow as expected. They were all fishing deep with three buzzers on droppers tied to a long leader. If I did the same I would get the same results. It was too early for a hatch but I believed that the nymphs might be getting ready for the hatch and moving up through the water. I tied on a 'washing line rig' and sent out my first cast. I caught four times the amount of fish as the other fly fishermen.

TAILING TROUT
There is a trout feeding pattern that you should always be on the look out for. The tell tale sign is when you see a fish tail popping out of the water. The fish is head down in the weed, sometimes ripping out the weed with its mouth, trying to disturb all the shrimp, nymphs, pupa and scuds that have sort refuge in the weed. This is where they live and feed. This is the only way trout and grayling can get at weed imbedded insects and crustaceans. The fish dive aggressively head long into the weed mass with the object of panicking the residents to make a dash to an alternative place of safety. This is what the fish are after. They start to feed on all the fleeing food forms. Do not cast when you see tailing trout. Wait until the tails have disappeared and the fish are hunting. The harvesting of panicked insect phase is when the fly fisher can make the most impact. Place your fly in the feeding zone and let it let it drift at the mercy of the current and to tumble about just like the naturals. Give a short sharp strip to imitate them fleeing to escape.

BLOODWORM NYMPHS
The lava of some species of midges (Chironomidae) that live in oxygen-poor or stagnant water are called bloodworms. Their red coloration is due to the presence of haemoglobin in their body fluids. They live either on the bottom among debris inside small tubes made of a gelatinous substance coated with silt particles or some types swim freely. They are an important source of food for many freshwater fish. There can be as many as four generations in a year.  If the water in your area has bloodworms you will also need the Red Diawl Bach or Holo Red Diawl Bach in your flybox. It is ideal to use when the bloodworm hatch into the flying insect after its pupal stage. Fish these bloodworm flies deep and retrieve it very slowly whilst quivering your hand.

NYMPHS
Nymphs represent insects in their under water aquatic life stage. This stage comes before the adult stage where the insects emerge out of the water and fly away, normally to mate and lay eggs (dry fly). Technically the term 'Nymph' means the juvenile stage of a Mayfly but it is commonly used to refer to any insect in it's aquatic life stage. Nymphs are, perhaps one of the most deadliest ways of taking most species of freshwater fish. In a river or stream, they can be fished anywhere from just beneath the surface to imitate emerging or drowned flies to right to the bottom to imitate the unhatched larvae. These flies weigh a little more than a dry fly, and weight is often added to them in order for them to achieve the proper depth. This additional weight makes them a little harder to cast but the good news is that there is almost no wind resistance. Generally fish nymph flies along the bottom, move them slowly and smoothly. Every now and then dart the fly forward as if it is attacking its prey or trying to escape from the advances of a predatory large fish. Such movements hopefully may induce a following trout to take your fly.

All fly fishing men and women dream of being on the water during a hatch or a spinner fall and watching our fly being gently sipped under the surface of the water by a large trout. This is one of the most exciting times in our sport but what about the other 90% of the time when there is not and action on the surface? The fish are still feeding. Yes you can keep casting away at likely spots with dry flies but you would have more success if you placed your fly where the fish were feeding and that is under water. 

If the water is not clear and you cannot see your target fish you will have to read the water to try and find out the best place to cast your fly. Large areas of the river will hold no trout at all. Trout are usually solitary feeders and can normally be found next to something solid like a big boulder, patch of weeds, or the river bank. They lie up in stretches of the river where there is a high concentration of food. Look for creases on the water surface. These are lines that normally run downstream. They are caused by bodies of water, flowing at different rates, colliding. Trout food is concentrated in and around these creases. Food is carried by the current and concentrated where the current is funneled in the fast water of runs, riffles, creases plus the heads and tails of pools. 

There is often slack water by the river bank and fast flowing water a few inches away. This is why a lot of trout can be found near the bank. Boulders and weedbeds cause the water to speed up to as they get past them. A crease is formed between the fast and slow water that traps floating aquatic insects in the eddies.  Fish the crease and providing the trout are feeding you will catch fish. Fish like to conserve energy and hold in slower moving slack water on the edge of faster water. This enables the food to come to them and they are close enough to nip out into the faster water to intercept their target food as it drifts past. Look for seams of foaming turbulent water as it pass over submerged boulders. Even though there is a current of fast moving water on the surface there is a pocket of slower water beneath it and some of these pockets will hold fish.

If the nymph does not drift naturally the trout will refuse it. Try to keep as much of the line off the water as possible and follow the end of the line as it travels down stream with my rod tip. Set the hook at any tightening or unnatural movement or flutter of the strike indicator. Some of these will be the snagging of the nymph on the bottom but a number will be fish. If you find you are not getting any takes change the nymph to a smaller size. If it is clear water choose natural colored patterns and longer leaders with lighter tippets. If the water is dirty or colored use a more brighter colored and large pattern to help the trout see what is being offered to them.

Over 100 years ago past masters like G.E.M Skues fished his nymph imitations close to the bank. " I am always amazed at how many fly fishermen overlook the large trout lurking close to the bank. I call them 'Bankers'." Just choose a small weighted nymph like this one. It will cut through the surface film and sink to the bottom. Approach your selected spot from down stream without spooking the fish. Caste upstream and drift your fly to a trout feeding in one of these near to the bank spots. Watch the trout strike the fly.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NYMPH FISHING
Many of the very early flies fished below the surface were being used in the North of England and Scotland. Many of these wet fly techniques were being developed into a fine art. Down in the South of England , during the Victorian era, on the clear chalk streams of Hampshire and Wiltshire it was the floating or Dry Fly technique that became popular in fly fishing  circles. It was considered the most sporting method of tempting trout. By the end of the nineteenth century the rule of 'dry fly only' had become entrenched on most rivers. this was despite knowing fact that large river fish rarely feed on the surface. These values were transported around the British Empire.

However this dogma was challenged by one G.E.M. Skues, who fished on the famous River Itchen. Skues made himself very unpopular with the Victorian dry fly traditionalists, by singing the praises of a nymph pattern fished just beneath the surface to represent a hatching fly. Eventually Skues' arguments won the day and on most chalk streams the rules were changed so Gentlemen could fish either a floating fly or a nymph. 

With the 'rot' having set in, Frank Sawyer, a South England, Hampshire Avon river keeper, publicized his new 'induced take' method of fishing a heavily weighted nymph from near the river bottom. A method still widely used on both chalk and rough water streams.

With the building of  reservoirs for public water supplies the opportunity for trout fishing increased in areas that previously had poor fishing resources. Many of the reservoirs are extremely deep and new nymph fishing techniques and lures have been developed to tempt the huge trout that live at the bottom. The growing popularity of stillwater trout fishing has led to many farmers and landowners digging