N9. The Olive Glass Eyed Damsel Nymph

DAMSEL NYMPHS
When you see lots of electric blue damselflies zooming low over the water's surface you know that summer has finally arrived. If you are lucky you may see trout hurling themselves into the air to grab the big flies. Trout mainly eat damsel flies in their aquatic nymph state, some of which can reach over one inch long. They make a substantial meal for a trout and are eaten wherever they can be found. The nymphs seem to have an inbred healthy fear of Trout for as soon as they are born they head for weed cover. They are generally found in the warmer shallows of the lake but also in larger weed beds in open water. Try to fish around weedbeds in a water depth of four to eight feet for the best success. The nymphs are not the fastest of swimmers but they do waggle their tails as the move. After casting along your chosen water bed allow the nymph to sink several feet. The natural insect often swimms a few feet and then rests. The best method to copy this is a long retrieve followed by a pause. To try and imitate the waggle use a slow figure of eight receive with a 'waggle' every third or fourth figure of eight. By 'Waggle' I mean a fast flick of the wrist during the figure of eight to ensure a jerkier motion. It kicks the tail into life and I have found often induces a strike. Remember to add a pause every few seconds. At the end of the retrieve lift the fly slowly out of the water as there may be a following trout that could attack the escaping nymph.  Damselflies are related to dragon flies (order Odonata) though they are generally smaller and slimmer. Damsel nymphs are fierce predators that feed heavily on insects, small crustaceans and even tiny fish. There are 17 different in Britain. The female adult of some of the species is a dullish green rather than the brilliant electric blue body of the males.

Trout will feed on damsel nymphs throughout the year. In the early cooler part of the year a Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Nymph on a large 10 - 14 hook can be used to represent the transparent straw colored immature nymph. The olive, claret or brown colored mature nymphs are more prevalent during late May up till August. The color and time depend on where in the world you fish. The hottest part of the day either side of noon is the best time to see the mass migration of damselfly nymphs on to dry land. During the early part of the season this pattern can be fished very slowly along the bottom. Damsel fly Nymphs like shallow bays where weed is prolific as they feed on decaying vegetable matter. Cast your nymph as close to the weedbeds as possible. Fish this pattern very slowly along the bottom, to represent the insect stalking prey, but occasionally move it along a small distance at a faster speed. Wade down the sides of large, slow pools and fish the fly slowly along the bottom. Cast down and across the stream at a ten degree angle and give the nymph time to sink to the bottom. Every now and then use spurt pause spurt retrieve to imitate an attack. Use a three inch strip with your line hand and pause for about ten seconds to allow the water current to drift the fly slightly downstream, then strip again. Continue using this method all along the pool. As the fly moves, its marabou tail will wiggle enticingly, just as the real insect's abdomen would do as it swims along. 

During the warmer months the nymphs are far more active and wriggle to the surface, whereupon they proceed to swim to the shore or towards surface weed in order to hatch into the adult damselflies. As soon as they reach it they crawl up and out of the water. They clamber up anything from an angler’s waders to riverside reeds and rushes. It is during this trek to shore that trout actively feed on them. They even grab them when they are climbing up reeds before hatching. To simulate this activity, fish the fly on a floating line, letting it sink to the bottom before retrieving smoothly so that the fly lifts up in the water towards the surface. Where there are rushes or reeds it is often more productive to cast and retrieve along the shoreline. When they are above the surface level they hatch from their nymphal skin. They struggle to free themselves for up to 10 minutes. It takes a further hour for the new adult, called a 'Teneral', to fully inflate its wings. During this process they are very vulnerable if they have not got clear of the water. On a breezy day many new adults will get blown back on to the water and drown. During mating the coupled flies land on vegetation either in or very close to the water. the female climbs down and into the water and lays her eggs. This final act only happens when the sun is out. On overcast days the adults wait on the shore for the sun to appear. 

NYMPH FLIES
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.

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.

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 trout pools as an extra source of revenue. These small stillwater lakes and ponds make fly fishing accessible to more people.