Adapted from L.L. BeanFly-Fishing Handbook by Dave Whitlock

Nymphs

Nymphs are designed to be fished below the surface, including on the bottom, of either calm or moving water. Nymphs mainly suggest (give a general impression) or imitate (give a detailed impression) immature aquatic insects.

But nymphs also may be used to suggest snails, scuds, leeches, crayfish, worms, and similar foods. Floating, intermediate, sinking-tip, and full-sinking fly lines are useful in various waters to fish nymphs.

For shallow, still, and moving water from 1 to 6 feet deep, the floating or intermediate lines are generally best. These lines allow the best overall fly action and control for nymphing. For medium depth (4 to 8 feet), especially in moving water, the sinking-tip fly line generally works best. For deeper water (8 to 20 feet), either still or moving, a full-sinking line generally performs best with nymphs.

Dave's Shrimp

In still water, the nymph is cast past the fish's swimming path or holding area. It is allowed to sink to the desired depth, then it is animated with the method that best suggests the live natural food.

In moving water, nymphs are fished in two basic ways. In the first method they are fished with a floating line. The nymph is cast upstream and allowed to sink and drift naturally downstream. The second way is with a sinking-tip or fullsinking line. The nymph is cast up and across stream to achieve the tight line-to-leader-to-fly contact needed to animate a nymph with a swimming action while retrieving it across or upstream.

Streamers

Streamers are usually designed to be fished below the surface to suggest or imitate the small fish, minnows, eels, leeches, and so on, that are swimming or drifting in the water. However, streamers are sometimes fished at the surface to imitate the feeding or crippled action of a small fish. Streamers, like nymphs, can be fished with all four fly-line types depending upon the action and the depth desired. The sinking tip is generally the best all-around streamer fly line.

A Woolly Bugger

In still water the streamer is presented near or beyond the fish's position and is retrieved past and away from the fish with an action that suggests the natural creature's panic or vulnerability.

In moving water the streamer may be presented at all angles to suggest the natural food's movement. Most small fish are strong swimmers and can live in areas from top to bottom in a stream. Perhaps the most popular streamer presentation is casting across the current and retrieving with erratic swimming and pausing action as the fly swims and swings down and across the flow.

This sideways motion suggests distress and vulnerability to a minnow-hungry fish. Once the streamer reaches the end of the drift, it is retrieved erratically upstream. Sometimes streamers are effective when cast upstream and allowed to drift downstream with the current, as if they were dying or helpless.

Wet flies, nymphs, and streamers perform best when they are tied using soft, water-absorbent materials. After they get wet, they take on the natural odors of the waters you fish. Before you begin fishing these three types, rub them on a wet algae-covered stone, on some aquatic vegetation, or on some silt taken from the bottom of the water you plan to fish. This simple wetting and deodorizing preparation will enhance your fly's ability to fool fish.