Fish Camp's Indicator Nymphing 101: Mending

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Zach Peyton from South Fork Lodge covers the often-confusing technique of mending in this segment. Mending is imperative for effective nymphing. He provides a review of when and how to use larger mends, micro mends, and related pointers.

Join Zach for a comprehensive overview of Indicator Nymphing in this course. It explores the journey of discovering nymphing as a powerful and essential fly fishing technique, beyond the traditional dry fly approach. Through personal storytelling and practical instruction, it highlights how learning to fish below the surface opened up a whole new world of opportunity and understanding.

Viewers will gain insight into tactics, gear, fly presentation, hook sets, and how to land fish efficiently and responsibly. Whether you’re a dry-fly purist curious about adding nymphing to your toolkit or a beginner wanting to catch more fish, this tutorial video will give you the knowledge and confidence to fish effectively below the surface.

The course explores the journey of discovering nymphing as a powerful and essential fly fishing technique, beyond the traditional dry fly approach.

Zach is a veteran guide at South Fork Lodge in Swan Valley, Idaho, where he’s been sharing his passion for fly fishing since 2002. Born and raised in Pocatello, he’s fished southeastern Idaho’s waters since childhood.

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Truncated transcript: 

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:42:04: Well a standard way to fish a nymph is a dead drift. When we say dead drift, you're presenting the fly. And a nice natural swing-free or drag-free motion. People in general always ask when to mend and how to mend. Now how to mend is you have to lift the line before you move the line. A lot of people want to reach out to mend.

00:00:42:04 - 00:00:58:18: Well, then you can only mend as far as you reach out and it means shorter people can't mend as well as taller people. This isn't true. In general, you want to draw a big upside down U, or a rainbow. Think of your friend standing directly in front of you, where you have to lift the line over their head.

00:00:58:19 - 00:01:18:10: Once that initial mend is made, you want to always think about where you want to be not where you are. Just like in life. Then after that, you may have little bows and quirks in your line. The best way to know is if you see a bow form in your line, mend the opposite way. That might not always be a full mend.

00:01:18:10 - 00:01:28:17: Little micromanagement mends are the key to achieving a true drag-free drift...