Nymph Fishing: New Angles, Tactics, and Techniques

Disclaimer: In the very short period of time wherein I've been learning the methods that George Daniel has taught me as a guide and coach, I've caught a lot more fish and have had more fun in the water than I've had in years. But that's only part of the reason for writing a review of "Nymph Fishing" - a book that I'm now re-reading and underlining."Nymph Fishing" offers great, general advice about nymphing and then gets into specific, technical detail about both suspension nymphing and contact nymphing. He also writes about WHEN to switch from one style of nymphing to another, and is particularly good at explaining WHY a particular method is more likely to work. .Anglers (like me) often exhibit a tendency to skip over some kinds of water, both because they are less sure about how to fish them, and also because it can be a PITA to adjust the weight and rigging for different kinds of presentations. George's common-sense solutions to these problems make fishing easier and more productive. I've been taking my daughter fishing with me recently, and she's been having a great time catching trout after using some of the methods described in this book. When you can teach something that you have been taught - and teach it successfully - then you know that you're on to something profound.I'll end this review by saying that the book is written in a clear, declarative prose style that is the next best thing to having a guide and teacher of George's caliber standing next to you on the stream. His willingness to give credit to those who have helped and influenced him along the way, like Joe Humphreys, speaks volumes.

It's nice to have an evaluation of various types of nymph fishing and when they're appropriate, as opposed to a book that argues that one method is the only one you need or want. Daniel analyzes the conditions that an angler might encounter and makes recommendations as to whether contact or suspension nymphing would be appropriate, and then discusses how best to rig (which sighter or indicator, leader length, placement of flies and weight, etc.) in each situation. The book is well illustrated, but could have used a bit more careful editing. It fills a niche, and while it's not a book for beginners, it's a good place for an intermediate fly fisher to start before moving on to more specialized books or DVDs on particular nymphing methods.

Disclaimer: I have not yet read dynamic nymphing, but I wish I had before purchasing this book. My understanding from the description was this was an updated version of the author's latest techniques. However, it was almost immediately apparent that this is more of an addendum than an update and will not teach the fundamentals or the difference between different styles of nymphing. Luckily I am not a beginner so although it was not the book I thought it was, it was useful.

I copied this review by another buyer because it sums it up perfectly. Just a bunch of hi level ramblings that are incoherent with billions of useless pictures. Nothing goes into enough detail to be useful. Other reviewer sums it up:"Not sure where the positive reviews come from on this book but I found it disjointed and with very few useful tips. The author starts on topics and never completes thoughts and often is afraid to commit to a method. The photographs in the book rarely helped to understand the topic being discussed and it appears you just wanted to include photos of people fishing.:

Not sure where the positive reviews come from on this book but I found it disjointed and with very few useful tips. The author starts on topics and never completes thoughts and often is afraid to commit to a method. The photographs in the book rarely helped to understand the topic being discussed and it appears you just wanted to include photos of people fishing.

Authoritative and thorough description of gear, setups, and tactics for nymph fishing for trout. Daniels nicely explains why a variety of approaches are required to effectively present nymphs in a wide range of river and stream situations. He is even-handed about "suspension" versus "contact" nymphing and simply explains why you would chose one of the other in particular situations. My only negative comment is that some of the photographs are too dark to easily see what is being described in the captions.

Enjoyed this as an update to his previous two books, primarily nymphing. Will stand alone as a fly fishing standard.

I got a hold of Mr Daniel via email he was such a nice guy. His books are well written and put together so elegantly.I feel privileged to have his teaching in my hands for reference when ever I need! Thank you Sir!

This book is a decent read tho not a patch on dynamic nymphing....seems to be squeezing the last drop of euro nymphing tactics possible to scrape together another book. For such a simple technique there's lots of books out there, most don't offer anything much new. This unfortunately is one of them.

I found this book to be a great addition to my book collection.