Spanish Nymphing: What Really Matters in Howard Croston’s Leader

Not Convinced about Spanish Nymphing? Try it in "Second-hand" Water

Here are just two of what turned into a bit of a landslide of captures in water that had been flogged hard just beforehand...

Forget "Casting Angle" and Look at Function

As with all the other modern Euro nymphing methods covered on Fishing Discoveries pages – each named method is best seen as a short, easy label. Basically, they’re recognisable ways to group together useful ideas and characteristics. That functional way of defining things is much easier to deal with than claiming “one true version” of methods with complicated origin stories. 

The best Spanish Nymphing Leader Material is French...

At least the best that I know of. It is produced by the Pierre Sempé brand and I'll be writing a lot more about Pierre himself in future. His contribution (and that of the anglers who are following his approach) to both fly fishig and finesse bait fishing is highly significant.

Key Functions of Spanish Nymphing leaders (why bother with them?)

You know how “weight forward” (WF) fly lines are much better described as “less weight at the back-ers”? In case you’ve not heard that before, here’s a quick explainer.

It is reducing weight/diameter/friction at the back-end of the casting system which is important for shooting more line when casting standard fly lines…

In a Spanish leader, the reduction of weight and diameter at the “back end” of the system is also the important detail. Instead of affecting shooting distance in a cast – it reduces two important factors related to drift control…

Drape Otsuri

Otsuri is the change given in stores in Japan. It is also used by Japanese anglers to describe the “change” that is returned to you when you cast further out than the sag of your line will allow. With a high rod tip, the sag “gives you your change” for an overlong cast. In other words, the distance that you “over-paid” is returned to you as the line settles at a balance-point closer to the angler.

Here's a diagram showing that as the diameter and weight of your level fluorocarbon casting line (or French leader) increases - so too does the amount of "drape otsuri":

It’s the line-cutting ability of the thin, level Spanish leader setup that allows the flexibility in depth (while keeping indication). As Howard explains, the ability to keep that “depth-coverage” flexibility without re-rigging is a big advantage.

Combined effects of better surface-cutting & reduced otsuri in Spanish nymphing leaders

There are multiple benefits to reducing the weight towards the butt-end of your leader. For example, you can reach further across-stream while still keeping decent “straight-line drift” ability. In other words, when you reach further over, it doesn't cause the nymphs to arc towards your side of the river due to line-sag/otsuri.

Reduced leader-sag at longer range also gives you a closer match to the true pace of the current when fishing directly upstream.
In both those cases, the longer potential reach – while still creating a great drift – improves your stealth. Separating yourself more from the fish reduces the chances of spooking it – but with many rigs drift quality suffers by the same proportion.

Thin, level Spanish leaders re-balance that trade-off.

It’s not only drift quality that is preserved at greater range. Normally, increasing separation between angler and fly also means a loss of contact. With less contact, you have both poorer bite detection and lower hook-set success.

Creating a straighter line to flies at a slightly longer range increases contact in two key areas:

1. Straighter line/less sag from rod tip to surface of water
2. Straighter line between water surface and fly (less “pulley wheel” effect)

To expand on that:

This combined effect is the real advantage offered by a Spanish nymphing leader setup – as long as you have the skill to fish it well... 

Because...

It is not a magic bullet – and if you can’t deliver your nymphs accurately, create and control great drifts and detect strikes visually by maintaining perfect tracking; it won’t help at all.

Flies for Spanish Nymphing

Unlike French leaders, you'll struggle to throw a dry fly on a Spanish-style leader of the type described by Howard. As with all choices in fishing, each option is a trade-off of different strengths and weaknesses. There's no real single "best option".

That being said, the classic design of flies associated with Spanish nymphing is probably the perdigon (pellet/bullet) style. Originating in the Pyrenees region, it seems to have approximately equal French and Spanish influence in its development. 

The key factors are the ability to create a small nymph which is so dense and streamlined that it can still cut through fast-flowing water of steep, clear mountain rivers.

For stealthy fishing in shallow water (e.g. where Howard relies on a daub of coloured wax for strike indication) - using just a single nymph will be the best option. Don't always default to a pair (or even three) nymphs on your cast.

However, going back to the functional definition of this leader style – it can obviously be used to present a range of flies (not just perdigons). Overall, small, slim flies that have enough density to be cast by your nymphing rod are ideal.

Getting more creative, you can use point flies that provide sufficient weight to deliver a dropper fly (or flies) which might have other physical characteristics. But that’s getting into another chapter of nymphing altogether...

So I'll cover that in future content...

Thank you to Howard for sharing his Spanish nymphing experience at the highest level

My great thanks to Howard for supporting the idea of using his video in this post (go ahead and give him a subscription on his YouTube channel, you can see that he's putting out tons of valuable info).

As usual - let me know in the comments if you think the information here is worthwhile or makes you think a little differently about your fishing. If you do enjoy it, please share it with your friends (there's handy social media sharing buttons on the page - or you can just copy and paste the URL from the address bar).

If you want nymphing tuition direct to your inbox, there's always my free course - which also keeps you up to date with our new projects and special subscriber bonus offers too:

Best wishes,

Paul