What is The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing? TL;DR Rundown
The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing is a 172-page full-color paperback print book with large 8” x 10” pages (and comes with over 2 hours of supporting, on-line HD video content). The aim of the book and video combo is to help you achieve your highest possible confidence and ability when fly fishing with nymphs for trout, char and grayling in rivers and streams.
In the book and videos you’ll discover for yourself the advantages and secrets that competition anglers have benefited from for decades. It’s based on over 17 years of personal, “modern” nymphing experience – as well as access to the knowledge, flies and experience of many world-championship competitors, coaches, captains and champions spanning from the 1990s to 2020.
Who Wrote it and What Else is Included?
Paul Gaskell
Fishing Discoveries
As the author (Hi, I’m Dr Paul Gaskell; a freshwater biologist and nymphing maniac), I also fill in some simple biological secrets that will help you choose and use tactics, rigs and flies for the range of challenges you’ll face throughout the fishing year. There’s even macro photography of real, live nymphs to compare to the simple, impressionistic flies that imitate them...
PLUS there’s an insanely detailed guide to creating and chemically-treating your own custom-made French leaders (with multiple taper recipes to get you started). There are recipes for leaders across all featured styles of nymphing. However, John Pearson goes to unbelievable lengths to reveal the real trade secrets of perfect knot and taper creation – as well as applying the chemical treatment perfectly.
The full supporting video collection covers:
Illustrated throughout by the author with clear diagrams – the book is also filled with high quality photographs; including privileged access to the fly boxes of some of the world’s best nymph anglers.
There’s even some scans of original notes taken during masterclasses by Czech World-team coach Jiří Klíma – plus insights from the fishing of Stuart Crofts, World Champions Howard Croston, Pascal Cognard, Tomas Starychfojtu, Vladi Trzebunia and Grégoire Juglaret PLUS Pêche à la Sempé ambassador Charles-Henry Kurzen and genius anglers like Jurek Kowalski and Stanisław Cios.
There’s a short explainer video on the book’s product page on the link below:
Click Here for More Details and to Order
Why was the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing Written?
The popularity of our free nymphing email tutorials (and the format with clear diagrams and detailed technique explanation) showed that there was a big appetite for clear explanations of the insider tactics of modern nymphing. At the same time, seeing the amount of confusion (and straight up wrong info) in many of the online discussions of Euro nymphing, Tight line nymphing, tactical nymphing, Czech nymphing and more – it was clear that what I knew in my own fishing could help a lot of people.
Gathering my notepads from multiple trips to Europe to study these methods – plus articles I’d written for myself and others over the years; I sketched out the bare bones of a possible book. Then, as the most important step, I asked our email subscribers whether I should push that project on to completion…and the response was an overwhelming “YES”.
As well as the multiple years of notes, photos and diagram gathering (dating back to 2006), the verdict of our subscribers saw me work on the book every day for seven months. In that time, I restructured it several times and also completed a huge amount of diagrams to explain all the ideas properly.
Some of the Tactics Covered in the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing
Here’s a simple list to give you an idea of the range of tactics covered in the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing:
…and then it explains how to cherry-pick/combine and apply any and all the most suitable parts of those tactics in a clear SYSTEM of fly fishing.
That is where the real power is. The key is understanding the mechanics of each method and then combining that with enough understanding of fish and bugs to guide your choices. That combined system is, for me, what should be described as “Euro nymphing”.
The amazing Stuart Crofts
One of the unique aspects of the book is having access to Stuart Crofts (15 international caps for the England team) as one of my near neighbours and fishing club members.
Stuart Crofts sampling insects with a "pooter" and net for ID later
He has been incredibly generous in opening up his own diaries from events around the world, telling fantastic (and often very funny) stories of discovering new methods and flies. Stuart also allowed me full access to his collections of flies gifted to him by many international competitors and other pioneering anglers from Continental Europe over the decades. I got to photograph those flies in full-color, macro detail and include them in the book.
That’s even before we get into his entomology skills (and addiction to the biology of caddis flies in particular). I’m exceptionally lucky to have benefited from Stuart’s wisdom over the years. I hope you can see why I’m so delighted to be able to share with you what I’ve personally found to be his most powerful insights.
Why is The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing Split into 3 Parts?
In order to make it easy and fun to read – while rapidly passing on the tactical secrets and benefits; I split the book into three themed sections. These are “Meet the Family”, “Trying and Testing” and “Evolving and Adapting”.
What this sequence allows me to do is to give you the right “feel” for each of the tactics before getting into the direct coaching of those tactics. Then, when we are familiar with the different tools, I can help you combine them into an adaptable system. While following along on that journey, just a little gentle repetition helps to lock in some of the most important ideas.
Along the way various stories and “spotlight” features help to keep everything easy and fun to read. That way, it doesn’t feel like hard work and you naturally absorb new techniques. The spotlights cover indicators/sighters, hooks, casting, stealth, feeding biology of fish,
In truth, I reworked the sequence of topics, notes, stories and contents multiple times before I found the right recipe for making the whole book flow without effort and excessive back-tracking for the reader.
What is Ladder Leader Nymphing?
Ladder Leader tactics are mentioned in the list of tactics above – and there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of them before. As well as a short introductory Ladder Leader blog on this link, the book and video gives the complete system from start to finish.
It is basically a way of being able to quickly change flies and/or the spacing between flies in a team as well as providing a degree of “anti-tangle” behaviour to droppers that can swivel around the main stem of the leader.
All the preparation for that system can be done at home, so you maximise time on the stream. In that respect, the preparation and mounting of “ready to fish” droppers into a carrying system is a bit like fly tying. Neither of those preparation steps are typically done in/on the river (even though they can be if you want).
Is the Video Content Important to the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing Book?
Our vision for the video “bonuses” was actually that they should justify the book’s price tag alone – even before you dig into the text, diagrams and photos on the pages. We worked really hard to use the strengths of both types of media – in video active steps, timing/rhythm and small details of physical actions are easy to show.
Things happening in real time are very difficult or impossible to fully show in a book. With that said, books allow you to develop ideas and stories with much more power – make them more memorable and can contain a lot more detail without overwhelming the senses.
Our experience as coaches and teachers really helped to take the high-level skills and break them down to make them simple and learnable.
As well as the unique tactical insights, it is the combination of coaching breakdowns, biological mechanisms and access to stories and secrets “from the source” that make the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing different.
Am I Going to be Overloaded with Fly Patterns?
While there are a lot of examples from the boxes of multiple legendary anglers, the actual “suggested” base-set of flies is very short. That short list of essential basic “prototypes” come with recipes and are cross-referenced to appropriate real bugs and grubs (or fish).
We didn’t want “fly pattern overwhelm” (real disease BTW!!) to be a barrier to you getting out on stream and landing fish.
How to Get your Copy of The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing
As well as being available on Amazon, you can order signed copies directly from Fishing Discoveries using the link below:
These are signed, packed and shipped from Derbyshire England - and shipping is automatically calculated (and displayed) based on the address you enter at checkout.
When you buy direct from us, you'll receive a welcome email which includes your access details so that you can start watching the video material while you await delivery of your book. Ordering on Amazon means you have to follow the instructions inside the book to obtain your details (but the delivery should be quite fast).
Signing the first print run copies of The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing
Please let me have your feedback on the book in the comments section below...
Paul
So far your book has been a great resource. It’s opened up a whole new world for tight line fishing for me.
I’m really happy that you are finding new areas in your fishing from the things contained in the nymphing bible. Many thanks for sharing your comment.
Paul
[…] The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing: Complete Playbook of Euro Nymphing […]
[…] The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing: Complete Playbook of Euro Nymphing […]
[…] The Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing: Complete Playbook of Euro Nymphing […]
[…] focused “magic bullet” nymph-pattern AND fishing location selector tool included in the Fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing which also includes when and how to use tiny midge larva nymph patterns (versus caddis and […]
I just finished your book for the first time. I’m going to start reading it backwards. Great stuff! Then I’m going to apply it to Tenkara with a single bug. Thanks.
Thank you so much David – and perhaps to repeat myself, I do look forward (as always) to your future trip reports and photos,
Paul
RE: French leader nylon brand
Paul/John,
The nylon brand specified in the book is not available in the U.S. (at least I can’t find a source). Many people use Maxima Chameleon for leaders, but that’s a hard/stiff nylon. I also have Orvis Super Strong which is a softer nylon, I think. Also, there aren’t always comparable diameters, which could alter the taper and turnover of the leader. In fact, I think some diameters in the Maxima and Orvis brands might be missing altogether. I’m not sure about other brands. I might just have to come as close as I can and improvise. Is hard or soft nylon best, and can you recommend an alternative brand to your specified brand?
Thanks,
Harold
Hi Harold, I’d look into high performance copolymer materials used in bait fishing… I don’t know if there is a US source for it, but I found that the Japanese Fujino “Turbo V” copolymer (NOT the Turbo V Fluorocarbon) was ideal for the purpose.
As with all tippet (and gear) preferences, the key is to experiment with several options and compare them side by side – each time you get a “winner”, you can then make that option the one to beat. Over time you’ll gradually evolve towards the best available product for you.
One very simple test is to put a “wind knot” (i.e. single overhand knot) into a candidate brand of tippet – which should be fine diameter for its breaking strain (which Maxima is very much not…) and then pull for a break. Copolymers that are suitable for the job will be able to retain a very high proportion of their ordinary (i.e. without wind-knot!) breaking strain.
The Turbo V (and Preston Innovations) materials are both exceptional in that department – so it might be worth seeing if you can find overseas suppliers that will ship to you…
Very best wishes
Paul
Thanks, Paul, for the reply and suggestion. I’ll see if I can find it.
Bought of Amazon and can’t access video footage!
Please email me on paulgaskellflyfishing@gmail.com for assistance Jon, thanks.
Paul
Hi Paul, I hope this message finds you well. I will let you know what I think of “The fly Fishing Bible of Nymphing” at the end of this request.
I purchased this book a couple of years back and jumped into the videos right away while I awaited the delivery of the book. Good information. I have read the book 3 times and I’m about ready to go again.
My only problem is that I have lost all the video content that came with the book when you switched email addresses. How do I go about regaining this information. The book is number 54 out of 200 and signed by you. It was purchased under invoice number 3885410 on Dec 4 2020. You can contact me at rickjones1942@gmail.com with instructions.
My fishing club “Osprey Flyfishers of BC” published a book recently called “The Osprey Flybox” I will send you a copy (for Free)If you would like.
There is only one thing I would change in your book, a hard cover. I can see this book becoming very beat up and dog eared. There is so much information that one cannot just read it once. It is very well laid out and one will have to refer to it on a regular basis.
To sum it all up, you have written a classic book here. Hands down the best nymph fishing book I have read. I am 80 years old and flyfishing since age 9. I have read a load of books on fly fishing over the years so have a excellent knowledge of what is out there.
Please confirm your address so that I can send the book to you
I remain,
Rick Jones