Should You Quit Nymphing?

One guide on the Missouri River has completely stopped fishing nymphs with clients in his boat.

Not because he thinks dry flies are morally superior. Not because there’s something inherently “wrong” with nymphing. But because, as he told the folks over at Skwala, “I no longer wanted to fish for people. I did not want to be the guide that facilitates catching through non-action.”

Mark Raisler is a co-founder of Headhunters Fly Shop, and one of the best guides on the Missouri near Craig. He has quite a few opinions on guiding, but it’s this one about nymphing that really raises eyebrows.

Skwala, the technical apparel company based in Bozeman, did a great interview with Raisler, where he dives deep into why he quit nymphing in his guide boat. You should read the entire thing to grasp all the nuances.

Teaching, Not Catching

The gist of it, though, is distilled in a post he wrote announcing the change of no nymphing back in 2023:

“There are plenty of fantastic teaching/Disneyland type guides who are really good at bringing anglers into fly fishing, deep nymphing, and making anglers smile. Not all anglers want to learn. Some just like to catch fish, and leave all that learning stuff to others. That is not my cup of tea any longer. I have to teach. It is thread into my angling fabric.”

For Raisler, fishing dry flies presents more teaching opportunities, especially with clients in the boat. Nymphing is too effective, too simple, that Raisler feels it often becomes transactional.

“I just dislike non-learning,” he told Skwala. “I dislike the model where the only value is entertainment. No learning, only catching.”

Impact On Fish

Another aspect of nymphing from a drift boat that Raisler talked about with Skwala is its potential impact on fish and their overall health. Because fly anglers have become so good at nymphing from a drift boat, catch rates are up. Anglers expect tons of fish in the net, and it’s hard to change expectations. But what’s all that catching doing to fish, even with proper catch-and-release techniques?

Well, this might not be the case on the Missouri, but on the North Platte in Wyoming, regulations have been changed to lessen the impact of catch-and-release fishing on its famous Gray Reef and Miracle Mile stretches.

Barbless hooks are now mandatory on most of the river’s most pressured stretches, because Wyoming Game & Fish biologists found evidence of more than 75% of fish within the Gray Reef section of the North Platte had noticeable “hooking injuries,” or injuries from barbed hooks. Of those, 22% had massive injuries, which include broken gills, blind eyes, or missing mandibles.

Of particular note is what impact those injuries can have on a trout population. From the study:

“While few hooking injuries are alone fatal, studies show that fish with greater body reserves and conditions have higher quality egg and sperm production. Whereas diminished body conditions, like those caused by hooking injuries, correspond to poor growth and compromised disease resiliency, which means the growing pressure on North Platte is undermining its trout populations at large.”

Fewer Fish Is Better?

It’s not so much nymphing that’s a problem on the North Platte, but the pressure the river receives in general. The Missouri is likely similar, although there’s no one saying that nymph anglers are harming fish populations. But with increased pressure, there’s always the increased likelihood of harming the resource.

That was a driving factor in Raisler forgoing nymph trips in his guide boat.

He’s also not saying that everyone should follow his lead, or that he’s “right.” Another big part of the reason Raisler quit nymphing is due to anglers’ attitudes.

“I don’t want to go nymphing because the people don’t care about anything other than the number (of fish),” he told Skwala.

Again, there’s a lot of nuance to Raisler, and it’s worth reading his thoughts in their entirety.

It’s also worth thinking about our potential impact on the resource we love so much, especially as we deal with drought in the West this summer.