Tactics of fishing with the Czech nymph will always differ according to current conditions and universal directions for right tactics do not exist. In any case it is important to take several checked up facts into account:

Where to fish:

With a Czech nymph we usually fish in shallow as well as in deep currents and in the boundary lines between them and eddies and calm pools. We look for places, where there are deep places (pits), in these there are often fish. We will be successful also in deep pits between two currents and near bunches of water plants like water buttercups.

When to fish:

When reading some foreign journals we can get an impression, that the Czech nymph method can be effective only when it is used for catching grayling in winter. On the contrary, Czech nymph is successful all the year round. Especially effective it is (when compared with other methods) during high water conditions, when other methods are failing, because with them it is difficult to get a fly to places, where fish are feeding. Practically in most cases, when we cannot see any fish activity on the water surface, it pays to use the Czech nymph method.

How to fish:

We fish at a short distance, often only so far, that the distance ist just a bit larger than the length of our rod. We leave the flies drift freely, only during the end phase we often meet with success, when we let the flies rise from the bottom to the surface. Proper weighting of flies is important. The flies must be heavy enough to sink to the required depth, but on the other hand they must not be weighted too much, so as they do not often get snagged on the bottom and also when overweight, they can not be led through the water as naturally as possible. Weighting of the flies we must flexibly adjust to depth and speed of the current. During the actual fishing the flies must be as near to the bottom as possible in places, where we expect a bite. Regarding the short distance we are fishing at, we must be careful not to spook the fish. While fishing in clear or shallow water, the effectivity of our fishing can be remarkably increased, when we lower our silhoutte.

What fish:

Grayling is the fish, that responds to the Czech nymph best. But we can successfully fish for brown and rainbow trout, chub, dace, roach or barbel.

What flies:

There is no general rule determining the most effective pattern of Czech nymph. When we do not know, to what flies the fish will positively respond, we put three fly patterns on the leader, in distinctly various colour combinations and test the effectivity of individual patterns. Usually a natural pattern is tied as the tip fly or first dropper and a „wilder“ pattern as the second dropper. The deeper the water and the larger the fish we are expecting, the larger fly patterns we can use.