“Klink and Dink” (also known as duo or New Zealand style) is used to describe fishing with a weighted nymph suspended from a buoyant fly such as the klinkhamer and this is my most successful way of catching grayling and trout, in all seasons and throughout the world. I have literaly caught hundreds of fish by using this method, even in Alaska where I understand my patterns and technique have been adopted by the guides at Bristol Bay due to their success there.
The beauty with this method is that it is possible to cover a lot of water and to fish at a distance. Furthermore, there are two chances of catching; by attracting rising fish or those foraging on the bottom or taking nymphs in the water column. My version of the klinkhamer has evolved over the years and it now has the following key features:-
- Glo-brite #5 red coloured butt that acts as a trigger point.
- Black flex-floss body that cuts through the surface film.
- Peacock glister for a thorax that creates a shimmer.
- Pink coloured Tiemco aero dry wing which creates an aura around the fly.
- Badger parachute hackle with lots of turns to give buoyancy aided by treatment with Dilly Wax.
By tying the dropper off the bend of the hook, the weight of the nymph pulls the klinkhamer down, lower in the water, and adds to its attraction. Some anglers don’t like to use this method because they claim that it prevents fish from taking the fly cleanly but I have never found this to be a problem myself.
The length of the dropper is selected to fish the nymph close to the river bed in the winter, when grayling fishing, but in the summer months, when the fish are taking rising nymphs, the fishing depth is not so critical.
Fish the flies with a drag free drift, casting over and across the river or directly upstream in the feeding lanes. I always use the same klinkhamer pattern but I do vary the tungsten bead colour on the nymph (red, pink, gold, silver or copper). Sometimes I use the pink nymph in the winter and this has accounted for a lot of grayling.
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