John Wilson from Arkansas, USA, asked me recently, which leaders are now used for the Czech nymph? A very interesting question. I phoned some of my friends within half an hour and spoke to five of them, who should be able to supply some information. They answered in a straightforward manner and I do not suspect of them sought to mislead me.
The first two I spoke with are those who founded fishing with the short nymph. Both of them fish with two nymphs only, but their leaders are totally different. The first one was Slavoj Svoboda, the Individual World Champion from Belgium 1986, who used this method at the beginning. His leader is made from a braided butt, which is between 40-50 cm long and it is finished with a small eye and is then followed by a nylon Stroft of 0,12-16 mm diameter. Varied according to the size of the fish anticipated. The length of this section is between 2,0-3,5 m. according to the size, strength and depth of the river. The dropper nymph is about 50 cm from the point nymph. The total length of his leader varies between 2,5-4,0 m. This is ranging from a medium to a very long leader.
On the other hand Jiri Klima, the Czech team captain, uses a completely different leader construction for the short nymph. In his case there is a very special part of the leader. He is a very successful fisherman using this system. Starting with the eye of the connector, Stroft line with a diameter of 0,18 mm is attached, to a length of 125 cm. This is then connected with a knot to another section of Stroft nylon with a diameter between 0,14-0,12 mm, according to the conditions. The dropper nymph is attached using Stroft of 0,18 mm and the point nymph is then placed 50 cm beyond the dropper. The total length of this leader is then only 175 cm.
The next three names all belong to the current Czech Team, who are deservedly proud of the trophies won from individual competitions at World and European championships. All of these fishermen prefer fishing with three Czech nymphs. Pavel Machan (Individual European Champion 2000) uses Stroft nylon between 0,10-0,14 mm diameter and a leader length of some 200 cm. He ties the first dropper 100 cm from the fly line and the two remaining nymphs always 50 cm behind each other. This type of leader is then quite short.
On the other hand Vladimir Sedivy (Individual World Champion 2001) uses a medium length leader of between 220 - 260 cm. He uses fluorocarbon (3M) of uniform diameter for it full length and ranging from 0,10-0,14 mm according to circumstances. The first nymph is placed 100 cm from the flyline and the two remaining nymphs at spaces of 60 - 80 cm. Finally the practice of Tomas Starychfojtu (Individual World Champion 1998). His leader is one of the extremely long ones. Some 40 cm of fluorocarbon is used starting at the micro eye. Then either nylon Stroft, or fluorocarbon 0.14 - 0.16 diameter. The length of the leader 3.5 m. Nymphs are then attached at 50 cm intervals making a total leader length of 390 cm.
What conclusions can now be drawn? The leaders used for Czech nymphing may be in a variety of lengths. In one case we have found the extremely short length of Jiri Klima of 175 cm to the extremely long ones used by Toams Starychfojtu, which at 390 cm long is twice the length. A knotted leader is not considered to be practical when used with decreasing diameters of materials. Everybody therefore must choose their own system, whether he or she likes longer or shorter leaders and two or three nymphs. It is also necessary to recognise that the leader used must correspond with the specific size and strength of rod used.