It's what I wanted to hear, because I'm a dry-fly fisher from way back. My indication of a strike is a can't-miss splash on the surface. You can forget that luxury when fish prefer a diet of waterlogged bugs, which is most often the case. A nymph is a wet-fly pattern designed to imitate a subaquatic insect, such as the pupa or larva of a caddis or mayfly. In other words, it's the waterborne stage of a creepy crawler before it takes flight.
Biologists say fish feed substantially more on subsurface bugs.
In Hot Creek, resident browns and rainbows gobble patterns anchored with brass bead heads, which serve to sink the nymph. Other weighted wet flies, such as brassies, also work well. To set the hook, he recommends initiating a back cast, which in nymphing is a fairly firm, quick motion, as opposed to a delayed set typical of dry-fly fishing. Avoid the temptation to reel in the fish or it might bounce off the hook in the riffles. Strip it in by hand and you'll have an easier time landing your prize.