Covering water
Some fishermen are happy to find a nice run or a rising trout and work it for hours. On the other hand, I often think about an afternoon of fishing as working from point A to point B. I like to find long stretches of water to myself to accommodate this, and on many streams it isn't too hard to find, as long as you're willing to walk for a bit. I know some fishermen who haven't fished more than 100 yards from a bridge in years, and they're good fishermen who do quite well.
I mentioned in an earlier post the difficulties I had when I first fished Silver Creek in Idaho. In part this was because I approached the stream the way I do local freestoners, covering water, working corners and edges. I had to learn to ease into one good spot and settle down for a while.
In some of the small streams I fish, the covering water approach works well. I skip over the thinner stretches, but fish all the likely little spots. Sometimes, though, the trout aren't where they're supposed to be. This happened to me early this season on a local river. The water was very high and the trout were actively feeding in riffles I rarely fished because they were so thin. I discovered the trout there quite by accident of course, but one I clued in to what was going on, I had a fantastic day.
On a local stream I fish regularly, the guys have names for some of the pools. A friend of mine fished the river one day and at a certain pool he caught 3 very nice browns at the head of a run, over along the left bank, casting a stimulator. He identified the pool using a name everyone else reserved for a completely different pool, located over a mile away. I was on the river a few days after my friend's successful day, and when I approached the pool I thought he was talking about, I decided to try his stonefly approach. Of course I was at the wrong pool. The top of this run along the left bank didn't look so promising, but my friend was a reliable sort, so I tied on a stimulator and cast to the top of the run. I caught two browns in a row, both good fish. Now I always fish the top of this run, but I have never caught another trout there.
There are a couple local streams I know quite well. That is to say, under various conditions, I have a pretty good idea where the trout might be. There have been times when certain runs were notoriously reliable for two, three years in a row, then nada-something changed causing the trout to move or change their behaviour. I know a run like that now. Even without a hatch, I often catch a nice trout or two there on a parachute ant.
I really enjoy my first trip out each spring. I make it a long walk usually, because I want to see what winter did to my river. Just as some old favourite runs change and become ordinary, other ordinary spots become increasingly interesting. I love that, rediscovering the stream again and again.
I mentioned in an earlier post the difficulties I had when I first fished Silver Creek in Idaho. In part this was because I approached the stream the way I do local freestoners, covering water, working corners and edges. I had to learn to ease into one good spot and settle down for a while.
In some of the small streams I fish, the covering water approach works well. I skip over the thinner stretches, but fish all the likely little spots. Sometimes, though, the trout aren't where they're supposed to be. This happened to me early this season on a local river. The water was very high and the trout were actively feeding in riffles I rarely fished because they were so thin. I discovered the trout there quite by accident of course, but one I clued in to what was going on, I had a fantastic day.
On a local stream I fish regularly, the guys have names for some of the pools. A friend of mine fished the river one day and at a certain pool he caught 3 very nice browns at the head of a run, over along the left bank, casting a stimulator. He identified the pool using a name everyone else reserved for a completely different pool, located over a mile away. I was on the river a few days after my friend's successful day, and when I approached the pool I thought he was talking about, I decided to try his stonefly approach. Of course I was at the wrong pool. The top of this run along the left bank didn't look so promising, but my friend was a reliable sort, so I tied on a stimulator and cast to the top of the run. I caught two browns in a row, both good fish. Now I always fish the top of this run, but I have never caught another trout there.
There are a couple local streams I know quite well. That is to say, under various conditions, I have a pretty good idea where the trout might be. There have been times when certain runs were notoriously reliable for two, three years in a row, then nada-something changed causing the trout to move or change their behaviour. I know a run like that now. Even without a hatch, I often catch a nice trout or two there on a parachute ant.
I really enjoy my first trip out each spring. I make it a long walk usually, because I want to see what winter did to my river. Just as some old favourite runs change and become ordinary, other ordinary spots become increasingly interesting. I love that, rediscovering the stream again and again.
posted by mister anchovy at 9:20 PM
2 Comments:
Great article.
Lots of good info. My bnuddy and I have the pool naming thing down to a science. We just call every one The Secret Spot.
Cheers,
Steve
Oops... meant to say "My buddy". Although "bnuddy" has a certain ring to it.
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