DFoster 0 Report post Posted May 18, 2022 19 hours ago, Capt Bob LeMay said: You're right about the knowledge part and I'd freely admit I'd be lost in any area I didn't know.... I must admit though -some days I go home feeling like a genius - and others I go home talking to myself... The sport we all love can be humbling at times... understatement The quickest way to catch fish in water you don't know is to hire a guide who does. Probably the only exception to that rule is thin blue line fishing and only because the people hiring guides are almost certainly after much larger game than small trout. Because there is a lot less food than on a larger stream the trout are more opportunistic and can be caught on a handful of common flies depending on the day. You really don't need a guides knowledge of what their feeding on an when on small waters. Locating fish on a small stream is relatively easy - they can be and usually are in any large or small pool you come to along the way. BUT being able to cast a fly in very tight quarters, undetected by the residents into those pools, then get the desired drift and catch a fish is most definitely a separate skill set from typical river fly fishing. I've been working on it for years and I can say it is truly difficult to master. It's caused me to talk to myself on many rides home including this past Sunday. If fact if I didn't have you guys to vent to I'd probably still be talking to myself. Fishing can be so damn cruel on the days when the fish don't want play by the rules- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted May 18, 2022 18 hours ago, skeet3t said: I cast and stop the rod at 12 o'clock and lower the rod to allow the fly to move same as the current. I then stop the fly, let it sink for a few seconds and retrieve a couple of feet. I get hits both ways. One of my favorite cast Skeet and a must have for stream fishing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted May 18, 2022 2 hours ago, niveker said: Oft times on small narrow streams, its the choice of the lesser of two evils: the risk of lining them with a cast from down stream, or announcing your presence from up stream. Easier to mask your presence from up stream when the trees and undergrowth are full of leaves. . Its less of a concern in faster broken water like in the center of DF's 2nd photo, as opposed to the nice calm pool in the 3rd. The former will also usually have a surprising bit of depth to them. Less chance of the the fish seeing or being seen. I couldn't agree more, it's about not being detected more than anything else when it comes to the small water. The faster broken water's small pools in photo 2 we're deep (2') when compared to the flow which was 6" to 12". I drifted a small dry on every one up that run without result. I forgot rule no.1 and was moving way to fast that day and casting at too close of range. Now that I've seen a lot of the stream the next time I go I will spend some Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted May 23, 2022 This weekend was hot and humid locally. After fishing a larger river on Saturday morning I decided to stay cooler in the shade and go back to this stream from this post again. As you can see from the photos it's under a beautiful tree canopy. It was like fishing in AC at least until about 11AM. I had a ball and caught over 2 dozen fish from fingerlings to 9". All of them were Fallfish or River Herring so the quest for wild trout here continues. I did find another spot to the North with public access to the water so I'll try there in the future. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
