strike proof
my presentation promotes trout safety
I made it out on Tuesday morning to a place I had seen from a moving car but had never fished. Other places I had seen this creek had either been private land or ankle deep, so I had never tried it. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a stretch with a public greenway sign, so I checked it out.
I started from a bridge and worked my way downstream. The bridge pool was wide, slow, tailed out to a couple of logjams. There were caddis flying and touching down on the water, no risers. I found a trail that followed with a good overhead view of some of the deeper sections with no fish visible. I walked to an easy wading point and worked my way through a few very shallow sections separated by short, fast runs. Rocks had sparse caddis, some cased and some not. I ran a bead-head green caddis pupa through a couple of runs without results. Eventually, I made it to this section:
The foreground third is ankle-deep. The middle third is knee deep. The main current is against the opposite bank where it hits the base of the trees flowing left-to-right and deflects about four feet away from the bank. Against the bank is a big cut that is at least four feet deep, slack water. I had a lot of trouble casting into the slack without immediate drag from the current or catching the low branches (open to suggestions on how to fish it). Eventually, I got a couple of clean drifts in and caught my biggest wild brown to date, about 12". A couple of casts later, I caught the fish below, bigger than the last, 14" or more, great colors and deep-bodied. I never take pics on the water (getting my phone wet would be a disaster for work) but I had to get this one.
Both fish were completely invisible a couple of feet from me and had perfect fins and great colors. I caught a small bluegill from the same cut, then climbed the bank, pulled a couple of flies from the branches, and moved downstream. I spooked at least two from a large pool below this cut, saw a small brown jump for two flies but couldn't get a hit, then had to leave for work. All fish were caught on green bead-head caddis pupa, fished 9:00am to noon. Water temp 58.
I made it back to the same stretch 05/12 about the same time. I hiked downstream and worked up. Saw only one riser. Caddis were still out. Saw a couple of trout in feeding lies from a high bank. I caught two rainbows from the pool where I had spooked the fish on Tuesday, lost a small brown on the third jump. I moved upstream to the cut that produced before, caught a tiny smallmouth and lost another small fish. Fish were caught on same green bead head caddis pupa or trailing sparkle pupa. Water still 58.
Thanks to the guys on the board sharing technique tips. These were great days for a novice.
I started from a bridge and worked my way downstream. The bridge pool was wide, slow, tailed out to a couple of logjams. There were caddis flying and touching down on the water, no risers. I found a trail that followed with a good overhead view of some of the deeper sections with no fish visible. I walked to an easy wading point and worked my way through a few very shallow sections separated by short, fast runs. Rocks had sparse caddis, some cased and some not. I ran a bead-head green caddis pupa through a couple of runs without results. Eventually, I made it to this section:
The foreground third is ankle-deep. The middle third is knee deep. The main current is against the opposite bank where it hits the base of the trees flowing left-to-right and deflects about four feet away from the bank. Against the bank is a big cut that is at least four feet deep, slack water. I had a lot of trouble casting into the slack without immediate drag from the current or catching the low branches (open to suggestions on how to fish it). Eventually, I got a couple of clean drifts in and caught my biggest wild brown to date, about 12". A couple of casts later, I caught the fish below, bigger than the last, 14" or more, great colors and deep-bodied. I never take pics on the water (getting my phone wet would be a disaster for work) but I had to get this one.
Both fish were completely invisible a couple of feet from me and had perfect fins and great colors. I caught a small bluegill from the same cut, then climbed the bank, pulled a couple of flies from the branches, and moved downstream. I spooked at least two from a large pool below this cut, saw a small brown jump for two flies but couldn't get a hit, then had to leave for work. All fish were caught on green bead-head caddis pupa, fished 9:00am to noon. Water temp 58.
I made it back to the same stretch 05/12 about the same time. I hiked downstream and worked up. Saw only one riser. Caddis were still out. Saw a couple of trout in feeding lies from a high bank. I caught two rainbows from the pool where I had spooked the fish on Tuesday, lost a small brown on the third jump. I moved upstream to the cut that produced before, caught a tiny smallmouth and lost another small fish. Fish were caught on same green bead head caddis pupa or trailing sparkle pupa. Water still 58.
Thanks to the guys on the board sharing technique tips. These were great days for a novice.
