First, I'd check for the obvious things: Bugs hatching, caddis cases on the rocks, use a small net and screen the water for other nymphs, bugs, small baitfish; ask someone; look for info on other portions of the river.

Then I'd be stealthy. Hands and knees stealthy. Dap the fly over the undercut banks. Or make long, upstream casts with light leaders.

Or do what I usually do: Screw around, make bad casts, change flies a billion times, wade noisily....

Tom

 

i want to go. that creek sounds like so much fun. my dreams should be so lucky to be filled with water like that. as for fishing the water. sneak up behind cattails and come at the water from downstream. good luck.

 

I would fish it slow and easy and let the stream and the fish tell me how to fish it!
DAve:beer2

 

Word to that, if YOU are the guy that comes down on me in a canoe I will be pissed!
However, I know of such a stream, not as high of a bank system, nonetheless.......look around and repeat this....."If I were a trout in this run, where would I sit where those dinky 15 inchers will leave me alone so I could have some quiet time to myself".

SAK
Xstream
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I think that you were just dreaming on this one or just hoping that your dream came thru.

Jim

 

I know this sounds wierd but also look for signs of Beaver and Beaver excrement. And sounds gross too but look to see if there are any remains of trout in it as well. I stumbled to a really sweet spot because of that and caught a good 16 inch rainbow.
Steve

 

Sounds like a nice stretch. As far as beavers go,I believe they are actually herbivores. Perhaps it was an otter or another creature eating the trout. Good idea regardless if there is animal activity near the water...
JFK Jr

 

Check out smallstreams.com. East coasters do alot of small stream fishing becase they don't have the rivers that we do. So check out east coast fly fishing sites.

Rob

 

Uh oh ! I wonder what the heck it was then? I have seen beavers up there but not otters, although they could have been just passing thru. But they would of have to been constipated because it was pretty big. I hope it wasn't a bear or a cougar. :eek
Steve

 

Thanks for all the advice!

 

Sounds like a nice creek!

I'd like to recommend a book called "Fly Fishing Small Streams" by John Gierarch. This book is much more of a "how to" guide than Mr. Gieararch's later books, and does a good job of capturing the essence of the game. Here is a quote from the back cover that I really like:

"...let me introduce an idea--just someting to kick around: Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed, and, of course, without losing the faith that there's a bigger one in there."

Finally, a few bits of advice from my own experience. Stay low, wade slow, and cast sidearm to avoid spooking the trout.

Also, if you want to target the biggest specimens in the creek, tie on a small weighted woolly bugger and fish downstream. Do a wet fly swing through the deepest, slowest, juicest looking holes then strip back quickly on the retrieve. This method can be so effective on small streams it almost feels like cheating, espeically if the water is slightly discolored from recent rains.

 

I would IMMEDIATELY e-mail Big Ben and tell him to get his 3wt Sage and candy ass up their to have a look. Actually this sounds like a classic two-rod river. Take a 5wt for deep nymphing and a 3 or 4wt with dries. This may sound cumbersome but my wife and I will actually bring along three rods in remote, unfamiliar water. A 3wt for dries only, a 4wt with a stimi and possibly a dropper, and my 5wt with a deep nymphing rig. Covers everything but costs a fortune! Just my .02:beer2

 

This sounds like a stream I know and fish. I have taken many nice Rainbow out of it and would be happy to hook up sometime and fish it with you. Without giving away your spot, is it in Washington? If so, I am almost positive I fish the same one. There are only a few that can possibly fit that desription, and I know one of them well.
Anyway, let me know if you want to meet and try to get some of the Big 'ol Browns that are rumored to hide there too! Contact me at: pschenkenberger@mgear.com
Good Luck to all!

 

Smooth:

You are truly a wolf in sheep's clothing! I hope the guy takes you to Flaming Geyser on the Green River, or the "Red Barn Hole" on the Kalama, or some other newbie "hot spots!!"}(

Sparse

Streams are made for the wise man to contemplate and fools to pass by.
(Sir Izaak Walton)

 

What is a "high bank system"? I did a search on google, but didn't come up with anything but mainframe bank computer systems ...

 

On a side note, I emailed the wdfw to see if it had any special regulations applied to it, and they called me instead of emailing me. I thought it was awfully nice of them to do so, quite surprising to get a call from them.

 

.

 

Fishing down stream? Does that mean that I am casting down stream or I am down stream from my target?

A wet fly swing? Can you describe this a little more? Also would you use split shot perhaps to get a wooly bugger closer to the bottom of the pool?

 

If you want to fish a small stream,I have just the one for you but you can't float down it in a canoe. It has deep holes and a few under cut banks and a lot of logs to stop you in your canoe. The water is cold enough to freeze your go-nads off even in the summer and the mosquitoes are very large and hungry. But now there should be no more bugs as this little stream is up in the hills. I'll even give you the name. Sloan Creek,a trib of the N/F Sauk.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim.

 

BTW Thanks to some of the links, I found this little series of short articles.

http://www.stream-fisher.com/archives/Techniques.html