Fishing Information

Fly Fishing Small Streams


Picture this; you've spent some time hiking into a small stream in the back country. It's early morning, mist is rising and the midges that have been swarming around you are breakfast for the small browns you have come to catch. You quietly walk up to the stream, watching the swirls of rising fish. You tie a nymph onto your leader and step into the water.

A trout skids away from under your feet, its flight sending out warning signals as bright as any neon light. The feeding fish flee in response and you are left with a section of river devoid of all but the midges. Welcome to fly fishing the small stream.

Stop and look before fly fishing the small stream

Before you get into the water stop and look at what is in front of you. This is especially true when approaching the small stream. Trout are well camouflaged, especially when you are looking down into the water. (A good pair of Polaroid glasses helps here.)

I like to make my first cast well back from the waters edge. If there is little cover then I tend to use a long leader and lay the line on the riverbank, allowing only the leader to enter the water, as close to the near bank as possible. That way, if there are any fish lying close under the bank, I will have given them first look at my fly.

Reading the water of the small stream

The waters of the small stream are like those of any river, just on a smaller scale. The fish will be in the same types of water that they would be in if you were fishing any trout stream. When you are fly fishing the small stream, look for those areas that provide the fish with their need for protection from predators, relief from fast flowing currents, and access to food.

Fishing the pocket water

I like to use dry flies when fly fishing pocket water in a small stream. The fish will usually be holding out of the main current but close enough to grab any food that comes floating by, and a drifting fly is often too tempting to resist.

Often it is not necessary to match the fly closely to whatever is hatching. Instead I like to fish a fly that is visible enough for me to see in fast moving water. Something like a light elk hair caddis works well. When the strike comes I can see it and I catch more fish this way than missing the strike by using a less visible, hatch matching fly.

Fly fishing the small stream usually requires a more sensitive approach and a finesse that is not necessary in larger rivers. Experience and practice are the great tellers here. Ability to read the water is more critical as the fish are often more easily spooked than their big water cousins. But when you make your way home at the end of a successful fishing day in the back country you know that the time spent learning to fly fish the small stream has been worthwhile.

About the Author
Dale East is a long time outdoorsman and fly fisher and publisher of Fly Fishing Wyoming


MORE RESOURCES:

New fishing rules approved
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 17 hours ago
Sam Kotlewski caught this burbot while fishing on Flaming Gorge Reservoir in early February. He was using a 4-inch glow-in-the-dark tube jig tipped with ...


AL'S REPORT Fall changes fishing scene
SunHerald.com, MS - 3 hours ago
By AL JONES - afjones@sunherald.com OCEAN SPRINGS -- Despite stiff winds and a mixture of sunshine and rain, fishing in South Mississippi has been solid ...
Cool temps, more action SunHerald.com
all 5 news articles


Monroe Wins FLW Tour Bass Fishing Event on the Delta
BassResource.com (press release) - 5 hours ago
"The conditions on the Delta were perfect for my type of fishing," he added. "Even with the wind blowing as hard as it did I never had a problem getting ...
Hibdon Wins Stren Series Bass Fishing Event on Lake of the Ozarks BassResource.com (press release)
Wooley Retains Lead at Stren Series Bass Fishing Event on Lake of ... BassResource.com (press release)
all 8 news articles


Fishing: Fishing is fine in fall, and DEP stocks state waters
Stamford Advocate, CT - 1 hour ago
It is the perfect time for trout fishing! And to make it better the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is almost finished with its annual autumn ...


Fishing at the bottom
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, NJ - 4 hours ago
"There is a difference between bottom fishing and bottom gluttony," he said. Now, that's a bottom fisher -- an investor who buys stocks on the cheap when ...


Nasdaq Manages An Up Day; Bottom Fishing In Evidence
Barron's Blogs - Oct 10, 2008
One interesting development in today’s whipsaw session was the emergence of what appears to be some selective bottom-fishing. Apple (AAPL) was the most ...


Turtle fishing reaching record levels in Polk
Bay News 9, FL - 17 hours ago
And that has the turtle fishing business booming in Polk County, as wildlife officials recently discovered. At the Thomas Fish Company in Eagle Lake, ...


Fishing: Northeastern Louisiana report
Monroe News Star, LA - 2 hours ago
By Glynn Harris • Sportsman's Paradise • October 12, 2008 BLACK BAYOU – Bass fishing is fair on topwaters and soft plastic lures fished around grass. ...


Business Intelligence Middle East (press release)

Global marine fishing industry losing US$50 billion annually, UN ...
Business Intelligence Middle East (press release), United Arab Emirates - 1 hour ago
The world’s marine fisheries are losing US$50 billion each year because of poor management, inefficiencies, and over-fishing, according to a new joint ...


King: Want a thrill? Try fishing from a kayak
2TheAdvocate, LA - 3 hours ago
Although far from the challenge for the afore mentioned items better classified as death wishes, fishing for red fish out of a kayak is — and was — very ...

Fishing - Google News

home | site map | Ocean Photography
© 2006