Imagine this; have you spent some time walking towards a small stream in
The inside of the country. It’s early in the morning, the fog is rising and the mosquitoes
that have been swarming around you are breakfast for the little browns
you’ve come to catch. You walk silently down to the stream, looking
the swirling fish on the rise. You tie a nymph to your leader and take a step
in the water.
A trout glides away from under your feet, its flight sends
warning signs as bright as any neon light. The fish that feed flee
answer and you’re left with a section of river devoid of everything except the
mosquitoes. Welcome to fly fishing in the little creek.
Stop and watch before fly fishing in the small stream.
Before getting into the water, stop and look at what is in front of you.
This is especially true when approaching the small stream. Trout are good
camouflaged, especially when you’re facing the water.
(A good pair of Polaroid glasses helps here.)
I like to make my first cast well away from the water’s edge. Yes there are
is little coverage, so I tend to use a long leader and put the line on the
shoreline, allowing only the leader to enter the water, as close as
the closest bank possible. That way, if there are any fish around
under the bench, I may have had a first look at my fly.
Reading the stream water
The waters of the stream are like those of any river, only
we have a smaller scale. The fish will be in the same type of water as
They would be inside if you were fishing some trout stream. When you are
fly fishing in the creek, look for those areas that provide the
fish with their need for protection against predators, relief from the rapid
flowing streams and access to food.
Pocket water fishing
I like to use dry flies when fly fishing for pocket water in a small
Stream. The fish will generally stay out of the mainstream, but
close enough to catch whatever food comes floating around, and a drift
flying is often too tempting to resist.
Often it is not necessary to closely match the fly with whatever
hatching. Instead, I like to catch a fly that is visible enough for me.
to see in fast water. Kind of like a light moose hair caddis
It works well. When the strike comes I can see it and I catch more fish
this way you lose the strike by using a less visible shading match
fly.
Fly fishing in the creek generally requires a more sensitive approach.
focus and a delicacy that is not necessary in larger rivers.
Experience and practice are the great accountants here. Ability to read
water is more critical as fish are often more easily startled
than their big water cousins. But when you come home to the
At the end of a successful day of fishing in the interior of the country, you know that
The time spent learning how to fly fish in the little creek has paid off.