Big water fishing and comment made yesterday

[Chaz]

I think you pretty much nailed it, big waters are different, and every time I fish big waters it is reinforced that I cannot fish them the same as I fish small waters. The waters you talk about are the biggest of the big, I consider everything else to be medium or small.

 

[dryflyguy]

krayfish2 wrote:
Bill,
The 'honey holes' you just mentioned exist every few hundred yards. I'd rather fish 25 of those spots as opposed to being stuck in just one (with 30 other guys).

Well, I'm not really stuck in one hole. If the fishing isn't panning out the way I like, I can still move up and down a hole rather quickly. Or jump in the truck and be on the west branch in ten minutes.

I do agree with with the observance of hatches coming off in one certain section of stream - while not showing in another just up or downstream of that area.
And the Yough is another river that exhibits that quirkiness. I've biked along it for miles, without seeing a single bug or rise. Then coming upon one small run that has a couple dozen fish rising in it

 

[tomitrout]

You can fish / sit at the top of a poll for 8 hours. Not a rise, no bugs.

Ok, this is just silly, why in the heck would you fish over water that is that unproductive for that amount of time?

I get it, the Big D is this crazy big intimidating place, but I see no need to approach it in any other way than I would any other water when I finally get up there. If I'm not fishing to a specific hatch or observable feeder, i.e., prospecting, I'm gonna pick apart a specific reachable beat, change up the presentation along the way, and if I'm not moving/observing fish then I'm gonna start covering water at a quicker clip, whether that's meadow skipping the spring creeks, or bankside fisherman's path or walking a shoreline for another mile or driving to the next put in and hiking on from there.

You can only fish the water that's in front of you, no matter where you're at, so just break up these big intimidating places into manageable beats, and if that water isn't productive and isn't showing hints of becoming so, then move on until you bump into some active fish.

 

[afishinado]

tomitrout wrote:

You can fish / sit at the top of a poll for 8 hours. Not a rise, no bugs.

Ok, this is just silly, why in the heck would you fish over water that is that unproductive for that amount of time?

I get it, the Big D is this crazy big intimidating place, but I see no need to approach it in any other way than I would any other water when I finally get up there. If I'm not fishing to a specific hatch or observable feeder, i.e., prospecting, I'm gonna pick apart a specific reachable beat, change up the presentation along the way, and if I'm not moving/observing fish then I'm gonna start covering water at a quicker clip, whether that's meadow skipping the spring creeks, or bankside fisherman's path or walking a shoreline for another mile or driving to the next put in and hiking on from there.

You can only fish the water that's in front of you, no matter where you're at, so just break up these big intimidating places into manageable beats, and if that water isn't productive and isn't showing hints of becoming so, then move on until you bump into some active fish.

Good read ^ on how to approach and fish any water.

As I posted above, for some reason, I prefer to wade fish vs. float. But floaters have the advantage on the D, as well as many/most of the bigger rivers.

After a rough night on the veranda at the Capra, KF2 / Andy shows up at 10am and launches his drift boat at Hale Eddy, while his vehicle is shuttled down to Shehawken for take-out.

I show up at the upper gamelands, gear up, and walk down to the river. At 11:15 I see Andy drifting by, he flips me the bird, laughs, and continues on his drift.

I spent my time fishing good looking water as well as walking through a lot of unproductive water and shaking my head when I see fish rising out of range in faster or deeper water.

A good amount of my time was spent hiking back to my vehicle and driving to the next section to try. In addition, there are limited places on the D to park and fish so most of the water is unreachable or private and unfishable for wade fishermen. And, as you would guess, these open spots are well known and often crowded with other anglers.

Andy covered the entire River on his float and was able to reach virtually every fish and fishing spot on the way down. In addition, he has multiple rods rigged and ready to go to cover any riser.

It was a slow day, and I cast to a dozen risers that were in range. While Andy saw multiple hatches and covered well over 100 rising fish. He also jumped out and caught fish nymphing in some of the best riffs when the hatches weren't happening.

Worst of all, Andy can carry a large cooler stuffed with all kind of food as well as some chilled Lagers vs my bottle of water and energy bars in my pack.

So, when Andy posts about all the fish he catches on the D...remember that he cheats....

 

[krayfish2]

It feels like cheating sometimes. LOL. Floated Yough with Fishwagon and Mkerr yesterday. Flow dropped about 200 cfs during the day and wind blew up river at 20mph with higher gusts. I took the one man boat which basically made it unfishable for me. The only chance I had was to find rising fish, anchor and cast between gusts. Not a very fun day and a bit sore this morning. The wind laid down for the last 90 minutes or so and we found risers. We snatched a quick dozen fish on top and tried to beat darkness to the ramp.

Did see / talk to a guide at confluence. They had 7-8 before the foot bridge.

 

[NJTroutbum]

Being from PA, and then living in Western Washington for 12 years, I realized that I much prefer to wade small-to-medium streams. I like to wade and I feel disconnected from the process when floating in a boat. Each pool I see I want to get out and fish....not ride by and catch a fish or two. I have floated, and don't dislike it. Enjoyed it a bunch. But if given the option....I'll stay and wade....bye!

But each of us are different. While out west I learned two things. Big water fishes different.....and only a small portion of big water really holds fish. Until you learn those waters, you will struggle in frustration.

 

[Chaz]

NJTroutbum wrote:
Being from PA, and then living in Western Washington for 12 years, I realized that I much prefer to wade small-to-medium streams. I like to wade and I feel disconnected from the process when floating in a boat. Each pool I see I want to get out and fish....not ride by and catch a fish or two. I have floated, and don't dislike it. Enjoyed it a bunch. But if given the option....I'll stay and wade....bye!

But each of us are different. While out west I learned two things. Big water fishes different.....and only a small portion of big water really holds fish. Until you learn those waters, you will struggle in frustration.

Those big long pools on the Delaware tend to be very unproductive, that's part of the issue. Everyone wants to fish pools, but the D isn't the place to do it generally speaking.

 

[krayfish2]

Sorry Chaz but your post couldn't be more wrong. Most of the big pools hold a lot of fish. You just have to carefully observe rises and try to avoid the chubs that are feeding on top. The bows even hang in that dead water, cruising around sweeping up bugs.

With that said, those pools are typically too deep to fish on foot except in very low water conditions.

 

[dryflyguy]

krayfish2 wrote:
It feels like cheating sometimes. LOL. Floated Yough with Fishwagon and Mkerr yesterday. Flow dropped about 200 cfs during the day and wind blew up river at 20mph with higher gusts. I took the one man boat which basically made it unfishable for me. The only chance I had was to find rising fish, anchor and cast between gusts. Not a very fun day and a bit sore this morning. The wind laid down for the last 90 minutes or so and we found risers. We snatched a quick dozen fish on top and tried to beat darkness to the ramp.

Did see / talk to a guide at confluence. They had 7-8 before the foot bridge.

I had a similar experience there a few weeks ago.
There was a nice BWO hatch coming off between 2- 5 pm. But the gusting wind ruffled up the water surface quite a bit, and brought down a pile of leaves. Resulting in very few rises then
It did calm down the last 1.5 hour of the day, and I got into more surface activity