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salmonoid
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2007
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Has anyone tried this, successfully? I guess I should put some definition to small stream first. By this, I mean generally low order streams (say second or third order). Most are the size you could straddle, with small plunge pools, interspersed with riffles.
I've ended up three-quarters of a mile upstream from my exit point on such a stream twice in the past two weeks, in the dark. The first time wasn't necessarily intentional, but I decided to take advantage of the walk out and see if I could pickup any fish. I did not succeed in catching any fish or even triggering a strike. The second time, it was intentional; I had my larger landing net on me, a heavier weight rod and multiple light sources. I still did not succeed, even though I spotted multiple fish as I worked my way downstream, and would hit the small pools with the spotlight after I fished them.
Of course, fishing these types of streams is done differently during the day, compared to larger order streams - you might have a drift of just a few feet and a very tight casting window, compared to say a larger creek. So naturally, I'd expect my night tactics to be a bit different on the small streams, compared to the larger streams. On the larger streams, I usually go with something surface (mouse or gurgler type flies), or something like a bunny leach or articulated streamer, and can pick up fish anywhere from ten feet to twenty-five yards away from me. And the room is there to make the casts without any hassle of getting hung up on underbrush, etc.
I have not figured out what works on a small stream at night. Conditions on the past two times I was out on a small stream at night were extremly low, gin clear water, so stealthy moving around the stream edge was definitely in order. I've tended to steer away from the surface flies and use more streamers but at this point, I can't do any worse by switching back to my larger stream standbys.
Interestingly enough, in the past 30 days, I think I've spent twice as much time night fishing as I have day fishing. I've caught nothing sizeable to speak of, but I can confirm that the dinks (9-12" browns) still feed at night. And it's not dinks that put me on a small stream at night. I missed a nice 16" brown during the day a few weeks ago, and put a spotlight on another 16"+ brown in a different hole this past Saturday night. I have caught larger than those at night from freestoners, but in larger streams, with much better habitat than what I've fished over the past few weeks, so those two fish probably represent the top of the food chain in that particular stream.
I know that the subset of night fishers is probably small, and the subset of those who actually fish small streams at night is even smaller, but I'm curious about any small stream night tactics that may have worked for you.
I've ended up three-quarters of a mile upstream from my exit point on such a stream twice in the past two weeks, in the dark. The first time wasn't necessarily intentional, but I decided to take advantage of the walk out and see if I could pickup any fish. I did not succeed in catching any fish or even triggering a strike. The second time, it was intentional; I had my larger landing net on me, a heavier weight rod and multiple light sources. I still did not succeed, even though I spotted multiple fish as I worked my way downstream, and would hit the small pools with the spotlight after I fished them.
Of course, fishing these types of streams is done differently during the day, compared to larger order streams - you might have a drift of just a few feet and a very tight casting window, compared to say a larger creek. So naturally, I'd expect my night tactics to be a bit different on the small streams, compared to the larger streams. On the larger streams, I usually go with something surface (mouse or gurgler type flies), or something like a bunny leach or articulated streamer, and can pick up fish anywhere from ten feet to twenty-five yards away from me. And the room is there to make the casts without any hassle of getting hung up on underbrush, etc.
I have not figured out what works on a small stream at night. Conditions on the past two times I was out on a small stream at night were extremly low, gin clear water, so stealthy moving around the stream edge was definitely in order. I've tended to steer away from the surface flies and use more streamers but at this point, I can't do any worse by switching back to my larger stream standbys.
Interestingly enough, in the past 30 days, I think I've spent twice as much time night fishing as I have day fishing. I've caught nothing sizeable to speak of, but I can confirm that the dinks (9-12" browns) still feed at night. And it's not dinks that put me on a small stream at night. I missed a nice 16" brown during the day a few weeks ago, and put a spotlight on another 16"+ brown in a different hole this past Saturday night. I have caught larger than those at night from freestoners, but in larger streams, with much better habitat than what I've fished over the past few weeks, so those two fish probably represent the top of the food chain in that particular stream.
I know that the subset of night fishers is probably small, and the subset of those who actually fish small streams at night is even smaller, but I'm curious about any small stream night tactics that may have worked for you.