Tough conditions

[dc410]

Spent a bit of time fishing a very small native brook trout stream on public land recently. It was mid afternoon on a bluebird day with very low, gin clear water conditions. There were plenty of fish in the creek but as one would expect they were a bit more than spooky! I figured it would be a long shot to even get one to take an offering but it was a great challenge. I love a good challenge ..... so it was game on! I never spooked so many fish in a short section of stream as I did in about an hour of fishing that day.

One false cast over a hole holding fish ..... Game over.
One stick snapped under foot ..... Game over.
One fly hung in any vegetation ....... Game over.

It was definitely some of the toughest conditions and some of the spookiest fish I have dealt with in a long time. It definitely forced me to employ the absolute in stealth to even have a chance. I finally brought a 4" dink to hand taken on top on about a 30' cast (one of the few areas where it was even possible to pull off a cast like that). I walked back to my truck with a very satisfied feeling that I actually fooled one under some very tough conditions, but a beautiful day to be out on the stream.

 

[CathyG]

I got a wild brown today on a medium size section of the Lackawanna. Water is very low and clear. Even though I could see fish, the fishing was tough. The one I got came out of fast water.

 

[dc410]

CathyG,

Nice! The Lackawanna sounds like a really great fishery from everything I have read about it on this forum. I have never had an opportunity to fish it, but if I ever get up into that neck of the woods it is definitely on my list. Under these conditions targeting fish in the faster water is absolutely your best bet to hook up with one. You can approach a bit closer without spooking them and they need to jump on your offering really quick which is also in your favor. Are the browns up there starting to color up for the upcoming spawn?

 

[BrookieChaser]

Stealth has been the name of the game for me for the past couple months.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

CathyG wrote:
I got a wild brown today on a medium size section of the Lackawanna. Water is very low and clear. Even though I could see fish, the fishing was tough. The one I got came out of fast water.

Cathy, I fished Spring Creek last Thursday, mid-day and bright sun, low and clear water. Very tough conditions. I spooked more than normal but still managed to bring a dozen trout to hand. The fly of the day? My size 16 beadhead micro GW. The same one I showed you at the Newbie Jam. Did you tie any yet? I know it saved the day for me. I caught 7 on that and the the other 5 on my foam beetle pattern. I felt good about the results considering the conditions.

 

[CathyG]

dc410,

No I haven't noticed any coloring up yet where I've been fishing, about the mid section of the trophy trout stretch. I might hit up a brookie stream tuesday or wednesday and I'm curious to see if there are noticeable color changes yet.

WTT,

Yes I've been tying the micro weenie and the wild browns in the Lack like it. Today's fish came on what I call a PT scud, a pheasant tail tied on a sz 18 scud hook, no wing case. Its probably my most productive fly and is very easy and fast to tie.

I knew the fast water was my best bet so I started there first but there is a pool with giant fish that I can't resist throwing everything in the fly box at (maybe not quite everything). There are a lot of big rocks the fish hide in but every once in a while you see a flash or a white belly and know they have some serious size to them.

About a month ago I caught a 10" brown on a trico and as I was reeling him in he was being harrassed by a rainbow that looked more like a steelhead, 24" plus easy. About 2 weeks ago when we had our last serious rain I landed a 20" or so brown on a bugger and lost a couple more that felt at least as big. So even though I know where I should be fishing I can't help going back to that spot. But if I can see the fish they can probably see me too and get spooked easily.


.

 

[SBecker]

They are coloring up, Cathy.

 

[salmonoid]

Found myself in identical conditions yesterday morning. I was on the stream at the crack of dawn to try and counteract the low and clear conditions. Only difference is I was targeting browns and somehow managed to end up with ten. The big fish came from the big rock in the big pool type of pools but the secret for the rest of the fish was dapping, with a bugger. Nothing like pulling a ten inch brown from a small rock right under your rod tip.

 

[lv2nymph]

Hooking up under those conditions does leave one's self with a feeling of satisfaction.

 

[Fishidiot]

Yep - we could certainly use some rain here in south central.