Tributary success head vs confluence

[mute]

Does anyone feel that the fishing \ fish are better closer to the confluence of tribs or more so where they form? I guess im thinking in mostly SGL scenarios, if theres 3miles of water and you had the option to enter where it feeds into the main river or where it forms, which would u choose?

 

[tomgamber]

Do any of these tribs have any tribs of their own?

 

[mute]

Nope

 

[tomgamber]

Then i would probably fish the whole thing starting at the mouth and fishing upstream. I wont beat holes to death. I have to keep moving.. That way if there's one or two spots I could fish differently, I can do that on he way back to my vehicle.

I dont think one or the other end is ever "better" all the time. Too many variables can change that answer on a daily or seasonal basis. If I had fished it before I'd have my suspicions about where to concentrate my efforts but if it was my first time im fishing it from the bottom to the top.

 

[Acristickid]

Time of year could be important

 

[Dave_W]

mute wrote:
Does anyone feel that the fishing \ fish are better closer to the confluence of tribs or more so where they form?

Yes.

 

[Dave_W]

Snarkiness aside...

This is a complicated question and depends, as others have pointed out above, on species, time of year, etc.

A good example in the warm water game would be smallmouth bass. In the springtime, large SMBs are common in the lower section of tributaries to our bigger rivers. Let's call an example of such a trib as"Trib A."

Such springtime movement into Trib A is a result of spawning movement. By summer, these big fish have migrated back into the river but a wave of other bass, often on the smaller side, have migrated way back up into Trib A and even colonized (for the summer months) the smaller tribs coming into Trib A. Other bass in the big river don't move much at all in a season and will not enter any tribs.

By late autumn, few bass can be found anywhere in Trib A, save perhaps for some isolated populations staging for winter in a deep hole or around a dam. The smaller tribs coming into Trib A will have no bass at all until the next summer.

Where to fish a tributary is complicated.

 

[JeffK]

Like any fishing there are no 100% answers, but confluences can concentrate fish. Fish can concentrate along boundaries; hold/cold water, muddy/clear water, fast/slow water etc. When two streams come together they form some sort of boundary.

For example, in late summer/fall the West Branch release can be much greater than the East Branch Delaware flow. In addition, the West Branch water can be become off colored while the East branch can be low and clear. At the confluence the rainbows tend to stack up along the boundary in the colored water even if it is in very shallow water.

At a trib further down the Delaware the trib clears and lowers after a heavy rain faster than the main river leaving a clear pool at the mouth of the trib dammed by a wall of muddy water in the Delaware. Predators of all sorts concentrate in the muddy water to ambush bait under these conditions. In normal conditions the fish tend to hold in the eddy below the bar at the mouth of the trib.

The confluence can also be a concentration point for fish moving in and out of the tribs.

Confluences are always worth a shot to me, but nothing is certain.

 

[Dave_W]

If you're mainly interested in exploring small trout streams in SGLs or large tracts of state land, which I associate mainly with mountainous regions of central PA... the two issues are habitat and water temperature - in that order.

I recommend taking a drive or hike along the trib during summer. The best fishing will be where the best habitat is located but even some small mountain streams can get warm in the lower sections. Take your thermometer. If you find cold temps and good habitat in the lower reaches close to the mouth, I'd start there.

This is all very basic, of course, but worth keeping in mind when exploring tributaries.

 

[Swattie87]

Dave_W wrote:
If you're mainly interested in exploring small trout streams in SGLs or large tracts of state land, which I associate mainly with mountainous regions of central PA... the two issues are habitat and water temperature - in that order.

I recommend taking a drive or hike along the trib during summer. The best fishing will be where the best habitat is located but even some small mountain streams can get warm in the lower sections. Take your thermometer. If you find cold temps and good habitat in the lower reaches close to the mouth, I'd start there.

This is all very basic, of course, but worth keeping in mind when exploring tributaries.

For small stream Trout angling, this^ is spot on.

Some streams have better habitat in their headwaters, others closer to their mouth. It can vary wildly. It’s better to study topo and satellite maps for the individual stream you’re considering and make educated guesses off of that, than to work in generalities. Of course, nothing beats exploring, but studying the maps will help improve your success rate for finding good habitat.

As far as temperature, generally speaking, further up in the headwaters means colder temps in Summer, which is good for Trout. This is accurate enough that it’s ok to assume this in most cases. However there are exceptions. For instance, a small stream with a reservoir in its headwaters, or a large exposed boggy like area or series of beaver dams, may actually run cooler downstream a ways in Summer after it’s gotten back under a forest canopy and/or picked up a colder, canopied tributary.

 

[Bamboozle]

Science aside, my experiences have almost always been: better fishing the further I get from the easiest access point wherever that may be along a stream.

I almost exclusively fish upstream so at more than a few places I go in SGL's, I'll either walk downstream from where the main trail in ends and fish back up, or I'll walk up a way from the access point and start fishing in earnest upstream from there.

 

[mute]

All very valid points and good discussion, which is what I was hoping for. The point you made Swattie is something I didnt even think of, studying and trying to interpret the terrain from above.

I recently obtained OnX and its made all the difference in trekking into some of these places. Alot of them on my list that im slowly checking off either have access from the top or hte bottom. Both which are a good bit of effort. And starting at one and trying to do the whole thing then go back would be a whole days work. WHich is why i was looking for input on how to tackle a choice between which end would make the most sense

 

[dryflyguy]

If you're talking small streams, I almost always fish upstream. Starting as far down as I can get reasonable access
It makes a lot more sense to approach fish from below.

But as others have already mentioned, there are other factors to consider.
I know several streams with tribs that are polluted. And are only fishable above that junction.

On the other hand, I know of a small stream that is fed by a sizable shot of cold mine water discharge.
And it's loaded with wild browns from that point down.
But above that point, it gets quite warm and practically dries up during summer.