Wild Trout

[FFChineseman]

BrookieBuster101 wrote:
I believe that the most important thing is the first cast in many situations. most of the time it is then that u will catch one of these jewels. Also another thing that is extremely important is stealth in the approach. like many others have said is stay out of the water as much as possible but there are times that the mountain laurel is so close together that this is impossible.

The delicate trout that come from these waters have captivated me and from the first time that i ever saw a wild trout when i was 11 it has been very difficult for me to fish for stocked trout. They have inspired me which is actively seen in my art work and writing. Practice makes as close as humans can get to perfection. Never ever give up.

us wild trout anglers are a secretive bunch but it is us that need to raise the awareness to save these beautiful fish, even if it means giving up a fishing spot.

100% agree!! I went to Pocono this week, and I fished in a local small creek which is part of the personal propert. People live there are very nice and let me to fish in their creek. So lucky, I caught a very small wild brown trout. It is SO beautiful, the body is so smooth and soft, and color is so pretty. there is no comparison those stock trouts. I unhooked it and put it back very very carefully, and so grateful to have this specie in this world.

 

[troutbert]

If you are talking about spooking trout on small streams, just go fishing after a good rain. You don't have to worry much about sneaking around.

Those of us who fish small mountain streams a lot pay a lot of attention to water flows and the weather.

While many flyfishers, cancel their fishing trips when it rains hard, we do the opposite. Heavy rainfall is your cue to go fishing! For example, today (Friday), we're getting a lot of rain. This weekend should be very good. You won't have to sneak around all that much.

 

[wildtrout2]

dryflyguy wrote:
One other thing I'd add-

As I approach a pool, I always take a few casts at the bottom - downstream side - of it, even if it's quite shallow. Sometimes there are trout there, and it's a good idea to try to catch them first, before spooking them up into the deeper sections. Then the whole pool is spooked.
I've made this mistake more times than I care to remember

While all of the advice given so far has been great, I think this is one of the very most important items. But, THE single most important item is to fish upstream. If my only access is from the top of a stream, I'll always hike downstream away from the creek and fish my way back upstream. ALWAYS.

 

[afishinado]

wildtrout2 wrote:

dryflyguy wrote:
One other thing I'd add-

As I approach a pool, I always take a few casts at the bottom - downstream side - of it, even if it's quite shallow. Sometimes there are trout there, and it's a good idea to try to catch them first, before spooking them up into the deeper sections. Then the whole pool is spooked.
I've made this mistake more times than I care to remember

While all of the advice given so far has been great, I think this is one of the very most important items. But, THE single most important item is to fish upstream. If my only access is from the top of a stream, I'll always hike downstream away from the creek and fish my way back upstream. ALWAYS.

Good point Wild, but you may find that being a peeping Tom sometimes helps, especially when fishing an unfamiliar stream. I nearly always head downstream and peek at each hole and run from the bank. I take mental notes on my hike downstream of the fish and their holding areas, rises, cover, flow, hatches, ways to approach, unproductive sections to skip, etc. I then turn around and fish back upstream. I try not to, but even if I spook some fish on the way down, they are settled down by the time I return to fish the spot. The recon on the way down gives me at least some sort of game plan on how to fish the stream. Also at the end of the day the hike is shortened since I'm constantly working closer to my vehicle, and I can fish later since the hike back is shortened.

 

[greenghost]

wildtrout2 wrote:

While all of the advice given so far has been great, I think this is one of the very most important items. But, THE single most important item is to fish upstream. If my only access is from the top of a stream, I'll always hike downstream away from the creek and fish my way back upstream. ALWAYS.

Solid advice, wildtrout. In fact, that strategy payed off for me this weekend. I fished a small brook on Saturday in the Laurel Highlands. I hiked downstream about 2 miles. Since the path paralleled the stream much of the way I found myself mentally "marking" where I was going to fish on the way back up. I also actually saw some fish and resisted the urge to try for them right away -- most were spooked by my presence anyway. The strategy ended up paying off nicely for me. I caught quite a few, including a brown trout that I noticed hiking in of about 15 inches -- a MONSTER for this stream. I remembered where he was located, took extra care when approaching the pool, made one cast to where I knew he was positioned and he took. If I didn't hike in first and if I fished downstream instead of up, I never would've planned it and never would've caught that fish.

 

[wildtrout2]

afishinado wrote:

wildtrout2 wrote:

dryflyguy wrote:
One other thing I'd add-

As I approach a pool, I always take a few casts at the bottom - downstream side - of it, even if it's quite shallow. Sometimes there are trout there, and it's a good idea to try to catch them first, before spooking them up into the deeper sections. Then the whole pool is spooked.
I've made this mistake more times than I care to remember

While all of the advice given so far has been great, I think this is one of the very most important items. But, THE single most important item is to fish upstream. If my only access is from the top of a stream, I'll always hike downstream away from the creek and fish my way back upstream. ALWAYS.

Good point Wild, but you may find that being a peeping Tom sometimes helps, especially when fishing an unfamiliar stream. I nearly always head downstream and peek at each hole and run from the bank. I take mental notes on my hike downstream of the fish and their holding areas, rises, cover, flow, hatches, ways to approach, unproductive sections to skip, etc. I then turn around and fish back upstream. I try not to, but even if I spook some fish on the way down, they are settled down by the time I return to fish the spot. The recon on the way down gives me at least some sort of game plan on how to fish the stream. Also at the end of the day the hike is shortened since I'm constantly working closer to my vehicle, and I can fish later since the hike back is shortened.

You describe in detail exactly how it should be done. Very nice.

 

[AlwaysWading]

Most of what I would do is already posted. No shadows, stealth, small setup, little wading as possible, lots of roll casts, all that good stuff. My opinion though is nothing beats wild trout. A big running steel head is fun, but to fool a native brown with a nice dry is a treat that is difficult to beat.