"You're gonna put the pool down!"

[wgmiller]

Interesting article (and research) about fish being able to perceive fear in other fish:

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/sci...0zi3OTU0qLAoOCU31cSr1tQhNKs4tTAYAjHnDEGkAAAA=

 

[Swattie87]

Definitely true. Happens every time I small stream fish in clear conditions…Spook a fish in the tailout and he shoots up into the primo part of the run or hole and spooks everything.

Lesson is fish the tailout from further away and catch that tailout fish, and release it downstream of you, before moving up to fish the best part of the hole. A lesson I admittedly struggle to apply.

 

[Troutmeister]

Those tailout fish are hard to get a good presentation to. Line usually gets ripped downstream immediately.

 

[Swattie87]

Those tailout fish are hard to get a good presentation to. Line usually gets ripped downstream immediately.

Agree. Anchor rocks are your best friend in that scenario.

In low clear water those fish can spook way outside of casting distance (for my skill set anyway) though.

 

[JeffP]

I always figure that was the case but its nice to know for sure. This past week on Penns there were lots of fish rising in the tail out. It was impossible to get a decent drift there. I stuck with the pool fish that didn't to be turned off. Plenty were rising almost on my fly line.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Lesson is fish the tailout from further away and catch that tailout fish, and release it downstream of you, before moving up to fish the best part of the hole. A lesson I admittedly struggle to apply.

^This

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I always love being told by people fishing gear that I am putting fish down while wading several hundred yards upstream of them. Meanwhile they are fishing a hole that was just run through AND stomped through mere minutes before they lugged their 100qt Igloo cooler up to the creek.

 

[troutbert]

This past week on Penns there were lots of fish rising in the tail out. It was impossible to get a decent drift there. I stuck with the pool fish that didn't to be turned off. Plenty were rising almost on my fly line.

Sometimes you can get in a position upstream of them, but off to the side. So, you are casting across and sometimes slightly downstream. You use a long leader, and a check cast to create slack, and drift the fly down to them.

 

[PennKev]

Sometimes you can get in a position upstream of them, but off to the side. So, you are casting across and sometimes slightly downstream. You use a long leader, and a check cast to create slack, and drift the fly down to them.

+1

I find castings from an across and slightly upstream position often makes getting good presentations much easier in a variety of situations. Fishing dry flies upstream or up and across is almost dogmatic, with some anglers never even considering how their positioning is hurting their drifts.

Sometimes a good presentation is as easy as getting out of the water, sneaking up the bank, and maybe slipping through some trees and brush to get to a better position.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

Those tailout fish are hard to get a good presentation to. Line usually gets ripped downstream immediately.

You won't get many casts but working your way casting long casts downstream to them with a caddis can do the trick. Of course drift it down to them with multiple mends then gently Skitter it right back upstream before it goes into the tail out if they don't take it. You will either get them to strike dead drifting it, get them to strike on the skitter, or spook them.

I find my averages on those fish go up using this method.
Tossing a dry dropper with a wet fly can also increase your ratio.