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Thread: How to fish this small river with high banks.

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
    Posts
    247

    Default How to fish this small river with high banks.

    Hi you guys and gals.

    Here is the scenario.
    • Small river, 3-8 meters wide.
    • Runs slowly.
    • Often very calm weather and you can see the bottom.
    • The river is not deep, from 1 feet to maybe 7 feet in the deeper canals.
    • The banks are high, sometimes it's lika a V with the river at the bottom.
    • You can hardly wade in the river because of the deep canals.
    • You need to walk beside the river at least 1 meter from the river bank, so you are higher than the river.
    • Often when I walk beside the river to some fishing spot up river I see the V from fleeing trout and I also see the trout running.
    • There are very few high trees along the bank and very few about a man hight.
    Some say you can only fish the river with a dry fly, upstream when it's windy and the surface of the river is stirred up.
    Sorry I don't have a picture!

    How should I fish this, Tenkara maybe?
    Give me your ideas.

    Regards,
    Thorarinn

  2. #2

    Default

    Stay low. Go slow. Wear drab colors. Fish the pools from where you can't see them.

  3. #3

    Arrow Tenkara ...

    ... might provide some advantage to your conventional gear, but I don't think that is the best approach.

    From what you have described, at least the way I get it, I would be using a rather long distance downstream presentation. Cast a good distance above where you think the fish is / fishies are, and feed out a decent amount of line dead drifting the fly but without much slack.

    And instead of a dry fly, you might want to do this with either a soft hackle wet fly, or a streamer, if there are baitfish in the system. With the soft hackle you can cast to the center and let it swing back to the near bank. Since you can see the V of the trout's wake, it seems they are in shallow water, so the soft hackle can ride pretty close to the surface.

    With the streamer, you can cast to the opposite bank and swing / strip it across the entire creek or you could just feed out line and let the current take it below the fish's lie on the near side, then strip it back up past the fish.

    Sounds like an interesting challenge. Good luck with it.

    John
    The fish are always right.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
    Posts
    247

    Default

    I could add that the fishies are brown trout.
    Some people do good fishing with worms downstream, at least 10 meters ahead they say, so why not flies.

    Those streamers then may not sink.

    Yes this is an interesting challenge, I have not fished it that many times, it's a river that flows into my favorite lake.
    But I find my self often thinking of how to tackle this nice "problem".

    Thank you both for your answers.

    Reg,
    Thorarinn

  5. #5

    Lightbulb Browns like to eat ...

    Quote Originally Posted by thorarinna View Post
    I could add that the fishies are brown trout....Those streamers then may not sink....
    ... little fishies, probably more than they like worms. Get a Class II full sinking line and swing / strip something like a PSC in front of them using the downstream presentation, using at least 2X tippet.

    John

    P.S. Here's a link to the PSC.

    http://www.flyanglersonline.com/fotw...tw20090921.php

    The two biggest trout I've caught in Montana since moving up here ate the PSC, both from the Bitterroot, and both 21".



    The fish are always right.

  6. #6

    Default

    I fish for trout in a creek with similar features to what you described. I use dry flies and casts up or down stream depending on where I am. The casts send the fly almost but not quite out of sight. I'll cast and let it drift just a bit. As was suggested wear drab colors, stay low and aware of shadows and vibrations. I spend a great deal of time crouching and hugging rocks. Sometimes I'll wait five to ten minutes before I cast as my entrance to the stream or a particular pool has spooked the nearby fish. I make one or two casts per section as I move up. If I don't get a strike then I move on or wait - depending on where the next casts will be directed. It's slow going and requires patience. Those instances where I don't get a strike I consider a learning experience - remembering how and where to cast for next time. It requires a bit of precision but it pays off over time.
    "I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening..."
    Norman Maclean: A River Runs Through It

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