I played the Joe Humphreys DVD on dry flies and small streams again last night and was struck by his advice to work the stream quickly, casting to a different spot each time because “the trout had a chance to see the fly on the first cast.”
In the DVD, he is fishing for Eastern Brookies, which in my limited experence seem more eager to take a dry than Browns. The little streams I fish are populated mostly by Browns with some Bows and only a few Brookies.
Compared to Humphreys, I work a stream more slowly than molasses flows in January, making several casts to specific structure such as above water rocks, undercut banks, trees lying parallel to the bank, and so on.
My question: Do you fish quickly or slowly and why?
I fish a lot of small streams all the time but I have a different idea of small than many.
Here’s small:
Small to me are the places I can jump across which are often times shallow or skinny in many places because of their size. When I fish those streams it’s often the first cast that scores in a spot and typically on a given day a certain water feature like a deep riffle or pool produces most or all of the fish. Once I figure out what water type has the willing fish on a particular day; I then skip the skinny or unproductive spots and concentrate my efforts on the productive water.
This usually means I cover a lot of water because of the spacing of the spots. In other words; the riffles, pools, slack water or whatever water type I’m looking for is a lot closer together on a really small stream than it is on a normal sized stream. The result of being selective as to which spots you want to cast to means you cover more water faster.
Hard to fish to trophy trout (like Browns) , takes a slow approach. If fishing wets & streamers, you want to cover a lot of territory, which means some fast casting to different spots, & fast ripping !!! You don’t want to stay casting to unproductive areas. Are the fish spooky? Then you go slow & careful. Are they feeding like crazy? Situation, determines speed & method.
Joe could fish fast, but still in a caculated sneak fashion. That comes with many years of experience (learning the hard way) !!!
The problem with descriptions like ‘fast’ is that no one knows what it really means.
I’ve fished with guys who covered a long stretch of stream very quickly, mostly because they were walking all the time and looking for obvious pools to fish. They wanted the easy fish, and were willing to walk a lot for them. They did walk by most of the fish in the steam.
I’ve fished with guys on the same stream who seemed to go slower, but were casting all the time to EVERY possible lay as they worked the water. It would take them appreciably longer to cover the same length of the stream as the walkers do, but they’d cast fifty to a hundred times more, and usually get more fish.
Then there’s the guy who will spend five to ten minutes casting to the same small area, changing flies every four or five casts. THAT’S ‘slow’, in my vernacular. But, these fellows tended to get the big (or bigger, at least) fish. Seldom catch a lot of fish in small stream this way. Sometimes that’s not the point.
In any event, I’m not sure there is a correct method. Lots of different approaches to this sport. All of them seem to work for those that use them.
I’m probablly somewhere inbetween. Typically, I’ll cast to likely spots 3-4 times and if no strikes, move on. I may stick around longer if it’s early in the day or I haven’t figured out what they’re eating so I’m changing flies quite abit to narrow down what’s going to work.
Once I have figured out the pattern for the day, it’s 3-5 casts to a spot and then move on to the next spot. Now, to me, a “spot” is anything that looks like it will hold fish ( a seam, a ripple, a sitckup, a branch overhanging the stream, a rock (both visible above surface and those below that I can still see), etc. Really anything that could be fish holding and fish feeding structure is a spot to which I’ll attempt to cast a fly. I’ll make 3-5 casts to a spot and if nothing, move on to the next one.
I had never really thought about it before, but I think that I tend to work fast-flowing, small streams faster than slower flowing small streams. I suppose that I give the 'gills an extra look or three.
Our Midwest meadow streams call for a more methodical approach. Joe’s creek in the video has a very different character than ours. In most of the stretches here, there’s little if any broken water. Fishing as fast as he does would both pass up a lot of good holding spots, and spook a few browns, besides. His is rocky, so the trout likely have less food passing by them. Our richer creeks are full of trout food, and the fish don’t usually jump on any fly. Any little water is good water, though, as long as it holds trout!
I tend to fish small streams fast. Give the fish a couple chances to see a fly, then move on. There are always other fish, and I see no sense in beating a piece of water to a froth. In my experience, in the small streams I have fished in my life, if a fish doesn’t take in the first few presentations, the odds of a grab go way down after that. This goes for all species of trout, browns included. I can catch more fish by presenting my fly to many fish than by presenting my fly to a few recalcitrant ones.
Iv’e had opportunity to do it both ways - personally I like to plod along slowly and “enjoy the ride.” However, when fishing the same place with someone who “rushes at it” and covers a lot of water, I think their method has always landed more fish, for sure. I guess the philosopy is that you may miss some but you are missing the hard to trick ones, so in relation to quantity the fast fisher will be in front. Could be true though about missing the big ones as Buddy says. I’ll still go slow and sweet though thanks!
Thanks to all who replied. As usual, there were different perspectives and this is the great value I derive from asking questions of members here.
When I read a book by a single author, I get his best advice on how he does it (rod length, tippet size, fly size, fly choice, etc.), without competing alternatives. When I post a question here I usually get perspectives I hadn’t even considered before.
We can all agree, I’m sure, that labels such as “small stream,” as well as “fast/slow” are very “fat” words that we use as though the person hearing (reading) them has the same meaning, when in fact the other’s meaning may be greatly different than our own. That point was driven home to me again here, so thanks.
This is one of those (many) areas in fly fishing that simply does not have a right answer across the board. Personally I tend to cover a good bit of water while on a small stream and there are more than one reason why I do. I grew up fishing tiny brookie streams in Pennsylvania and I am still drawn to the small streams here in Montana. Here is one of my favorites:
One reason that I like to cover water quickly on small streams has nothing to do with catching all the fish in a pool or run. It has nothing to do with catching the biggest fish either. My primary reason for covering water quickly is that I am always drawn to see what is just around the next bend. Being on a small stream stirs that curiousity and wonder that makes me feel like a kid exploring his home stream again.
Personally, I fish small streams not to catch all the fish I can, or to seek out the biggest fish. I love the challenge of making difficult casts in tight conditions and often seek out those casts while passing up the easier, wide open pools. Then there is the solitude you can find on a small stream. When the larger, big name waters are crowded you can always find a small stream to escape the madness on. Getting back to casting. If you really want to learn to cast, go fish a small stream. Small targets in tight, tree and bush lined streams makes you really focus on your casting. This truly will carry over to fishing on larger streams and rivers.
Hey, flybop- pretty little creek. Your explanation of why you love little waters sure resonated with me. They’re just so intimate. Most flyfishers pass them up because the fish are too small (usually, but not always), they can’t “really cast” and, a fave of mine, they just don’t want to work a little harder, losing more flies along the way. Good. Fishing brushy streams can be a challenge, especially if there’s a good breeze. But I just love it. The tensions just drain out as soon as step into the water. And the fish are just so durn purdy!
I think a lot of true stuff has already been said. Fast or slow is very subjective. Probably just as subjective is big and small stream. Many of the “big” (20-30 feet wide) streams I fish here in Pennsylvania would definately be considered “small” by others’ standards. Many of the smaller ones I think would still be considered small, if not tiny. That said.
I fish however I feel like on a particular day, no matter what size the stream is. It seems that I wake up and feel like fishing a particular way, so I do. Almost always, the fish tell me how I “should” fish after a short time on the water, sometimes I listen and sometimes I don’t.
If there is a crowd at my starting point, I cover water faster at first to get away from them. If there is a crowd where I’m going to end up, I fish slower so it takes longer for me to get to them.
I guess after thinking about this as I write it is not about fast or slow, but being thorough or not. I tend to pick every corner of a particular piece of water until I’m satisfied that I’ve caught every trout I’m going to. This may take a minute or an hour per section of water. Typically on the smaller streams this takes less time than on a larger one.
