There’s a creek freak in each fly fisher, even when it is compartmentalized away, deep within the emotional recesses of our psyches. Most of us who’ve fly fished for years — a long time, even — reduce our angling enamel on small water. That we’ve left these out-of-the-way little angling locations for greater waters and extra refined challenges is a bit unlucky. For these diminutive waters nonetheless maintain invaluable classes.
At worst, small streams supply each angler a refresher course — an opportunity to return to highschool and re-learn a number of the classes that may have been forgotten within the years since we moved on to trophy trout waters or much more complicated fly fishing disciplines, like saltwater flats fishing or stillwater fly fishing for bass or pike.
I grew up fishing the high-country creeks of Colorado — I had two grandfathers who put the time in, standing at my elbows, as I crafted a stable fly solid, realized the fundamentals of trout stream entomology and even a bit about trout biology. With out them and their appreciation for the small trout waters of the Centennial State, I’ll by no means have picked up a fly rod.
Reality be informed, if given the prospect, I’d a lot fairly wander the banks of a distant trout creek than take part in another fly fishing “self-discipline.” These small waters fashioned a powerful fly fishing basis for me, and chasing trout — massive and small — in little creeks stays my favourite pastime.
However, it was additionally these small streams that impressed in me the need to maneuver on … to matriculate to the subsequent step or to the subsequent achievement. Because the years handed, and I delved deeper into the fly fishing universe, different fish and different locations despatched out their siren calls.
And I answered them. The final half of my fly fishing journey to this point has been full of far-flung voyages to different states, international locations and different continents, the place I’ve deserted my small-water origins and, as an alternative, taken to chasing the whole lot from bonefish and allow on distant salty flats to the rangy bowfin of the southern swamps. These fish have completely nothing to do with small-stream trout.
However they’ve the whole lot to do with the teachings I realized on these hidden creeks, boulder-hopping my method up secluded canyons or bushwhacking via the willows to face on the foot of quiet beaver ponds in hopes of casting to hidden trout that hardly ever see flies.
One factor I’ve come to find out about small streams is that they’re no completely different than greater waters. They simply seem in sharper focus. How so? Take into account this.
Studying the water
As fly fishers, we’re all blessed (or burdened?) with the flexibility to “learn the water.” For some, the flexibility is innate — these are the really gifted amongst us, who take fly fishing to ranges past the common trout bum’s comprehension. However even probably the most informal fly fisher possesses the trait to some extent. And, chances are high, they realized what they know in regards to the world’s trophy trout rivers by first fishing hidden trout streams that, with a operating begin, they may have been capable of leap throughout after they have been youthful and extra agile.
Small streams supply a macro classroom for studying every kind of water. They characteristic all the identical structural facilities as greater waters, however they seem at our ft, inside vary of brief casts. Undercut banks and overhanging branches? You guess. Rocks and ledges that gradual the present and supply prime holding water? Positive factor. Scoured bends and deep, darkish swimming pools? Completely. And, on small water, these options have a tendency to look in speedy succession, typically only a few steps away from each other.
These structural options are the fly fishing alphabet. Or, for the mathematically inclined, the pure occasions tables that, in time, develop into second nature. And as we assemble the letters or assemble the equations, we come to know how these options supply trout the whole lot from easy safety to dietary meeting traces. We all know that trout may maintain each in entrance of and behind sizable mid-stream rocks or logs. We all know that trout will lie near the banks in deeper water, the place they will seize meals floating by whereas remaining protected from overhead predators, like ospreys or eagles. We all know that trout will discover “pockets” of slower water, the place they’ll expend much less vitality whereas they hunt for sustenance. We even know that one thing considerably ethereal — like a foam line or a shadow — is commonly all it takes for a trout to go from cautious to hungry.
All of those small-water options come collectively in our heads and assist us decide the place to solid, what to solid and usually what to anticipate seem in bigger trout waters and grander scales. What we be taught on small waters interprets as we “graduate” to different, tougher conditions.
Break massive water down
It’s usually been stated that massive rivers are actually a conglomeration of small streams — that completely different present seams and different in-stream options come collectively in greater rivers and create quite a lot of challenges for fly fishers. I definitely consider that. And I consider that, through the use of the abilities we picked up in our formative fly fishing years on smaller, intimate waters, we are able to simply as successfully fish massive water, simply as we’d fish a small out-of-the-way trout stream.
The difficulty is, whereas our muscle reminiscence may be honed exceptionally nicely by years spent fishing, we are inclined to neglect the teachings we picked up as youthful anglers if we don’t often “return to highschool” and refresh ourselves.
For that motive, I extremely advocate spending at the least a day or two each season probing small water for trout — massive or small. These little meandering creeks and mountain freestoners are real-life angling school rooms, and spending time on them at times will make most of us higher anglers. Or, on the very least, they provide us a quiet and usually non-public place to follow the whole lot from roll casts and attain casts to extra refined strategies, like single-handed spey casts or high-sticking flies via probably runs.
Then, as we sort out an even bigger river and dissect the water, we’ll come to appreciate that the “work” we put in on smaller waters is worth it. A large, sweeping trout river, just like the Delaware, the North Platte or the Deschutes may be tackled a slice of water at a time, identical to we’d method a small stream that gives its options on a compact scale.
As a substitute of an enormous trout river as one huge water physique, we are able to take our small-stream classes and method it a run at a time. We will concentrate on one reduce financial institution, one riffle or one foam line. Doing so can assist us really feel a bit much less overwhelmed, significantly when tackling water that’s new to us. These particular person options may be thought of small streams in their very own proper. For anglers simply beginning out on greater waters, this method could make fly fishing a bit much less intimidating.
Ultimate phrase
Fly fishing is filled with nuances and many “if… then” conditions that require real consideration. However, sooner or later in our fly fishing journeys, we’re all responsible of creating the craft extra difficult than it must be. Even probably the most nuanced fly-fishing state of affairs, like casting diminutive flies over rising, but cussed, trout, may be rigorously dissected to make sure that we’re utilizing the abilities we’ve picked up over time. And, I’d wager, we are able to hint these expertise again to the trout-fishing classroom that smaller waters supplied us, typically years in the past.
So, the subsequent time you’re on massive water and also you’re unsure easy methods to method the river, simply go small. Actually dissect the river into its numerous options and put within the time on these small streams that come collectively to kind an enormous river.
Extra importantly, make the time at times to “return to highschool,” and enterprise up some lonely blue line on the map in the hunt for small-stream trout. It’s right here the place you’ll hone the abilities that you simply’ll ultimately put to make use of on greater waters and larger fish.
