Fly Fishing – Reading The River Part2
Reading the river is very important, no matter how many trout fishing guides you read on techniques they will be useless if your not targeting where the fish are hiding.
So let’s just quickly recap on what we covered last time. Fresh water fish are very smart, they know that its hard work trying to stay in the fast water to eat the smorgasbord of food whizzing by so seek shelter from the current in spots that are still close to the food source so that they can zip out and grab a passing meal. They also do a very good job of hiding from predators, by keeping concealed.
Now we can cover off some more of the great spots to find trout and bass.
Undercut Banks and Overhanging vegetation; Where the bank has washed away but the top has been left due to being held together by grass and other vegetation. This makes an excellent spot for trout and bass. They have protection from the sun and predators with the ability to dart out into the current to get food. Over hanging vegetation is also a great for offering shelter from predators. But they both have the added bonus that often small insect’s fall into the water off the grass banks and over hanging vegetation so fish love these spots.
Pools; These are large areas of the river or stream where the water is slower and deeper. Pools are often found after riffles. Fish often sit at the head of the pool and feed of food coming in from the riffle or faster moving water. Fish also like to sit at the tail of the pool as they can remain on the bottom and still pick off hatching insects flowing over head. They also sit in the middle of the pool where it is deep and are invisible to over head prey but typically to rest so typically not worth trying to fish as it’s hard to get your wet fly or nymph down deep enough and typically they are not to interested.
Riffles; are the shallower fast moving areas of the river or stream. These are often good to try as the fish that are in there are only there for one reason, too feed; they are not there to rest or hide from predators. Also fish are smart; you need to match what they are feeding on very closely but in a riffle they don’t have time to do their usual quality assurance checks.
Tributaries; These small streams that join the river often bring in cooler water and as mentioned in part 1, offer current seems. These are often great to fish in the warmer months as fish like to gather in the cooler water intake when the main river warms.
A lot of these spots may not be easy to see as large rocks, tree logs and other obstructions that offer protection from the current can be fully submerged. A simple tip is when the river is low and clear, go out and do some recon. Make notes on locations so that when the river is back up or unclear you know exactly where to fish.
So next time you go fly fishing use what you learnt, increase your chances of getting that strike by fishing areas that commonly hold the fish.
