Fishing in Trees

The TMA's have been beat on for two weeks now. They haven't been fully packed with trout yet either, so where I've been going I've had two choices: fish where they were stocked, where the pods are, and where the fish have been most pressured, or hunt for fish that have spread out. Since there weren't really too many fish put in those that have spread out are very sparse... there aren't trout in ever pocket like there will be in a month. So yesterday I targeted the fish that have already seen a bunch of flies. I worked the places that were hardest to fish to, because the fish in those lies were more comfortable and more likely to take a fly. Specifically, I fished in fallen trees. There are a lot of them after those heavy, wet snowfalls.

A hard to reach fish.

An easier to reach fish.

I found three trout in and around a fallen hemlock. Two were downstream near the end of the tree, one was in a hole between two branches. I played with the two that were outside of the tree for half an hour, spending most of that time working the closer of the two. Once I got that one to eat a Walt's Worm it only took 10 minutes for me to get the drift right to catch the second. It may seem odd that I would put in so much effort for small stocked trout, but the reality is these fish are all just as smart (or just as stupid) whether they are 8 inches or 8 pounds. Unlike wild and holdover trout which get more selective the bigger they get, these stockers are all equally accustomed to fishing pressure. If you can catch the small ones you can catch any of them.

After I caught the two easier ones I went after the one in the tree. That was a nail bitingly difficult presentation. I had a foot and a half of drift space to get a fly down in that trout's feeding window. I could get close to him because he was very comfortable hiding in that tree. I put on a super heavy Walt's and lengthened my tippet. My cast was more of a swing than it was a cast. I knew I was going to have to get it right in as few casts as possible, the more I did the more likely I was to hang up in the branches.

I made one presentation that got the fish to turn and look. On the lift I pinned the fly in the branches. I knew that was going to be next to impossible, but if you don't try you won't learn.