Thursday, October 3, 2019

Meadow Water Multi-species

Opportunities have been slim lately to explore new water, but I did for a bit last Saturday. I had a couple of options, including some places I'd already fished a time or two. I opted for the unknown. a meadowy bit of river that looked good on the map but could potentially prove nearly impenetrable on foot. It was tough going but doable, and I doubted many had fished this water through the peak vegetation months. Bass, pickerel, fallfish, and holdover trout were all possible.  


I started out casting to rises with an AK Best Winged Beetle, and this yielded some fallfish and a redbreast sunfish. But the structured bank water was calling my name and it was asking to be attacked with a streamer.


The first assailant on the streamer was a large holdover trout. It didn't connect but it did prove I'd made the right move, a motion seconded by a chain pickerel a short time later.



After a few small bass, I did land a pair of holdover rainbows. Not really the quality I was looking for, but they fought well and really hammered the flies. I should describe my technique now, as it's one often ignored by trout fisherman in this area. Banging banks with streamers is nothing new, the fly pattern I was using was nothing special and not important, but my receive would appear unconventional to many. After slapping the heavy fly down hard next to the far bank, I let it fall to a count of 3-10 seconds, depending on the depth and current speed, then retrieved it with a quick two hand retrieve. I find that, though a pause is often killer, aggressive meat eater trout often slam a streamer in constant motion. I've seen the two hand retrieve applied a lot elsewhere for freshwater fish, but I didn't pick up on it for New England salmonids until I saw Ben Bilello do so. That was in the context of getting constant motion when there isn't enough current to appropriately swing a fly for salmon. However it works well as an aggressive trout tactic too, casting across, up and across, and straight upstream.



As I right this, we're getting proper October weather in stark contrast to yesterday's heat and humidity. It gets me excited, though the sense that time is running out is very much there.
Until next time.
Fish for the love of fish.
Fish for the love of places fish live.
Fish for you.



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6 comments:

  1. That looks like a perfect day of fishing to me.
    We went for a swim yesterday, out to the buoys and back. It felt like summer. All the trees were green, the air was 78 or something. Then we wade fished with a Florida snook jig. Because why not. But I don't know how to jig. So that was practice. The fish are on the move though. Every day is completely different.

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    1. Flair hawks, being made of artificial fibers not bucktail, sink faster... so don't try to follow bucktail tactics to a T. That's about the only advice I can give you.

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  2. We are drawn to water and ask, " what fish could this hold". Nice catches Rowan. They can be a real treat if we plow through the growth to get there.
    Tie, fish, write, conserve and photo on...

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  3. I really enjoyed reading about you fishing this zone that most anglers wouldn't. Thanks for describing your fast streamer retrieve. I don't fish streamers nearly as much as I should and appreciate reading about this technique. Regards, Sam

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    1. Thank you,
      This is the best time of year to practice.

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