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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