During the spring months, anglers enjoy using floating and intermediate lines to catch Stripers and Blues feeding frivolously close to the surface. Box 865 Joseph, Oregon 97846 (541) 432-9055 800-940-3688 E-mail: mac@eaglecapfishing.com Rio’s new outbound series tapers a thin running line to the sinking head, allowing you to gain further distances during your cast, and it will sink faster by creating less resistance when the line is sinking. Fishing lakes is quite a bit different than fishing a stream. I prefer a 7-9wt 9′ fly rod with a reel spooled with a 250-350 grain full sinking fly line. I prefer a three to four foot piece of twenty-pound fluorocarbon. While letting the hole rest, my partner did something that surprised the heck out of me. I prefer to use long, sparse flies that sink fast. Those big fish will attack when provoked or see a opportune target, but putting a streamer on their nose works more often than not. That means adding the weight somewhere else than on the fly. I love chuckin’ meat for villainous browns on the South Fork and Henry’s fork here in trout nirvana. They’re actually quite difficult to cast but they fish amazingly well (made by Loop). Great article, Bud! Be willing to work the water thoroughly when you’re swinging your streamers through your target water. It’s steelhead fishing scaled down, and a great way to practice your spey casting outside of steely season. Having a weight of 14 grains per foot, it allows anglers to make their own custom length shooting heads depending on the rod weight they intend on using. Don’t be afraid to make your flies long. Bass Fly Fishing Line. A fish’s primary protection in a lake is deep water, weeds, and large obstructions like rocks and logs. Forage fish like these spots because they over both food and protection. Thanks man. Pick your days He turned 180 degrees and cast upstream into the fast and shallow water directly above our anchorage. Be aware it can change, particularly when light levels change. Your success with this type of fishery truly comes down to choosing the proper fly line and utilizing the right techniques to obtain deep presentations. Football Jig. The dropper off the back of a streamer has accounted for many hookups that would have otherwise been trout that turned off at the last second. Currents affect mono line the least , and lure weight is quickly and easily adjusted. Pingback: How To Fish Meaty Flies And Articulated Streamers - The Fly Crate. Unfortunately, in many situations, you won’t always have the time or the room to pull this technique off, and that should have you searching for an alternative fishing method that’s better suited for fishing your streamers in these deep water locations. Don’t get me wrong, it can still work at times, especially if you cast upstream of your target water, throw couple of big mends, and give your streamer time to sink before you begin your retrieve. Cold air and water temperatures make it uncomfortable for the angler and it slows down the metabolism of the fish making them reluctant to feed. To do this anglers must be prepared with sinking lines and tactics and techniques that allow them to present the fly ten, twenty, and even thirty feet below the waters surface. I go lighter if the flows are less and the water is shallower. Love the yellow and black color of that fish…. Canoe Fishing Tips. (Most of Lake Woodruff is muddy, less than 5 feet deep.) This technique is also excellent for Walleyes that are right on bottom in the 20 to 60-feet of water. The five tips in this post will increase your odds of success and help you catch that first bluegill of the year! Let that swing ride at the end!!!!! I spent last season dealing with way too many high muddy water days on my home river which helped me focus on streamer fishing. Step 2: Make a cast upstream and inline with your target water directly downstream. I’ve had some good luck with letting my streamer sink before beginning my retrieve. A fly floats right past their face in a few inches of water and they’re quick to strike. My fishing partner and I were anchored and pulling streamers up current through a hole with sinking line. Besides, Spring is the spawning season; thus, they will be feeding more. they are for your knowledge and enjoyment but not to be used in any other fly fishing presentations without my consent! Fly Fishing: Swinging Streamers for Trout in Deep Water. Fish When Big Trout Are Feeding. Step 3: As your fly begins entering your prime target water you’ll want to strip in any excess slack, drop your rod tip to the water, and slowly begin moving your rod to the left or right (depending on what side your target water is located on). Possibly use a weighted fly if there is current. Cheers.. Great post dude. Some fly fishers avoid nymphing pocket water because the difficult wading and repetitious casting required by the fast water is hard work. Along the same lines as the last tip is to seek out and fish any slower moving areas of the river, like the edges but in more obvious areas of a river. Step 1: When possible anchor your boat upstream and slightly across from your prime deep water. A shorter leader with allow the fly to sink with the line. I use the fluorocarbon not because the fish are line shy, but rather it sinks faster than regular monofilament. The thing that creates the biggest problem for most bass anglers trying to fish deep water is that they can't see what they're fishing. That way we can stay fresh and fish strong the whole day. Great article! Beside a stickup just beyond the weed line is a yellow bass bug, placed there with a short cast of my fly rod. Nymphing in small streams is also a blast. Another alternative to the Carolina rig, the football jig is designed to be drug along deep … For this type of deep-water fly-fishing I prefer a standard fly line rather than an integrated shooting head system. If you get in the habit of pinpointing, then fishing good swinging water as your drifting and pounding the banks, you often will increase your success for the day. I agree with you, sometimes that last few seconds of the streamer hovering in the water can trigger fish to bite. With a full sink line (guessing around 5/6 ips rate) like that, what kind of “deep” water are we talking about? I’m being coached by Louis at the moment with the spey and he’s been awesome so far. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not been there. Required fields are marked *. When the fish go deep, it’s time to get deep. If you're working with a larger fish, it may be easier to "beach" the fish by leading it onto a bank where the water is shallowest. Get practiced up with that spey & come to OR to hit some steelhead waters !! Great tips and comment. Sometimes you want to fish a fly that is small or light, but still want it to penetrate the water and go deep. Another method is to hold the rod tip as high as possible to have the least amount of fly-line on the water as possible. At the end of the day, the extra effort is worth it In most cases, the more difficult the terrain, the better the fishing. DEEP-WATER POOLS Use the proper sink tip. Fly Fishing Nymphs in a Small Stream. I’ve found many anglers fish too long of a leader (5-6′). Leaders should be short. If you want to catch fish on secluded lakes and streams, learning how to fish from a canoe may be a good option. Do you ever swing a tandem streamer rig? After you’ve finished your regular repertoire on a hole take a minute and cast three more times, but this time, immediately after the cast and the line is still slack shove your rod tip into the river, a foot or two and then do your retrieve routine. Paul, good article; these are techniques I’ve used for smallmouth bass, big browns and rainbows, king and silver salmon, steelhead and even grayling — that belly in the line is critical, as is swinging the streamer so it moves perpendicular to where the fish is likely to be, and letting the streamer hang in the tail of a pool for x time before stripping in line — have had most of my takes during that final stage, including often very aggressive strikes when I’m stripping in line, especially by silvers. Walleye like them because they can trap the baitfish against the edges, making their meal easier to catch. The main point is that the water is too deep for you to use a standard strip retrieve, and anchoring up will provide you time to work the area thoroughly). Yes, with two streamers , one being smaller and I also use dropper nymphs off the back of my streamer as well with good success. Capt. Always change fly colors to determine the hot color during the day. In the shallows, they can watch their spinnerbait bump the stump, but in the depths they're lost.I turned a big corner in my deep water and offshore fishing by learning to visualize," Vinson says. Hope all is well my friend. Keep an eye out for points that extend from the shore and stretch out into deep water. 5-6′ would be the most attainable, which is much deeper than the typical 1-3′ with a fast paced retrieve that you get by pounding the banks. In doing that, I was able to key in on prime high water holding areas, and also helped me understand where I could safely get into swinging positions without a boat. Just because you have one slow day on the water, doesn’t mean you can’t have a great day on the same stretch during different weather conditions. Can swinging streamers still be effective? I feel ya on trying to navigate and row. Here in BC we’ve started fishing streamers with light spey and switch rods a lot. Fish sit in much shallower water than you could ever think and nymphing a stream is a great way to have these shallow fish strike. Quite often you’ll get bites at this point from the fish following your streamer up in the water column. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! I think you have the makings to be proficient at swinging streamers with a spey rod . It’s a great technique in water 4 to 6 feet deep, as you can strip the fly with the line on bottom and your offering stays just above, where it will ride right at fish… Me Fly Fishing Nymphs on a Small Stream in BC And I learned a lesson—never go trout fishing in big deep rivers without one. hello anglers, its almost crowley time so i thought since we will be fishing at the opener in 20+ feet of water, i would share with you my deep water indicator setup! Skip the strike indicator. Even with a full sinking fly line the cards are stacked against you. Glad you agree with how I’ve described the tactics on swinging streamers. Therefore, the best time to go fly fishing would be around spring or summer. So out of the three basic principles that govern fish (protection, food source, and current), one has been removed. If you’re willing to put in the time and hard work, eventually you’ll be rewarded with a big fish. I love swinging streamers, as well as another fly not to be named here ;). Deciding to try fly fishing for bass has brought me to the water’s edge. He chases largemouth bass whenever wind, lack of bait, cold water or lack of fish slams the door on striped bass. Best Wasila Alaska Fishing Tackle Mike Hudson, How To Fish Meaty Flies And Articulated Streamers - The Fly Crate, Catching Big Trout Sometimes Takes Multiple Attempts, If You’re Not Looking For Trout, You’re Missing Out. I’ve always had good success swinging streamers. Two big nasty bugs might be tough to control on the swing? It is also one thousandth of an inch thinner in diameter, which is why it sinks faster than other lines with the same factory sink rates. Fly fishing in winter can be challenging to say the least. I learned this deadly technique guiding in Alaska. Therefore, it is the best time to target them with flies. We swing them just as you describe and recently I started using full sinking scandinavian style heads on mono running lines. Captcha loading...In order to pass the CAPTCHA please enable JavaScript. The RIO T-14 sinks at around 9 inches per second, a little faster than the L-13 lead core line. In clear daylight and clear water, fish will be less inclined to swipe at large streamers as thicker tippet may be more detectable, and there are most likely lots of insects to feed off of. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. As your streamer passes by you heading downstream to the target water begin mending and kicking out extra fly line. Great article Kent. Most days anyways. My flies will imitate the seven to ten inch sand eels and the ten to twelve inch sea herring that are generally prevalent at this time of year. Smallmouths like warm water. The extra depth and seductive action of a swinging streamer does a good job of pulling up trout holding deep to eat. Morning and evening are good, as is runoff … Good informative article, Kent. For the sea herring imitations I use long bucktail deceivers, half & halfs, and Dave Skok’s new mega mushy. As soon as he feels shells and catches a fish, he anchors the boat with two pieces of galvanized pipe stuck in … The technique was very productive. High Water Fly Fishing Tip #2b – Fish Slow Moving Areas. This will bring it right across their noses. These places make it extremely difficult for anglers to keep their streamers down deep in the strike zone while using the pounding the bank technique. Most factory sinking fly lines range in sizes from 200 to 1000 grains. I try to use this tactic quite a bit when out fishing the hooch. Also, fly fishing chironomids with an indicator requires your eyes be fixed on the indicator to avoid missing takes; whereas the long-line deep water chironomid system is a little more “hands-on” and makes you feel more involved than just staring at an indicator. Longer leaders tend to drag the fly down to the presentation depth. Eagle Cap Fishing Guides Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide P.O. Another tip that enable your fly to sink quickly is to use synthetic materials such as ultra hair, unique hair, kinky fiber and angel hair. Stillwater fly fishers often use floating lines, an indicator, and a 15- to 20-foot leader to hang chironomid patterns straight down in deep water. Get top tips, product info and the chance to win RIO stuff. In the past seasons the longer 8 to 10-inch flies made up for the most consistent hook-ups. Louis and I will often take turns, one rowing, one fishing. Putting in the Time on the water and learning the ins and outs of a specific type of fly fishing is the key to becoming a Jedi on the water. You’re repeatedly putting your streamer right in the kitchen where good numbers of fish will be holding and regularly feeding. Thanks for chiming in man. Nothing less than a 450 grain sinking line will suffice. I always have to grin when I am stripping in line and am already mentally preparing for the next cast only to have a big ol’ steelhead or salmon slam my streamer and head off taking all that line back. Time and again on this trip, when fish were deep in lakes or in big oxbows known as lagunas down there, it was either fish … You need 6-pound test because thicker line has too much friction with the water and it will be hard to find the bottom. The T-14 will sink very fast and can be cast comfortably with a ten-weight fly rod by utilizing the Rio T-14 chart to match the correct head length. Fluorocarbon. Connect one end to your fly line and tie the other directly to the bobber using a clinch knot. Best Time to Go Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass. Your tippet length should be the same as the depth you want to fish. Another method for triggering bites at the end of your swing is to pull your arm back and forth (similar to hand cranking an outboard motor) a few times at the end of your swing which will swim your fly upstream a few feet and then slowly drift back. One tip I have is taken straight out of a mucky fishermans repertoire: sink you rod tip. It’s meant for those trout that follow my streamer, but don’t want to commit. Fly rods and reels for deep-water striper fishing should be your standard ten weight outfits. Your goal is to have your streamer right at the fish’s eye level as you begin your swing. Supposing the pool is deeper than 10 feet? Photo By: Louis Cahill. As fly anglers, this presents a challenge, especially when faces with rough waters and moving currents. To do this anglers must be prepared with sinking lines and tactics and techniques that allow them to present the fly ten, twenty, and even thirty feet below the waters surface. With summer upon is here along the New England coast water temperatures will begin to warm sending our Striped bass and Bluefin into cooler deeper waters. Step 4: When your streamer gets to the end of the swing it’s really important to let your streamer dance in the current for several seconds. And as you may have guessed, the hole was ready for us when we turned back around. And yes, MANY times the hit is after the streamer has reached the end of the swing. There next move, once they’ve gotten to the banks, is to find prime ambush spots where they can easily pick off prey moving by. Thanks for the comment and great points. the idea is to gauge how deep the water is you are fishing build a leader to match the depth and make as long of a cast as possible. During high water flows on rivers where habitat is insufficient out in the main river, many trout will relocate to the banks where they can use the irregular banks and it’s abundant cover to shelter themselves out of the excessive current. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Just proves, never, never, never quit !! The best way to fish down deep for Lake Trout is with 6-pound test line and a 3-way swivel rig. (It could be a nice drop off, a series of buckets, or just a long deep run or pool. Fishing from a canoe can give you the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing day on the water and get some upper-body exercise as you paddle. Fly-fishing in saltwater is a whole different ball game when compared to fly-fishing for rainbow trout in a freshwater stream. However, when fishing for smallmouths during the summer in deeper water, having a sink tip line or sinking leader will be necessary to get your fly down deep enough. The big reason is there is no current. 5-6′ or 10-12′? Your email address will not be published. My favorite colors this time of year are all yellow, chartreuse and white, and olive and white. Ray starts his bass fishing soon after ice-out, relying on bead-head Wooly Buggers and Clousers to get down deep along the edges of drop-offs or near deep holes. All you need is about a 2-3-foot section of 12-20lb. Us fly anglers are much more limited as to what depths we can achieve, but we can still efficiently fish our flies in some fairly deep water. My favorite setup for when I’m swinging is a big ugly streamer as the lead fly and an attractor pattern (particularly eggs) about 12″-18″ behind it. We tend to pound the banks with tandem rigs when floating the Eagle and Colorado. Spin-fishing is often the best method of effectively fishing deep swirling water. I fish some good sized rivers, sometimes with deep swift water, for steelhead and salmon here in OR. Couldn’t agree more Kent. Sometimes the sweet spots are really small that you have to work your flies through, and it can sometimes take several swings to trigger fish to eat. A buoyant strike indicator may make it easier to see when a fish takes your … I found swinging streamers the most effective way to generate strikes in borderline unfishable conditions. The majority of the time, this scenario works great, but what do you do when you find yourself in areas where the water is super deep and the fish are sitting on the bottom? I’d always taken a Depth Charge when saltwater fly fishing but never on trout trips. You have skillfully described how to fish those deep spots to get a streamer down to where the fish are hanging out. Then they see this bright colored egg or whatnot and whamo! Bottom bouncers combined with live bait work great on shore points. The retrieve had to be immediate and extremely fast. Try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible, especially if you plan on releasing it. Spin-fishing pool bodies. Typical places like behind boulders and in eddies are great for high water fly fishing. If the fish are much deeper than that, a sinking line is an easier way to make the same presentation. Fly rods and reels for deep-water striper fishing should be … Your email address will not be published. It makes a big difference for success. Popovics jiggies and stick candies are my first choices when imitating sand eels. Night is generally best. Count down the tip so that you’re in the bottom third of the pool. 25 comments / Posted on February 4, 2014 / by Kent Klewein, This nice brown trout was caught swinging a streamer through a deep hole. Typically I’ll hookup on the streamer, but every few fish I net, at least one (if not more) will be on the attractor pattern. the fly sinks like a rock having a large Tungsten Bead on it. Change patterns that aren’t working. I don’t understand the mechanism behind the success of a buried rod tip but it works! Understand the weather plays a big role in how active and aggressive the fish will be. … In fact a 550 grain T-14 would all be better choices for depths greater than twenty feet. They just can’t seem to resist that second offering…. The best method I’ve found to consistently get hookups from deep water fish is to swing your streamers across their noses. Give it a try, maybe it will work for you as well. I’ve stood on the edge of drop offs and shelfs and had my rod 3-4 feet in the water and had takes. I recently purchased a one man pontoon boat and have been exploring deeper water where this tactic would be great although rowing, navigating the boat, and fishing at the same time can be difficult. It could be the currents influence on the complete line, maybe the vibration of the water over the rod, or the fact that its just that much lower in the column. When the fish go deep, it’s time to get deep. Yup. The best method I’ve found to consistently get hookups from deep water fish is to swing your streamers across their noses. Always remember persistence usually pays off with streamer fishing. This will create a belly in the fly line and initiate the swing of your streamer. This problem is sort of like rootitis in that you are continuing to … Definitely need to find a spot to swing some deep water streamers in front of some hog noses! I’m talking 24″ strips and I mean, right now. Once there, across and down throwin’ slack all the way through the drift hooked me up with some of the best fish I have seen and released on my home water! This makes casting the T-14 shooting head very easy because the total grain weight of the line will now match up to the line specific rod weight. Often times, when the water is murky or deep (usually after a rainstorm) streamers can be a great way to increase your fly’s visibility and ability to sink. I’ve found swinging streamers a great way to hook up not only on deep water trout, but also for wintertime fish that are moving slowly due to cold water temps and lowered metabolisms. Remember every cast made with a streamer is one closer to a hook up. The swing is highly effective for sluggish fish. I totally agree that twitching the fly for a while at the end of the swing, mimicking a bait fish struggling in the current, will often entice a hesitant fish to make a hit. Trout usually aren’t leader shy when their chasing after a 3-6″ streamer in high water, and the shorter leader will help keep your flies running deep where you want them. This allows you to keep your streamers in the face of the deep water fish longer, which often will yield more strikes. A 200-grain line will sink at a rate of four to five inches per second and a 1000-grain line will sink from 9 to 10 inches per second. The concern with the heavier factory lines (600 to 1000 grains) are that they require the use of 12 weight fly rods in order to be cast, in addition to slowing down the sink rate down tremendously in faster moving mater. Great comment about swinging during colder months. The key is to streamer fish hard all the way through the day. Some days it works awesome, others days the fish don’t react to it. I’ve learned certain rivers fish better in completely opposite conditions. While in conventional fishing all you really need to do is tie on a heavier lure or weight, in the fly fishing world we often have to utilize a few added tricks or even change up our gear entirely to achieve the desired result. This will give you sufficient slack, so your fly can sink into the strike zone. When it comes to lines when fly fishing for bass a typical weight forward line will do the trick. Keep the great topics and info coming! This allows you to keep your streamers in the face of the deep water fish longer, which often will yield more strikes. Step 1: When possible anchor your boat upstream and slightly across from your prime deep water. A cool trick is to fish a very buoyant fly (such as deerhair Muddler or a heavily hackled Sea-Ducer) inc combination with a sinking line. What it also did was to make me really look closely at the rivers structure during regular flows. When ever I am fishing water more than 14 feet deep-and I’ve successfully used the approach all the way to 35 feet-I use hi-density type 6 sinking line (which I purchased with the intent to use specifically for full sink deep water chironomids fishing). This is why casting to the bank and ripping streamers back to the boat is so effective. It can be a challenge in a one man pontoon. Doing this, you can turn an average fishing day into an epic day. First off, many of the saltwater game fish that attack lures will also take a fly; so the amount of species available on fly in saltwater is considerable. We have taken a Deep Water Wooly Bugger (one of our new patterns) or a size 4 Balanced Minnow and started to fish it on a floating line. Winter fishing depends on the weather, but by late February ice is reliably melted and fishing is fair to fabulous through April 15, depending on water level. Open-Water Bluegill Large bluegill prefer deep water in summer and winter and can be taken over open, aquatic vegetation or brushy water structures by using weighted flies such as #10-14 nymphs, shrimp, Woolly Buggers, Marabou Minnows, or leeches, and using long, slow, deep retrieves. we have many different indicators to choose from these days. Then tie your tippet, whatever size is appropriate for the water you are fishing, to the bobber in the same way. Move the net into position and gently pull …