Ya Fish the Truckee !

 

Matt R wrote:

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A wise fly fisherman once told me "Ya just got to keep plugging away"

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 Now theres some good advice ! Sheer persistance catches fish. A float tube might open up some water to you on putah.

Drdan, I posted this March.  I don't know if you saw it then, but here it is again.  Hope it helps.

First of all, let me say that fishing high water flows is generally much tougher than fishing low water levels. Historically, I’ve probably caught only ½ to 1/3 of the number of fish that I’ve caught during the low water season. On the other hand, the average size of the fish I’ve caught during high water has tended to be larger than during low flows. Here are some ideas for fishing high flows:

- High flows mean faster current. Thus, it’s pretty obvious that you’ll need more weight to get the flies down to the fish and to slow the drift down.

- Because of high water, you can’t just wade up and down the stream wherever you want. Thus, you can expect to do more walking to get from one fishing location to the next.

- Generally, the current is faster in the middle of the stream and slower near its banks. Thus, fish may tend to lie close to the banks to avoid the faster current. Casts should be made close to the bank, especially when the bank is steep and the water next to it is deep.

- Another good place to cast is the seam between the faster current and the slower current next to it. Often fish will station themselves in the slower current looking for food drifting in the faster current.

- Speaking of seams, whenever you see a backeddy, try fishing the seam between the main flow and the backeddy.

- Sometimes a pool is formed by a jut of land sticking out into the water perpendicular to the shore. Fishing immediately above the jut of land can be productive because fish will lie in wait there because the water is slowed by the jut of land. The fish get the benefit of all of the food drifting by without fighting a stiff current.

- Don’t ignore the pond-like water. Pond-like water has the slowest current speed in the stream and also has good depth. Some of my best fishing during high water has come from pond-like water. However, fishing pond-like water can be difficult for the following reasons:

--- Pond-like water is very abundant at Putah. However, most of Putah is bordered by trees, bushes, high banks, and high weeds. Pond-like water is best fished making long casts so finding fishing spots with enough backcast room is surprisingly difficult.

--- Fishing pond-like water is more like fishing a lake than fishing a stream. You have to make a lot of casts covering lots of water. If you don’t enjoy fishing a lake with a nymph, you probably wont like fishing Putah’s pond-like water.

--- Unlike fishing the rest of the stream, it is very difficult to "read" pond-like water. One section of the pond may look very similar to another section. Yet, the first section will produce consistently while the second won’t produce a single fish. Thus, it can take a considerable investment of time to find out which spots are productive and which are not.

I use a floating line with an indicator just as I would elsewhere.  However, if the water is deep, I use a tippet of up to 9 feet.  My leader (my own design) is basically a short leader butt and a LONG tippet.  If I am fishing pond-like water, I look for the slowest water I can find; basically, when the flows exceed 600 CFS, you can't find water that is too slow.  As I mentioned earlier, one of the most difficult things is to find SLOW water and a casting position to make long casts.  Sometimes you can wade, other times you have to make sidearm casts.  If you are able to make long casts, you won't need too large a split shot so you leader will turn over and the long cast gives your nymphs time to sink.  Also, I use a foam indicator; poly yarn indicators are too wind resistant.  Fishing early in the day or late in the day is almost always a good thing.  However, since the water is deep, you don't have to worry to much about sun penetration.  Remember that this is a slow, methodical approach.  You will have to make lots of casts to catch a few fish.  Basically, if you can, you fan cast upstream as much as you can.  If there is no backcast room, you roll cast across stream and mend.  Also, sometimes you can roll cast across stream, mend, and feed your line downstream.  I've been using this approach for lots of years.  You typically won't catch lots of fish, but the fish you do catch tend to be bigger.  It takes time on the stream to learn how and where to use this technique and that's probably why so few people do it.   Bur, for me, it's been worth the effort.