Tactical Small Stream Fly Fishing

Fly Execution:  Nymphing
Date:  02/07/23
Time:  12:15pm
Air:  28°
Water:  38°
Water pH:  6.84
Elevation:  720’

I often fish alone, but the other day I had the opportunity to fish with a friend. Not only are we both small stream enthusiasts, but we both build bamboo rods and have a passion for native brook trout. Here are a few photos of my friend’s approach to various areas at the first stream we visited. This simply underscores the crucial need to approach low, especially when the sun is making silhouette shadows. In addition, at almost any cost, it is supremely important to work upstream. There are times when this is not possible, but the price of spooking fish is often too great.

We relocated to a second stream and caught fish in a number of locations. At this particular pool, a place where I’ve historically been successful, we both managed to catch beautiful native brook trout. Boulders at the head of the pool created two feeding lanes, one on the left and one on the right. To some degree these feeding lanes converged a bit toward the slow water in the back of the pool, making it an ideal location for brook trout to efficiently feed.

My friend worked the left side, and I worked the right. He chose a very helpful casting position. While maintaining a low overall position, he was on higher ground, which allowed him to cast into the pool at a distance and drift his nymph with virtually no drag. He jigged it in the softer back of the pool at the end portion of the left feeding lane.

On the right side, I was able to present a dry-dropper down a current seam (blue dashes), where there was a depth change and slow and faster water met. I kept a low kneeling position, as I had sun at my back. As soon as my bushy stimulator dipped under water, I raised my bamboo rod. 

We were both rewarded with beautiful native brook trout. My friend fished a 7’ 4wt Orvis bamboo rod, and I fished a recently built 7’ 3wt bamboo rod, along with my early 1900’s Meek 45 reel.