New Water during Run-off -- April 2014

As the streams begin to rise in Southeast Idaho, I have started to look at small streams that I have not previously fished. These streams are, at least in my logic train of thought, less affected by run-off, as they do not drain large water sheds. They are small, some of those so called "thin blue lines". I headed out the other day to two of these. They were both new to me, and I didn't know what to expect.

The first creek is very small, averaging maybe 2 feet across. It has low water flows but the water is clear. As I started lower down I saw not a single fish, but as I worked further upstream I stated seeing little fish here and there. Fishing this water is really tough. There were Red-twig Dogwood branches overhanging all the good lies. I ended up walking upstream more than I fished. I'd stop every so often if there was a lie that I could actually cast to. Most of my casts were "bow and arrow" since even though I was using a 240 cm rod I could not cast traditionally due to all the branches.

I tool a few very small brook trout, the largest being 6 inches. After walking a mile or so I left for the second creek.

The second creek was not too far away from the first. It had better water flow and a wider stream bed, averaging four feet across, but still a fair amount of overhead branches. I started with a 270 cm Kiyotaki but I kept hitting the branches as I cast. Therefore I went back to the Kiyotaki 240 cm rod I had fished earlier in the day.

The water was clear and the flow was nice. On my second cast I took a 12 inch planter rainbow. That was better than the tiny guys I had taken on the previous creek! As I worked my way upstream I took 6 more rainbows. Most of these were just above an irrigation intake where the water was a little deeper. I also took a couple small cut-bows.

Here too I used a "bow and arrow" cast quite a bit, but less so due to gaps in the overhead branches. I have found that the "bow and arrow" cast is preferred at times over traditional casting when you are really close to your target and don't want to risk rod movement overhead scaring the fish. Also, sometimes the lie you are targeting is tight under overhanging branches.  A traditional cast brings the fly down too steeply to get up under or very far back under the branches, whereas a "bow and arrow" cast shoots the line and fly nearly parallel to the water. This allows you to get back under the tight branches better.

I really liked the second creek. I'm sure I'll be back to investigate it further. The first creek -- I'll likely not invest anymore time on!

Here is a video of these two different waters. As you will see, I hook but drop a lot of fish. My hooks are grabbing better, but I still can't set the hook due to all the branches, thus the fish get off.