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Fly Fishing in High Water
By
Cameron Larsen
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A long, long time ago, I
remember waking up at 3 a.m., on a Saturday. I say waking
up, although I don't think I ever went to sleep. It was
opening day eve, as good as Christmas eve, in my seven
year old way of thinking. Our destination was more than
three hours away, to the land of huge trout, and lots of
them.
Silently, in the light of the moon, my Dad and I climbeed
in his Ford Falcon and began are ardous three hour journey
to the land of Big Fish.
Thta magical mysterious place was, across the Cascade
Mountains at the legendary Deschutes River. Home of
montser trout. I dozed somewhat on the drive over, waking
up to donuts and hot chocolate, as we rambled through the
forest. At last, we descended on the flat juniper country
of the 'East side', and finally began our twisting descent
down the canyon to the mighty river. With my dog, I
pressed my nose to the window glass, drooling with
anticpation. As we crossed over, I didn't notice the
off-color water or the river spilling here and there over
it's natural banks. But I did notice my Dad's groan. We
stopped, stretched our legs, used the bushes, and then I
heard my Dad say, 'blown out.' I was curious and inquired,
and learned the river was 'blown out', flooded, too high
to fish. Each exclamation of the river more seriuos than
the last. Until, I realized fishing wasn't going to happen
today. As bad as life gets at seven, as bad as no Santa
Claus. We threw rocks into the roaring mess, walked around
some more, I learned about rock formations, local flora,
and then we were off, back to home.
Today I live two blocks from that legendary river, and
have learned a thing or two about high water fishing. I
have had success here and on other rivers using some very
simple techniques.
Where to find fish:
If the current is raging, fish don't really want to be out
in it anymore than fly fishers do. They tend to hole up,
in slower water, and luckily for us closer to shore. Look
for pockets and pools, close in that will provide likely
water. Riffles that are normally too shallow, will provide
a feeding lane in high water. The nice thing is wading is
not required if the fish are lying close to the bank. A
word of caution here, high water wading can be extremly
dangerous. Water is murky and visibility can be nil,
underwater footing can change dramatically. Even if
fishing familiar water, the under water terrain could have
changed since last fished. A wading staff can help, but
fishing from the bank is better yet.
Fish behavior:
As mentioned above, fish don't want to be in the heavy
current anymore than you do. But they don't stop feeding.
On the contrary, spring run off brings with it the
speeding of fish's metabolism, and likewise their desire
to eat. Although rising fish are much less likely, fish
eat up to 90% of their diet sub-surface anyway. So unless
there are peculiarities to your particular river, prepare
for sub-surface fishing. This can be disappointing to some
diehard dry fly fisher's. But because fish are close in,
you may not have such easy access to large fish again, the
entire year.
Not that you cannot get a fish to rise in high water. It
is possible. I recommend using big bushy fly patterns. For
two reasons, one is visibility is poor, and two they float
better through turbid waters. Usual rough water attractors
are the flies I call on, including Royal Wulff and
Stimulators. High floating Foam Hoppers, or Chernobyl Ants
also work well.
But by and large fish are feeding sub-surface, in murky
waters. And that calls for some special rigging and
techniuqes.
High Water Techniques:
The murky water can be a fly fisher's friend. For one
thing fish are less easily spooked, and they seem to feel
more 'secure' hidden in their sanctuary of dark high
water. For this reason you can shorten up those tippets
and use stouter tippets than one would normally choose. If
6X is the norm for your particular river go down to 4X.
The advantage of the stouter tippet comes into play when
you are snagging up on the bottom. I sometimes avoid the
use of a strike indicator during high water, so I can
better feel the river bottom. As mentioned above fish in
high water can be bigger than average, and with the
stronger current, you'll putting quite a bit of pressure
on your tippet trying to land that big fish.
Murky water typically calls for nymphs, wet flies and
streamers. The ones popular in your particular area,
should work in the high water. Remember nymphs are having
difficulty moving around too, and much more likely to be
knocked free. Rigging up with a size or two bigger than
norm also helps, as trout are likey to feed on free
floating nymphs more than emerging ones, at this time. If
in doubt as to what to use, start with the basics, Hare's
Ear, Pheasant Tail, Stonefly nymphs. Using beadheads will
helps in visiblility and in a faster sink rate. Vary the
split shots you use. And don't forget to in a streamer or
two as well. Aggravators are notioursly good high water
patterns are are Dead drifting these as close to the
bottom as possible, and be prepared for hard strikes. If
success doesn't come, try using a two fly set up, and
probe at different levels.
When you find something that works, stick with it. And
when you find fish stay there, fish are less likely to
move on, so you are apt to get more fish in one spot then
normal.
One last advantage of high water fishing, is relative
solitude. Most fly fisher's will still see a river as
'blown out', like my Dad all those years ago. The one's
that do try, usually don't have their heart in it. But for
those that are patient and try the technique's featured
here, their reward quite likely will be some very big fish
to remember.
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