05-23-2005, 10:59 PM
My dad used to look forward to this time of year to fish steams. I thought he was nuts until he showed me how to do it and then amazed me with phenomenal results. We then worked out our technique together during the high flow years of the 80's. We found that the fish are in the smallish pools and eddies along the bank. The muddy water allows a close approach and if you can keep a low profile, you can drop bait right into an appetizing pool. With muddy water, the fish sometimes take a minute or two to bite, so leave the bait in there for a while. We used to use worms, but I have also had success using spinners in murky conditions. The fly rods stayed home at this time of year. The biggest challenge in learning how to fish high water is hole recognition. Some obscure eddies along the bank would be ignored by the uninitiated, but would hold nice fish.
One last thing, BE CAREFUL! I almost drowned once in the Weber trying to untangle a 20+ inch brown from a bush being swept away in the floodwater.
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One last thing, BE CAREFUL! I almost drowned once in the Weber trying to untangle a 20+ inch brown from a bush being swept away in the floodwater.
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