October 2024

INTRODUCTION:

As my fishing friends and readers know, I am a small stream aficionado and devotee.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against big waters like the Arkansas River near my cabin outside Salida, Colorado, despite the float boat hatch in summers that is maddening for those of us who prefer to wade rather than row.   I just prefer the solitude and wild nature of the small streams I like to search out, not to mention eager fish.  Okay, Okay…being shallower and smaller, I must admit they are also easier for a shambling septuagenarian like me to navigate. 

But while small streams can be easier to navigate and their denizens usually cooperative, they come with their own special challenges—tight casting quarters, plentiful snags, and shallow and clear water with spooky fish just to mention a few.  Here are some tips that will help ensure successful outings and hopefully help build the constituencies to protect these often lesser known, but precious waters.

Tip #1:  Before plunging into the water, take time to check out the insect life in and around the stream.

Because of their diminutive size and often remote locations with challenging environments ranging from high elevations to deep canyons, small streams often have a more limited and specialized selection of the victuals trout prefer.  That’s why while walking to the creek a smart angler will keep an eye out for terrestrials like grasshoppers and ants.  In the summer hoppers are an especially delectable and popular treat, providing a good meal for the smaller fish usually found in small streams. 

Next, instead of casting immediately in that first pool, wade out downstream and check under rocks for aquatic bugs like caddis, mayfly, and stonefly larvae and nymphs.  Then choose the fly or flies that are reasonable facsimiles. 

A good example is a recent trip to upper Grape Creek near Westcliffe, Colorado. I usually use a green- colored caddis larva dropper on Grape Creek to match the abundant green caddis larva lurking in the stream bed. But in this new section I hadn’t fished before, I found cream-colored caddis larva in abundance, not green. I dug into my fly box and was lucky to find a couple of cream-colored beadhead flies that were reasonable facimiles. I tied one on , and on the very first cast it was gulped down by a nice brookie. More soon followed. Would a green-colored larva worked? Maybe, but a little investigation paid off.

Tip #2:  Stay out of the stream if possible—avoid those bad vibrations.

Unlike larger rivers where the angler must often plunge in and wade to reach the best pools/runs, in small streams the most inviting and productive water can often be reached with a short cast without getting your waders wet—a good strategy illustrated by a recent experience on tiny Archuleta Creek in southern Colorado.  I was hiking on a ridge above the stream, which has always been challenging but productive, planning to cut down to the water in a little gully ahead.  But another old guy had beaten me to the punch, so before pushing on downstream a good distance, I decided to take a break and watch him fish.  I was a bit surprised to see him wading in and up the creek, then saw his water buffalo wading technique was literally sending shock waves upstream into the bend pools he was targeting.  On a good stretch I had done well on in the past, in over 15 minutes he hooked just one fish.  His sloshing around had sent out bad vibrations.  It was a reminder to think Beach Boys—sending out good vibrations to the fish with succulent flies and minimum ripples, creating some excitation instead of miniature tidal waves.    After watching the show, I proceeded downstream for a quarter mile and started fishing back up.  Thirty minutes later I hit the stretch the other senior gent had plowed through and had a ball carefully fishing the water and catching a half dozen nice brownies, one scaling 14 inches.

A recent outing on a stream in the San Luis Valley loaded with Rio Grande Cutthroats teaches the same lesson. The water was clear and extremely low, but my fishing buddy Tom Palka managed to catch (and release) three beautiful cutties from a postage-stamp sized pool by creeping carefully to a hidden spot in the grass below the pool then executing backhand casts from a sitting position. If he had stood up instead, the trout would have likely fled to the next county!

Tip #3:  Stoop to conquer…

Avoiding bad vibrations is just one advantage of staying out of the water and being careful when casting from the shoreline.  The best holding lies in small creeks are often shallower than in big rivers, and if the water is clear and you are wading standing upright either on the shoreline or in the stream it’s guaranteed the fish have a good chance of seeing you moving or will spy your shadow.  What’s the remedy? KNEEL!!  Where the stream is especially small or water very clear consider kneeling on the shoreline or in the water before casting.  Keep in mind the famous line from the Oliver Goldsmith play from the late 1700s:  “She stoops to conquer,” meaning someone who accepts behavior being viewed as beneath one’s abilities or station in life but achieves some greater purpose as a result. 

If savvy septuagenarian anglers, creaky knees and all, have learned to kneel to conquer–so can you!

But you say, what of your aching knees on those sharp, hard streambed rocks?  I am sympathetic, and that’s why I buy Dry Plus waders at Cabela’s—one of few that comes with handy dandy knee pads built in as a standard feature.  Try them, you will see the advantages plus you won’t have to spend a wad of money for these durable and reasonably priced waders.

Tip #4: Use a shorter rod and shorter leaders/droppers, especially with creeks featuring heavy streamside vegetation or overhanding trees and bushes. 

Like most anglers, the standard rod I use in rivers is a light-to-medium weight 8.5-foot wand. I also opt for it on smaller waters like Saguache Creek that don’t have a lot of streamside vegetation.  But increasingly on small streams where I will be casting in close quarters with overhanding trees or tall shoreline brush and grass and other vegetation, my choice is a short 7.5-footer.  The shorter rod allows me to backcast with less chance of hangups and avoid the cloying branches and bushes the longer rod seems to enjoy. 

The same is true of leaders and dropper size.  In small streams with tight quarters, there is simply not much room to false cast or even just flip the fly out with a quick flick of the rod.  Similarly, long droppers that work on big water to get to bottom where the big fish are will elicit expletives on smaller streams as your fly alights perfectly in the target pool but the dropper ends up in tall bristly grass, rose bushes, etc., etc! 

But I would be disingenuous if I did mention the tenkara lesson I received from friend Tom Palka.  We were fishing a tiny backcountry creek that was barely three feet wide in many places and lined with grass and assorted snags three feet high.  I was having the devil of a time casting even with my smaller rod without hanging up in the streamside vegetation.  But with his 10-foot tenkara rod young Mr. Palka (only 50 or so years of age) could simple reach out over streamside grass and gently his parachute his fly easily into the best holes.  As he landed three fish to my every one, this cheeky youngster schooled me. 

Same story with leaders.  Long leaders and droppers that often work best on big rivers to reach big fish in deeper holes will often end up in streamside grass and handing from snags on smaller streams.  I find that 7.5-foot 5X or 6X leaders with shorter 18-inch dropper work fine.

Tip #5:  Learn the light-touch twister tug and snap roll cast to save your fly from snags

Before I learned a little trick from my fishing buddy, Bob Wayne, my normal response to getting my fly entangled in streamside branches or grass, in addition to uttering expletives, was to give my rod  a sharp upward jerk in hopes that it would rip the fly out of the grasp of the dastardly snag.  My success rate was about 20% at best. Then one day I watched Mr. Wayne rescue fly after fly deposited in streamside vegetation by errant casts.  Instead of yanking the rod straight up as seems natural, he would aim his rod directly at snag, tighten the line taught, and then twist his wrist as he gave it a gentle tug or two straight back.  Twist and tug! His success rate in saving his flies was an astounding 50%!  It was amazing how often the embedded, seemingly doomed fly came loose. 

Now I don’t claim to be as accomplished as Bob in employing this technique but have saved many flies over the past few years thanks to him. 

But what if your fly is hung up on a rock or branch in the stream?  My solution is to execute a short roll cast towards the snag powered with a strong downward snap of the wrist. Often this technique will work because the rolling line will pull the stuck fly upstream away from the snag rather than digging it in further as is the case if you give the line a pull downstream.   Don’t be surprised if you save your fly with this simple maneuver without having to wade out to retrieve the fly and spoil the pool. 

Tip #6:  For the small stream hot spots, focus on twisting creek bends, undercut banks, and shallows depending on water temperature and sunlight.  Don’t forget your stream thermometer to help figure out where the fish will be.

Several years ago, I learned an important lesson about small stream fish and water temperature.  I was fishing a small remote stream in the upper reaches of the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado in August that had always treated me well.  The creek wove sinuously through a meadow with alluring clear water deep pools at every bend.  But in the first trio of pools I drew a goose egg despite my fly and dropper floating through perfectly.  Frustrated, I waded into the bend pool up to my waist to reconnoiter up close.  I didn’t see or spook a singled fish.  A little further upstream, I again struck out and waded in to see what was up.  Again, the pool seemed empty.

Then I hit a very shallow straighter stretch above a beaver pond, only a foot or so deep.  To my amazement, I could see three brook trout finning nonchalantly in the thin water.  I crept within casting distance and knelt carefully.  My Chubby Chernobyl dry alighted five feet in front of the trio, and one darted forward and gulped in the faux grasshopper like it was his first call for breakfast.  After landing the colorful brookie I continued upstream towards the next bend pool. 

But it too was barren.  However, in the rocky shallows next to the bend I pulled out another brawling brook trout.  What gives I thought? 

Then it dawned on me that after several days of unseasonably cold weather with temperatures plunging into the lower forties, the fish needed warmth.  While under normal conditions the deeper bend pool would provide warmth, after an extended cold spell it was less hospitable.  And now with the sun beating down, the shallows were warming up more quickly and drawing the fish like a magnet.

This was part of my education that fish in smaller streams are especially sensitive to air and water temperature because water is typically shallower than in big rivers, even the deeper bend pools.  It will usually cool off faster and warm up more quickly.  On a hot day small stream fish will retire sooner to deeper bend pools or undercut banks where the water is cooler.  By same token, if the water is very cold then don’t be surprised if bigger fish are out in open in shallower water early on a sunny day warming up.  The optimum feeding temperature range for most stream trout is from around 52-64 degrees.  When the air temperature gets near or below 40 degrees followed by a sunny day, the conditions are right for the fish to seek out sunny shallow stretches. 

The moral of the story:  To assess where the most likely hiding spots are on any given day, especially after a change in the weather and air temperature, don’t forget your stream thermometer and use it when getting started to improve your “luck.”

Tip #7:  Fish those back eddies

These are probably the most overlooked honey holes on small streams.  A back eddy is a section of a creek where part of the current reverses direction and flows upstream.  Typically, an eddy forms when the main current is obstructed by a rock, tree, or bank and is pushed to one side and in the reverse direction of the main current.  Use video.  Usually, the water in a back eddy is quiet and brings food right to the smart fish waiting there, who will be facing downstream into the flow of the back eddy. 

To fish a back eddy, I normally use a short cast towards the beginning of the reverse flow while high sticking my rod to keep most of the line from dragging in the main current.  I then let the fly float slowly upstream, often in a foam line. Usually only my leader will be on the water to avoid the fly from being dragged downstream by the main current.  I also don’t shy away from letting the fly float to the top of the back eddy which is often covered with a layer of foam.  It’s not unusual that the biggest fish in the back eddy will be lying patiently under the shadow of the foam, dining at his leisure. 

BONUS TIP: As a reward for the stalwarts who finished reading the entire article, here’s a bonus tip: Fish out your casts—more so than in big water, fish will often pursue a fly downstream on a small creek. Why?The current in most small creeks is not anywhere nearly as strong as in a big river like the Arkansas or Gunnison. This allows the hungry trout to leave his holding lie, give chase to the fleeing faux insect for some distance, have a quick meal, and easily and quickly swim back to safety. Give it a try and you will see.