Omitted from last month’s article: If you’re familiar with a stream and know where the larger trout like to hold,
this is your chance to approach closely. Next month, we’ll be taking our first step into the water.”
By Jim Parks
So, you’ve dressed to blend in (Part 1) and perhaps you’ve seen a large trout lying at or near the bottom (Part 2), or you see one rising repeatedly that you target, now what? As stated last month, all your efforts can be wasted in a second. It can be in the form of a slip, the banging of rocks together or anything that telegraphs your presence. In order to get within casting range, you’ll need to pick your direction of approach carefully. Once you’ve scanned the stream, plan in your mind the path you will take as you make your approach; the one that will place you in the best position to make your first cast. Remember, make your first cast your best cast. For that, I think to myself, “Not the path of least resistance, but the path of least likelihood of being seen.” In my book, Tails of the Smokies, Dillon is teaching his protégé, Stevie, how to work his way up a likely run. During their discussion, Dillon is explaining the ultimate goal of planning his route that will allow him to fish the stream thoroughly from bottom to top while spooking the fewest fish along the way and placing him in the best position to make his casts.
As you begin your approach remember to stay low and go slow. You ALWAYS want something behind you to be a backdrop into which your profile is blended. The sky is not a good option. As you near the water, use trees, bushes, boulders and elevation, approaching from a lower path if possible.
First and foremost is to approach the trout from behind. Trout can be expected to face into the current, upstream, where the current serves as a conveyor belt in delivering their food. However, sometimes a back eddy will have them looking into the current but facing downstream, or they may be cruising. There are exceptions, when approaching from upstream is needed, such as when casting a streamer across and downstream. If your approach dictates getting your feet wet, focus on going slow while trying to avoid creating a wake, especially in slow moving water. When we shuffle our feet, we are pushing water, which creates a noisy wake. I visualize the waves I make on a smooth surface as loud stereo speakers underwater blasting, “Here he comes!” to every trout in the pool. Some listen and move and some seem unfazed, but all now know you’re there. Wild trout, especially, and trout in highly-pressured waters will likely ease away or blast off to where they feel secure. When possible, in shallow water, avoid creating ripples by picking up your feet totally out of the water then quietly step down into the water to avoid creating push waves. Continually check if your walking is pushing ripples toward your target area. Still water is especially tough, and using the current when approaching from downstream allows the use of the current to push smaller ripples away from the trout and behind you. If you are approaching a large pool, and cannot stay on the bank, make your approach from the rapids just downstream as the shoals can serve as a barrier to your wake.
As you ease your way along, avoid excessive movement and step quietly from downstream bringing you behind the trout. When possible, use natural barriers such as boulders, trees, waterfalls or shoals to cover your approach. Be careful with hand movement, reflections, glare off of your fly rod, jewelry, and any shiny instruments on your person. As you approach that trout of a lifetime gently feeding in the shallow tail-out or upstream in the pool, beware of sentinel trout, those pesky little trout that you spook. Remember in Jurassic Park when the dinosaurs in the field began running by Sam Neill? They tipped him off that something big and dangerous was heading their way. A ten-year-old wild trout is no less wary and likely more so.
So, now you’re in position. A huge trout is within sight, you’ve approached directly from behind, so now how to cast without spooking your target? Ideally, immediately behind a trout is best as it is out of their field of view, but the problem of casting directly over them has a potential to spook them when your line hits the water, especially on a glass smooth surface. A slight angle to either side is better for the cast. As a right hander, I prefer a cast from slightly to the right of the trout’s position with a bit of a side arm motion to keep the leader/line as much as possible to the side, and the fly drifting as close to the trout as possible. A few years ago, while standing at the head of a set of shoals in the Smoky Mountains, I spotted a nice, twenty-one-inch brown through the glassy smooth surface not fifteen feet from me in the tail out of a large pool in about two feet of water. Making my first cast, as described above, I brought my Jim’s Grampus right to its nose where I actually observed the opening and closing of its mouth. Talk about pressure to not set the hook too soon!
The steps described in this series by no means are necessary to catch wild trout even of trophy size. However, having made enough mistakes to fill multiple life times, I subscribe to the “Minimal Gains” philosophy. This involves taking the steps, however small, even if doing so only provides a minimal improvement in my chances to land that target trout. I hope you have found in this series a few take-aways that will enhance your chances when opportunities reveal themselves. One final thought. Many anglers desire luck on their trips, but I’ve heard it said, “Luck is where Preparation and Opportunity come together.
Jim Parks, a native of Newport, Tennessee, has spent forty-three years fly-fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which he considers his home waters. Check out his book “Tails of the Smokies” in local bookstores. Jim currently resides in Kodak, Tennessee, with Trena, his wife and best friend of thirty-three years.