Finding The Fish

[Brian Brown75]

hey guys, ive recenly started fishing hickory in the past couple of weekends and have only caught 2 trout. Im a fly fishermen and have been fishing right around and downstream from the pedestrian bridge. So where are the fish? I walked a ways upstream by the helicopter and found more promising water by that but have yet to try it, so i get to my question should i get some boots and wade on down to the less accesible water where the trout might be hiding and what flies should i use?

[jtram]

You will probably not be any better off going down between the access points, although there are plenty of fish just walk past dead water and concentrate on current. If I were you I would probably start at the low water bridge and wade up working the current hard but not completely ignoring the slower water. You can fish hard and cover the bridge up to the helicopter in a couple of hours. As for flies, buggers, pheasant tails, hare's ears, scuds, zug bugs, basically your standard nymphs size 12ish should work just walk softly and keep a low profile, they may be stockers but they aren't stupid after a couple weeks of being fished for continually. (or maybe i just suck and have to tell myself that), but be stealthy and put 'em back quick, would like to see a few more decent fish next year!!! Good Luck

[Buzz]

Be sure you fish the deep water below the low water bridge. There were still a couple in there Wednesday. If you don't have waders it might be a little tough to get to some of the places that still hold fish. Don't get me wrong there are still a lot of fish left, you just have to get off the badly beaten path to find them. Like jtram said, work the moving water thoroughly. I fished Hickory today and sometimes didn't get a hit until the third or fourth drift. Zebra Midges worked for me today and have been working for the last few trips. If you need more info just PM me and I'll try to help.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Yes, get some boots. Hickory is very hard if not impossible to effectively fish from the bank.

Keep an eye on structure and current. That is the key combination. It may be a rootwad, cut bank or even a single boulder in the middle. I know that sounds kinda "DUH" but, I just don't find many of them hanging in out in the current like they do in many other streams. Of course if the Honey Wagon has just made a delivery, well....

[Brian Brown75]

thanks a ton for the replies, i think ill talk my dad into a pair of waders. And chief, i noticed they hung out on cut banks when i was walking along one the other day but as i tried to crawl down the bank, i almost fell in kicking a rock almost right on top of a nice sized rainbow.