Photo help with hard to fish lies

[Johnsfolly]

@tangledup what are you wearing when you fish these small spots? I tend to wear camo tops when I am fishing small trout creeks. Sometimes they see you and they're gone or too spooked to take anything that you throw at them. Other times they forget about you after 10 or 15 mins of no disturbance on your part and you can catch those fish. Also as you mentioned you can blow out a hole quickly. If you have made a couple or three casts that should have passed the fish especially if the fly line went over them, it might be best to move on. I am not as avid a fly fisherman as others on this thread. So mine are just observations form my own outings. If you dig through the Crane creek forum, Crane Creek redemption in 2014, I used a small portable turkey blind to get close to the creek without spooking the fish. I was fishing spin tackle using 2# Pline at that time, but shows what lengths I have used in the past to fool spooky fish.

 

[ness]

1 hour ago, tangledup said:

 Every 30 seconds or so a fish would rise and grab something. I watched it for a few minutes and didn't really see a way to fish the pool from the bank due to the trees and brush. So I decided to walk up the bank until I got to the riffles at the bottom of the pool and figured I could enter the water well below the riffles and slowly move up, always keeping either a pile of gravel or the rushing part of the riffles between me and the fish. I got to within 20 yards of the pool and the surface activity died. I waited until it picked back up again and tried tossing an olive woolly bugger in there a few times but didn't have any luck. 

A little light colored dry fly on a pretty thin tippet (6x) might have increased your odds. If the surroundings allow, approach it at an angle so you don't drop the tippet on its head. And work the spot close first then cast longer and work farther out. Sounds like you're pretty close to the stream -- give it another try!

[tjm]

The first two pictures, I think Tenkara or dapping. Or no cast surface jittering; feeding line out from several yards upstream, making the fly stop and start, dance and dive as it reaches the sweet spot. Three passes max, maybe, but those three passes might take me most of an hour. I'd only cast on the last go, even the splash of a tippet will startle every thing in that little shelter.   That's a place where you might crawl into position and stand on your knees. Shadows will be a problem always, you, the rod, line, even tippet will lay down moving shadows, so best go there on overcast days if possible or at times when the sun is low in the sky.  Lack of brush in those pictures and a mostly  open canopy are part of why the fish are shy.  Trout in small streams I've fished loved shade, and many of the brooks that size in the NE had tunnel canopies from the streamside bushes.  If they see more than one angler in an average week there, I'd consider night timing it. Nights have lots of shade. But, it's been many years since I fished small wild trout and I may have a faulty memory, so mind what these other guys are saying. I'm not especially a Humphreys fan and I've read his book three times, and recommend it as a primer.

[tangledup]

1 hour ago, Johnsfolly said:

@tangledup what are you wearing when you fish these small spots? I tend to wear camo tops when I am fishing small trout creeks. Sometimes they see you and they're gone or too spooked to take anything that you throw at them. Other times they forget about you after 10 or 15 mins of no disturbance on your part and you can catch those fish. Also as you mentioned you can blow out a hole quickly. If you have made a couple or three casts that should have passed the fish especially if the fly line went over them, it might be best to move on. I am not as avid a fly fisherman as others on this thread. So mine are just observations form my own outings. If you dig through the Crane creek forum, Crane Creek redemption in 2014, I used a small portable turkey blind to get close to the creek without spooking the fish. I was fishing spin tackle using 2# Pline at that time, but shows what lengths I have used in the past to fool spooky fish.

 

I'm usually wearing some kind of green or khaki pants and a darker colored hoodie. Last night was khaki pants and a dark gray hoodie I think. Honestly, I alway thought those trout anglers who made a big show of crouching super low to cast looked kind of silly. But now I guess I know why!

51 minutes ago, ness said:

A little light colored dry fly on a pretty thin tippet (6x) might have increased your odds. If the surroundings allow, approach it at an angle so you don't drop the tippet on its head. And work the spot close first then cast longer and work farther out. Sounds like you're pretty close to the stream -- give it another try!

I'm definitely not done! I only live about 20 minutes away so I'm trying to make it there once a week. Last night was my third trip: one fish on the first trip, nine the second, and three last night, so I'm catching fish. They're just all small, so I assume they are the dumb ones. I know there are bigger fish in there and I am determined to catch them. So far I haven't tried any dry flies, just nymphs. Mainly because that's all I'm tying right now and I have a hard time keeping track of the natural colored dry flies that I have in my fly box when they get in the swift, ripply water. 

[ness]

17 hours ago, tangledup said:

I finally made it back to the creek today. I only had about an hour and a half to fish so I was a little rushed. But I did manage to make it to one of the log jams I was referring to (the least messy one). I only caught three tonight but I spent more time watching than fishing, or at least it seemed so to me. Anyway, here are some pics. I know there are trout in there because I spent about 20 minutes watching it and every few minutes a fish would come up to grab something off the surface right in the logs.

In the picture above, that left undercut bank sure looks promising, as I'm sure you know. And it looks like it could extend back a ways out of the frame. I would try to drop a dry fly in there first, starting at the downstream end and working my way up. I'd try the right side of the log too when you get there. It looks like you're standing in a good spot to start things. But if you want to get between the undercut bank and the log, may need to approach it from the left side. Give it a few tries but don't overdo it. If nothing, I'd re-rig and get a Wooly Bugger on to get down deep in there. 

On these little streams there are usually only a few good spots with a lot of nothing in between. So, it's worth the trouble to carefully approach, re-rig, etc. Take your time.

[ness]

2 minutes ago, tangledup said:

Mainly because that's all I'm tying right now and I have a hard time keeping track of the natural colored dry flies that I have in my fly box when they get in the swift, ripply water. 

Yeah -- that's why I recommended a light colored fly. I can't see much at all that time of day.

[tangledup]

1 minute ago, ness said:

In the picture above, that left undercut bank sure looks promising, as I'm sure you know. And it looks like it could extend back a ways out of the frame. I would try to drop a dry fly in there first, starting at the downstream end and working my way up. I'd try the right side of the log too when you get there. It looks like you're standing in a good spot to start things. But if you want to get between the undercut bank and the log, may need to approach it from the left side. Give it a few tries but don't overdo it. If nothing, I'd re-rig and get a Wooly Bugger on to get down deep in there. 

On these little streams there are usually only a few good spots with a lot of nothing in between. So, it's worth the trouble to carefully approach, re-rig, etc. Take your time.

You're exactly right. Most of the rises are to the left of the big log, between the log and the bank, but some on the right as well. This picture is taken facing almost due north and a little to the NW. I mostly fish in the evening which puts the setting sun in my face when standing on the side of the creek I took the picture from. Now that I've covered it with nymphs multiple times, I'm considering trying a new fly each time I go. Like holly buggers at each hole on my next trip, then a dry fly the trip after that. 

[tjm]

 

6 minutes ago, tangledup said:

They're just all small,

Small stream, wild bred fish adapt, I've never fished there but 10" may be whopper in that size water.

[tangledup]

It's possible. The first fish I caught out of the stream was around 11" and it has been by far the biggest. Average is around 7-9". With the exception of one that was around 3" lol.

[Gavin]

The drop, drag, and drift downstream works really well too. dry fly or with a bobber for weighted flies. Will need to feed line and mend after you drag your candy into the drift line.