A morning for versatility

I was able to get out for a few hours in the morning recently and decided to focus on fishing a particular stretch of water on a favorite tailwater that demands versatility if you want to fish it well…and I do.

My friend Domenick Swentosky, owner of Troutbitten, has taught myself and countless others, in person through guiding an on his amazing website through videos, articles and podcasts, how to be versatile anglers.

Versatility doesn’t mean mediocre, however. Instead, it is about having one rod and being able to adjust to different conditions and types of waters through adjusting equipment.

On this particular stretch of water there are deep pockets that demand streamers and heavy nymph rigs, shallow riffles for tight line nymphing, pocket water for the same and flats and glides that scream dry dropper and dry fly action.

I fished them all, changing my rig from spot to spot, with an emphasis on practice.

I always want to catch fish and I did that. However, I wanted to change my leaders and rigs for each situation to fish optimally and found myself deeply enjoying that practice. At one point I could almost feel Dom looking over my shoulder remarking that I was out of practice and that I was taking too long to make the changes. He would, as usual, be correct.

I caught a few wild browns and one stocker rainbow.

That rainbow was gratifying because it was a deep pool with some ripping water blasting into it at the top. I knew that there would be trout sitting at the bottom feeding on the stuff coming from the riffles above…it was just a case of getting the right weight in the system and the right drift. In fact, to get that trout I had to be incredibly precise with my cast to be able to get the fly down fast enough and for it to slow down just long enough to be eaten. Very gratifying.

This was a small wild brown that I caught in the fast water above that deep pool that I caught the rainbow above in. I knew that there would be trout holding in that water because there were so many rocks for them to find breaks in the current. Again, precision was the key.

I caught a few more wild browns, some of them stunning with bright red spots, in the water above and was especially proud of how I finished the section. I tied on a hybrid leader, the Troutbitten Harvey Gold one, and fished the final 30 minutes just having a blast remembering how to fish with fly line and leader. I caught a few and finished up with a big smile.

One thing that has become clear is that I need to get a more breathable pair of waders for my summer tailwater sessions…I have a pair of wading pants…but, there are some sections where that is pretty dicey. Pretty sure, based upon some discussions with Dom, that I am going to go with the Skwala Carbon Waders. Very breathable and easy to lower to waist level for walks in or blazing days.

The tailwaters are just too cold for wet wading even with some of my neoprene ones.

Going to get out mid-week for a day session up in the mountains to check out another tail water in my region. There has been some discussion about lower populations of trout on it and I am going to go have a look for myself. At least I have a ready excuse if I don’t catch a bunch ;).

All the best,

Mike