High Water, a Litte Wind, and Hungry Trout

Yesterday afternoon I decided to head out to the Swan River to fish below the dam in the Pacific Park area.  There is some whitewater kayaking that goes on in the stretch of the river so the water levels are often running to high to fish effectively until later in the fall, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway. When I got to where I could see the river I could tell that it was still quite high, but I held out hope as I walked down to the water, then downstream to a very large "hole" where the water is usually flowing slower than the rest of the river.

When I got downstream I could clearly see that the river wasn't raging too bad in this section, so I tied on an 1/8 oz jig head to do a little drift fishing.  I tipped the jig head with a Berkley Power Nymph and began to drift fish. The first couple of casts felt normal, although I was thinking that I might need a bit more weight to get down to the target area or "bite zone" in these high water levels? 

Within two more casts I felt a small tap and set the hook.  The fish almost immediately began talking drag and I wondered what species of fish I may have hooked.  During this time of year I sometimes catch quite large squaw fish, which can be fun to catch, but are nothing other than very large minnows.  It was fighting quite hard and after about 3 minutes I saw the familiar flash of a rainbow trout. 

Yep, I had hooked a nice Swan River Rainbow, my first of the season, and just hoped I could get her in to take a closer look.  After making a few more nice runs, I was able to cradle the nice 18 or so inch trout in my left hand as I removed the jig from her mouth with my right and softly let her swim off unharmed.  I then made another cast and with 4 drifts hooked another fish.  This one just as heavy as the first, but not fighting nearly as hard.  I quickly realized that it was an 18 inch lake trout and I performed the same maneuver to release this fish as well.  After walking upstream a few feet I hooked another fish, although this one was much smaller than the previous two.  A 10 inch cutthroat was released and my catching of fish was over for the day. 

Although I did get a bite or two more, I didn't hook another fish for the rest of the day, which was strange, but what the hey, that's why they call it fishing, right?  3 different species of trout in a couple of hours fishing.  Not too bad.  Even though all of the fish were caught in the first half an hour of fishing for some strange reason?  I've certainly had better days and without question worse, but all in all a good afternoon on the water, I'd say. 

Drift Fishing For Trout In High Water Conditions

At this time of the year, late spring to early summer, drift fishing for trout is a challenge to say the least.  The biggest challenge that any drift fisherman will face at this time of the year are the river conditions.  High flows make drift fishing much more difficult than it is at other times of the year, there's no doubt about it.  The good thing is that all is not lost when it comes to drift fishing for trout when the river flows are high as long as you make a few minor adjustments to your approach.

The first (and most important adjustment in my opinion) is the length of your fishing rod.  During most times of the year I will fish with a 4 and a half to 5 foot ultralight spinning rod.  But when the rivers are flowing high I switch to a six to seven and a half foot fishing rod. Why do I do this?  The answer is actually quite simple.  That extra foot to foot and a half in rod length gives me the ability to feel my bait much better.  With the longer rod I can keep my rod tip high in the air and follow my bait as is drifts with the river, something that is not possible when using my shorter ultralight rod.

The next thing to consider when drift fishing in high water conditions is the type of bait that you use.  Meal worms are an excellent bait for trout in muddy water conditions.  Rather than rehash old material you can read this post about drift fishing with meal worms for exactly how I like to accomplish this task. Don't forget that when current flows are very fast, the trout will seek the area's of the river where the current is a little less.  Concentrate your drift fishing efforts on these area's of the river.

The bottom line is that when the rivers are flowing high early in the year trout can still be caught, as long as you adjust your approach a little bit.  Make these minor adjustments to your approach and you'll be catching a stringer full of trout in no time. 

Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Trout Every Now And Then

Since the weather has been warming quite dramatically in recent weeks, even though the past few days have been in the fifties during the daytime, I figured that the run off would make the Swan River all but un-fishable.  But with an afternoon of unproductiveness staring me in the face, I thought to myself, "why not head out and take a look?  Maybe Pacific Park will have area's that can be fished?"  And with that thought, I began to gather my equipment.

Waders and boots, fishing vest with back up gang hooks, Polarized Sunglasses , a bite to eat and I was off.  Within 30 minutes I was at the river and by the grace of God, no one was there (I prefer to fish alone whenever possible).  Withing 45 minutes of thinking the above thought I was standing in the water, basking in the glory that brings me as much peace as any single activity that I can engage in. I'm glad I had the thought and more importantly took the time to act on it!

Within minutes of starting to fish I had a bite and missed the son of a gun.  "It's okay I thought, I'm rusty this early in the season".  Two more casts and a hooked a fish (presumably a rainbow trout?) and as it shook it's head, threw the gang hooks from it's mouth.  I couldn't believe it, because that rarely happens, but oh well, right?  Over the next 15 or so minutes I hooked and lost four more fish, so I moved downstream a bit.

I was fishing the edge of a very large pool, where the water was raging in the center.  The edge was the only place that I could get a good drift and the fish obviously preferred the slower current as well.  Finally, I hooked what felt like a decent little rainbow and this time I could tell I got a good hook set.  I knew the fish wasn't huge, but it's sometimes hard to gauge this early in the year, so I took my time.  Within a minute or so I was admiring a nice, fat, little 12 or so inch rainbow trout before returning her to the water from which she came.  This was a well fed rainbow, that reminded me of one of those little Nerf footballs that I used to have when I was growing up.  Yep, she was a fattie!

The bottom line is that even a blind squirrel like me can find a trout every once in a while. 

A Lone Bull Trout Is All The River Could Muster

The other day I headed out to the swan river to try to get a little spring fishing in.  I figured that the run off shouldn't be too bad yet, so I packed up all of my trout fishing gear and off I went.  When I got to the river I could see that the water was slightly stained, but fishable, so I was pleased.  I hiked down the embankment to the rivers edge and quickly realized that crossing to the other side would be a challenge to say the least.  Sure, 10 years ago I would have made the trek without a problem, but nowadays I figure that's it's just not worth the risk of falling in.  Hey, what can I say, I'm either getting old or am getting wiser?  In any case, although I am very aware of the fact that fishing this stretch of river from the side that I was on is difficult because of the angles, i began fishing anyway.

Getting a good drift was tough without a doubt, but I pressed on working my way downstream.  I even fished a couple of riffles that I often don't, but I figured that with the higher water, something might be different.  Within a cast or two I realized that it was different as I got a nice bite.  On the next cast I hooked the fish and the fight was on.  I figured it might be a squaw fish (as this is often what is caught in this river when the water is high) but after a decent fight I realized that it was a nice 20 or so inch bull trout. 

I admired her and released the trout and continued downstream.  I fished for another hour or so and only received a couple of more bites.  I'm glad I got to get out and fish this part of the river, because it's more than likely the last time I will until late August or so.  The run off is going to be high this year and much of the river fishing around here will be blown out as they say for quite some time.