Hello All,
I have a question about swinging technique. This past winter I fished a spot for steelhead a few times that looked like a real winner of a spot, but is technically difficult to fish. I have had no success in this run, but it looks like it should hold fish (its in an excellent section of the river, and is positioned in a series of runs to be an excellent resting spot in the river).
I have uploaded two "drawings" of the section of water. The first without any lines, and a second with some shots of what happens to the line when cast into an area.
There is an obvious section of deeper water (4-6 feet deep) directly along the bank (river left) with a rock slightly upstream. The main current pushes into the bucket at 3-6 feet deep along a shelf on river left and crossing this is not an option because it is moving quickly.
On the other side of this current, there is a rock and gravel bar oriented diagonally from the bank (see horizontal lines). This water moves at ~walking pace, moving towards the fast water and bucket on river left and is is shallow (2 feet or less) with some rocks.
Obviously, the area around A, with walking pace water and rocks is a possible money spot (especially if the water is up 2 more feet - but accessing this area is crazy when the water is that high). At 2 ft deep, I constantly catch boulders swinging in here. I do, however, wonder about the area in the rectangular bucket on river left because it is much deeper AND it has tons of structure between the shelf on on the bank, and rocks in the bucket. Especially in clear conditions, if I were a steelhead, I think that would sit in the bucket.
Okay, so here is my problem with swinging the bucket:
1) When I cast to A, the fly swings beautifully at first with a slight downstream belly pulling the fly across the current. However, when it gets to the bucket, a seam/push of water catches the line and stops the swing at the river right side of the bucket. If I mend into the bucket, the fast water grabs the line and lifts the fly off the bottom.
2) When I cast to B, I can swing into the upstream, river right corner of the bucket, but if I try to step any further downstream, a belly is pulled downstream, ruining the swing.
3) I have tried dropping into the bucket from above using t-14 with a weighted fly, but the fly does not swing effectively and is on the surface.
What would you do? And don't say drop a bead into the bucket... I will catch a fish in here on the swing, damn it!
I have a question about swinging technique. This past winter I fished a spot for steelhead a few times that looked like a real winner of a spot, but is technically difficult to fish. I have had no success in this run, but it looks like it should hold fish (its in an excellent section of the river, and is positioned in a series of runs to be an excellent resting spot in the river).
I have uploaded two "drawings" of the section of water. The first without any lines, and a second with some shots of what happens to the line when cast into an area.
There is an obvious section of deeper water (4-6 feet deep) directly along the bank (river left) with a rock slightly upstream. The main current pushes into the bucket at 3-6 feet deep along a shelf on river left and crossing this is not an option because it is moving quickly.
On the other side of this current, there is a rock and gravel bar oriented diagonally from the bank (see horizontal lines). This water moves at ~walking pace, moving towards the fast water and bucket on river left and is is shallow (2 feet or less) with some rocks.
Obviously, the area around A, with walking pace water and rocks is a possible money spot (especially if the water is up 2 more feet - but accessing this area is crazy when the water is that high). At 2 ft deep, I constantly catch boulders swinging in here. I do, however, wonder about the area in the rectangular bucket on river left because it is much deeper AND it has tons of structure between the shelf on on the bank, and rocks in the bucket. Especially in clear conditions, if I were a steelhead, I think that would sit in the bucket.
Okay, so here is my problem with swinging the bucket:
1) When I cast to A, the fly swings beautifully at first with a slight downstream belly pulling the fly across the current. However, when it gets to the bucket, a seam/push of water catches the line and stops the swing at the river right side of the bucket. If I mend into the bucket, the fast water grabs the line and lifts the fly off the bottom.
2) When I cast to B, I can swing into the upstream, river right corner of the bucket, but if I try to step any further downstream, a belly is pulled downstream, ruining the swing.
3) I have tried dropping into the bucket from above using t-14 with a weighted fly, but the fly does not swing effectively and is on the surface.
What would you do? And don't say drop a bead into the bucket... I will catch a fish in here on the swing, damn it!
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