Written by: Toby Halley
The author seeks out water likely to hold the largest fish in a stream.
Photos courtesy Toby Halley
I used to fish a lot of good trout water and wonder why I wasn’t catching big fish, knowing that they were in there. It wasn’t until I started fishing with my good friend, Rick, that I really understood how to read water and find bigger trout. I see a lot of anglers casting flies in a long flat stretch with little current, medium depth, and no structure. Like I said, I used to do the same thing. You may catch fish in these stretches, but usually the big one is in a deep hole with lots of cover and a good current flowing into it. The most important things to look for are are depth, current, and structure.
Depth: When I say “depth,” I’m talking three or more feet deep, but it really depends on the stream you are fishing. The deeper the water, the better your chances of finding a bigger fish. Trout like deeper water because it will protect them from many predators, and the water temperature is cooler near the bottom. You will need to use weighted flies, such as streamers or beadhead nymphs to get down deep, but the results are rewarding. I like to use a weighted streamer or heavy nymph with a smaller nymph attached as a dropper. You will need to get your fly into the strike zone and keep it there as long as possible.
Log jams are great places to find big trout.
Current: Current is like the belt on the checkout at the grocery store that brings your food to the cashier. The current delivers food to trout. The fish will sit in the slower water and pull food from current seams. Look for the foam line on the sides of the current. Trout like to use as little energy as possible. A prime example of a trout lie would be behind a log or rock and in eddies. Remember, you need to manage your line to get the best possible drift. If the fly looks unnatural, the trout usually won’t take it.
Structure: Structure is probably the most important of this list. Structure is somewhere trout feel safe and where they can hide out from predators or rest until they start feeding. Structure can be something as simple as a log, rock, or a undercut bank. I have caught many trout in spots with just one log in the water. If you find a hole with depth, current, and one log, then fish it hard. Trout will seek out any type of structure they can find.
The author’s then-personal-best brownie barely fit in the net.
Log jams, fallen trees, with just the leaves in the water, boulders, bushes hanging over into the water, wooded areas, and undercuts banks are perfect hiding spots. I have found my best success fishing log jams. Trout will use the logs to dodge predators. I have had many trout on my line snap me off from wrapping around logs, but if you can pull a big fish out, out the results will always be worth the flies lost. My personal best fish, huge male brown with a hook jaw, was pulled out of a log jam.
I like to fish a streamer as tight to the structure as I can. I usually make a cast and let the current pull the fly as close as I can get it without snagging. Once I’m there, I start stripping the line in across the current. I’ve also had success with dead-drift presentations.
Toby Halley lives and fishes in Minnesota.
Great tips! Your best brownie is beautiful!
Fish on my friend, thanks for the tips.
I see you live and fish in Minnesota. Where in Minnesota are you chasing trout – way up North? I figured the closest trout fishing was over in Wisconsin…
@Zee – there are hundreds of miles of trout streams in Minnesota, the majority being in the Southeast portion of the state. Check out the DNR pages on stream trout, tons of maps available. But feel free to go to Wisconsin for your fishing!
This is the most basic and straightforward bit of information I have ever read by Orvis.
The river system that he’s catching the fish at is the Vermillion in and around the Farmington area. It’s largely slow water with very few riffles. But it consistently produces big Browns. It is not really a secret and is widely known by spin fishermen. Just do some map searching and some hiking and look for the deeper runs with roots or undercut banks. It is not a dry fly fishery in any stretch of the imagination.
I’d like to add that when fishing streamers usually going big will mean bigger fish. Big trout get big by eating bigger meals and expending little energy to get them. Use a sink tip to get it down fast and keep it there too. If you tie your own don’t be afraid to exparment with different colors too. Sometimes the gaudy ones piss them off and they strike out of anger and predatory instinct. Good tips, thanks!
It’s extremely frustrating how often people refer to nymphs on a rig as a dropper/point/top/bottom interchangeably, as if there is no real meaning. When you say a dropper, does it mean the bottom nymph?