Latest News from Riversong Fly Fishing Guides in Wanaka
Sight Fishing
For visiting anglers coming to NZ to fish our backcountry rivers, a very useful skill to bone up on is, how to see the trout you will be fishing too? The majority of our mountain streams are fast moving, boisterous affairs with lots of rocks and white water. By their nature these streams carry relatively low numbers of trout, sometimes only 1 or 2 fish per kilometre. If the angler is unable to spot trout then a lot of unproductive water is covered.
How to spot trout:
- First, a good pair of polaroid sunglasses are essential. For backcountry fishing this is probably the most important article of gear.
- Second, a knowledge of how to read the water is hugely important. Although this sort of knowledge takes years to accumulate there are some pointers that will help anglers trying to see trout. When approaching a river it is useful to divide it into segments in your mind, something that will become second nature. Why do this? All rivers are a series of pools or quiet water with a fast flowing entry and a fast flowing exit. A pool system can be anything from 100 metres long to over a kilometre. Segmenting it mentally is a great help in knowing where to look. Trout being efficient creatures tend to lie in quiet water right next to fast flowing water . This allows them to dash out into the current to grab passing food and then duck back into their resting place. Consequently, the hot spots to look for trout, are at the head of the pool where the fast entry water meets the quiet body of the pool. Likewise one looks in the tail of the pool above where the water becomes shallow and fast. Practising where to look helps immeasurably.
- Third, is getting to know what a trout form looks like in-stream. They are masters of camouflage and blend in so perfectly with their background it is often their shadow that is easiest seen. It is best to view a likely piece of water for a few minutes watching for something stationary amongst all the moving shadows and ripples. Many is the time I have looked at a piece of water and thought it barren. Having sat down for lunch whilst idly looking at the water, there suddenly right in front of me is a fish I hadn’t seen. So it never pays to rush up a river, time spent looking is seldom wasted.
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