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Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

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Paul Arden
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#11

Post by Paul Arden »

You might find the fish right on the banks after dark. Often they can be in inches of water. I wouldn’t wade but instead quietly work your way down the bank, one cast at a time. They won’t be spooked by the line at night. But still the idea is to cover as much water as possible. Keep it simple. Either black lures subsurface or if it’s warm then surface muddlers. But really fish the edges.

The daytime sounds more challenging. You could do the same. Gradually lengthen your cast and then work your way down the bank. Stand back from the edge not to spook fish and cover all the water. A lake that size I would first fish right around it.

If they are not around the edges, which is possible but also surprising, then you wade through slowly through at an angle where you can see looking into the water while keeping the casts short. Always fish water before you wade it. Wading is more likely to spook fish but if they are 100s of meters out then you have no choice. It does sound very good for a kayak!

I would be fishing shorter casts, with a longer leader and multiple flies. Fish slowly, methodically, and with a water like this I like to divide it up and work out my approach before heading in. Give yourself a strategy. The key is to cover lots of water. 8kms of bank is a full days fishing and lots of fun!!!

Cheers, Paul
It's an exploration; bring a flyrod.

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andrewparkeruk
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#12

Post by andrewparkeruk »

It sounds to be a fascinating challenge, especially when such large, make that huge, Trout are there to be caught
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johnnybg
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#13

Post by johnnybg »

It is, but also a tad frustrating 😄
I'm still working on it though, but results are not coming easy. Short casts however, have been a lot more effective than what I was doing before where the fly line too often spooked a fish in the shallows.
andrewparkeruk
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#14

Post by andrewparkeruk »

@johnnybg would this approach be useful?
https://www.thefloatingfly.com/paul-gaskell

basically no flyline on the water
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VGB
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#15

Post by VGB »

Although, it’s not an identical situation, I fish streams and rivers that at late summer levels will have fish feeding in 0.5m of water. As the levels drop, I go to a lighter and lighter line until I get to #2 and can see the reaction of the fish to what I am doing. I would suggest that your line will be putting them on DEFCON 2 when it hits the water.

However, this year, I was sight fishing to a shoal of grayling in shallow water and could see them reacting to the line in the air before it hit the water. I changed to a set up similar to the one Andrew shows above but it is quite difficult to cast with a dry fly, you have to generate a lot of line speed. Weighted flies are much easier. If you are struggling with the cast on a leader only rig, I would suggest using something that adds a bit of mass to the leader such as a braid indicator, the Hends one works well.

I love the challenge of this sort of fishing.

Regards

Vince
Casting instruction - making simple things complicated since 1765

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Chess
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Re: Shallow water strategy - Help breaking the code

#16

Post by Chess »

Wow, read this thread and had immediate empathy. As Paul mentions, it's sounds a lot like a Tasmanian lake, but at least there sight fishing is a lot easier & common. It does require you're patient and stealthy. Red tags and beetle or ant imitations worked for me at the times I've been there. Good polaroids a must.
I too have a similar quest with a saltwater fish in the shallows, in less than 1/2 metre and often their backs break the surface against the bank as they feed, it's sight fishing to the disturbance mostly. They are as spooky as anything, fly lines scatter them, both in the air and the splash, but the rippled surface created by the wind and long, long leaders gives you a good chance but spotting them isn't so easy under those conditions. Boat fishing under electric or drifting makes it a bit easier, so that kayak idea might work out, lock style maybe? The frustrating thing for me is that they fall relatively easily for small soft plastics using spin gear with 4lb braid and 4-6lb fluro leader about 1-2 mts long. But put a fly line into the equation and your odds drop by at least 80+%. Yet, with water a metre or deeper and fishing structure a fly works quite well. As said earlier, death from above makes any fish wary, otherwise they're already bird pooh.
One thing that does work occasionally, but it does require sighting the fish for the most part, is to stand well back from the bank and cast so just your leader unrolls onto the water. Due to vegetation, trees etc it very much limits where one can fish and after a couple of casts or it you hook onto one that spot is now screwed for awhile.
Good luck in your quest
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