small stream fly fishing

cj salmon

thought i would post up some pics of days out this year .my favourite way to fish second to salmon fishing is the small streams and rivers,lesser known and not often fished.usually hard to access,difficult to walk ,never mind wade at the best of times.sometimes a bit of a hike.some very very spooky trout make a bit of a challege,but worth all the effort.if you enjoy a bit of an adventure,theres some, not very picky,hard fighting although usually quite small, beautiful wild browns as a reward.and the odd surprise .
anyone else enjoy this type of fishing? nice change from some of the over- fished rivers.
still consider myself a novice,happy to share tactics and advice if possible.
and would love to hear experience from other small stream addicts like meself .
cheers
(could only up 5 pics at a time)

Compton

Brilliant Pics, lovely stream, BEAUTIFUL little brownies. Well done.

cj salmon

intersesting to see if many more on here are into this type of fishing ,and can share experience.
btw,all fish released alive and well revived

wgsten

Hi CJ.
You got some nice pictures of wild brownies there.
I like fishing on the smaller rivers and mountain streams. It can be chalenging but rewarding at times. Peace and tranquility thay you won't get elsewhere. This year has been a dry one so far and most of the places that i fish are low at the moment. Hopefully with the rain that fell over the weekend the water levels will rise and i can get to fish on them again this weekend
wgsten
http://www.irishflyfisher.ie/

Compton

I do some fishing on the rye which is quite small, with a 3wt rod, great fun with little browns.

coolwings

The thing about small streams is that 90% of the time the pressure is off, in a way that does not happen on big rivers or eg salmon fishing.
You relax and unwind more on a little stream ... until you come across a monster for that stream of course.

On little rivers I have often used the tip section of my 9' fly rod and placed the reel into my jacket pocket, the butt section tied and slung over my shoulder like a "Gye net" - an instant brook rod conversion for fishing in overgrown tunnel stream situations. It works surprisingly well, but is not a #2-3 line outfit of course.

cj salmon

i used to do the same thing with my 9 footer,reel in the pocket,but this year i went and got a 6 foot 3 weight set up,a class bit of gear which worked out surprizingly cheap.you can feel every little pull of these feisty little browns on this small rod,it took a while to get used to casting it,it is more of a flick if anything,the rod is a lovely full action,plenty of roll and small spey casts.
am very happy with the new set up,and when you get a decent fish on its a hell of a fight ,

my almost permanent setup now is a 7 foot leader tapered to 3 lb then a 2lb tippet,i use new zealand style for seaching out the water,a size 18 adams paradun,and a tiny pheasant tail nymph off the hook bend,maybe 2 foot down,i change the lenght of this if i find very deep pools.

but i love fishing a single dry,into deep small pockets of water,i have found some of the much better fish in these holes,worth trying every likely bit of water even if nothing is seen to rise, sometimes they rise as soon as it touches the water , then a few minutes of panic as it heads for snags or toward a rapid

SeaFields

Lovely pics CJ,

I'm a fan of that type of fishing too - both streams and small lakes.

I do a bit of exploring from time to time in Kerry up the mountain roads and there's plenty of lakes where the trout have never seen a fly. An hours fishing will inevitably produce a few fish - small but hard fighters. One in particular I fish often and its in spectacular surroundings and good hike from the car.

There's a little stream I fish from time to time in that area of the world too if there isn't anything happening else where. A couple of years ago I caught 75 trout on the fly in a few hours. Biggest would have barely made 7 or 8 inches but it was great sport.

Casting goes out the window of course and little flicks, rolls and everything in between being used. Once the flies are in the water there's a chance.

Im getting in the mood now...might head fishing tonight

cbrjohnthou

cj salmon wrote: »

thought i would post up some pics of days out this year .my favourite way to fish second to salmon fishing is the small streams and rivers,lesser known and not often fished.usually hard to access,difficult to walk ,never mind wade at the best of times.sometimes a bit of a hike.some very very spooky trout make a bit of a challege,but worth all the effort.if you enjoy a bit of an adventure,theres some, not very picky,hard fighting although usually quite small, beautiful wild browns as a reward.and the odd surprise .
anyone else enjoy this type of fishing? nice change from some of the over- fished rivers.
still consider myself a novice,happy to share tactics and advice if possible.
and would love to hear experience from other small stream addicts like meself .
cheers
(could only up 5 pics at a time)

I grew up and spent my whole life fishin small rivers, there aint nothin like it, keep your tackle light and there is serious fun to be had. lookin forward to fishin the sea trout in the next few weeks.

jack01986

This type of fishing is one of my favourites heading off somewhere with vague ideas about where i'll end up.

What make of rod do you use CJ Im in the market for a new small river rod.

fontanalis

Lovely photos, check out the website below. You need to register but it's worth it.

www.smallstreams.com

Maplin40

Nice Pics looks like you had a good time well done with catch and release.

cj salmon

going to check out that site cheers.
@ jack i use a greys grxi plus,,,a 6 foot for three weight,its perfect for completely overgrown areas,but might be a bit extreme for anything bigger than a stream,so maybe go for a seven foot for 3 weight,gives you a small bit extra,not that you have far too cast all that often .
in saying that the greys i have,, if you dont kill the cast can soot some nice line,takes some getting used to though.
if you had money too burn a bamboo rod is perfect for the small streams.
the new hardy uniqua ,come in a 3 weight too.
but i was on a budget and the greys was 100 euro,and is honestly the most well made rod i own,and a favourite (next to the salmon rod of course)

jack01986

Thanks for that CJ I was contemplating a GRXi rod have heard very good things might get the 7ft6 4 weight or the 8ft 4 weight. Will see how cheap I can get them.;)

cj salmon

try pat cleere in clane,the best game fishing shop imo.he will match most prices found on the net,and a gentleman full of helpful tips to boot

jack01986

Got myself a 7ft6 3/4 weight GRXi rod there was just casting it in the garden and its a dream. Cant wait to get it out on the river.

coolwings

Good luck, and hope you have many happy hours with it.

BoarHunter

that's also what i would like to get for myself !

BoarHunter

wouldn't it be better to use double tapered on this kind of very delicate presentation need ?

cj salmon

double taper is my prefered line for the small stream.no need for a weight forward as i never have to cast too far. i also dont use braided loops,i tread some 10lb mono through my floating lines end to make a loop,this also helps create less water disturbance.
you could go down to 8 lb.
http://www.graysofkilsyth.com/fishing-knots-gray's-loop.htm

jack01986

Rod chrsitened this afternoon with a nice little brownie from the Dodder. Session was cut short by some kid falling into the river and splitting his head open jack to the rescue.

The rod was really nice to cast sent out my 4 weight line nice and easily very little effort needed. Was brilliant playing those little trout on such a small rod.

jack01986

cj salmon wrote: »

double taper is my prefered line for the small stream.no need for a weight forward as i never have to cast too far. i also dont use braided loops,i tread some 10lb mono through my floating lines end to make a loop,this also helps create less water disturbance.
you could go down to 8 lb.
http://www.graysofkilsyth.com/fishing-knots-gray's-loop.htm

Gonna start using this with my leaders now as well. Great link thanks.

ironbluedun

thats a ok way of forming a loop but a bit messy why not nail knot on 20lb braid on to the end of the fly-line and use a 2mm leader ring on the end of the braid. It will last for years. Mono gets brittle is affected by UV light and can break from time to time.

jolter

hello cj, some nice photo's their. is their anything better that fishing some unspoilt stream, especially with a nice flow of water on it, ah the peace and tranquility!

cj salmon

you said it,it cant be beaten,,always something new to explore on most mountain streams,,,im out again next week cant wait

delmonte4

I see this is an old post lads but want to get a 3 or 4 wt rod and try the Wicklow streams that I regrettably used to fish for small trout on worm baits while camping during my teenage years. I see the GRXi was mentioned here in 2010 as a suitable rod but it has been discontinued. Is there any recommendations for a decent rod available at the moment? Also, any advice on fly patterns, setups and tactics would be appreciated.