Reading a River.

In Manitoba there are so many lakes that one could fish a different one each day never getting to all of them in a life time, but what about the streams and rivers? Driving to these lakes the bridges must cross many rivers. Some of which are too big to fish without a boat but some are the right size to be considered classic fly fishing rivers. These types of rivers have many characteristics that can make them attractive to fish and fly fishers alike.

The kind of river I am thinking of is a fly fishing friendly type of river. One that can be waded or have sections suitable for wading and otherwise explored on foot. A river that is wide enough to cast effectively yet not so large as to require a boat.

So you are at the rivers edge now what? Well in a wading situation we can’t use a fish finder we have to now detect what is going under the water by using the information we see above the water. So where do we begin? Well let us imagine the section of river we are fly fishing have these characteristics.

· Flat calm sections

· Current sections

· Back current sections (where the current is going the opposite way)

· Boulders above the water line

· Over hanging shore, bush and trees

· A bend in the river

The first thing I will say is that I am astounded at the number of times I have seen people fish the calm flat ‘lake like’ sections of a river while ignoring the fish holding current sections. In lakes the fish cruise to find food but in rivers they tend to hold in the current and wait for the food to come to them. This is the basis for classic dry fly trout fishing but holds true for most species most of the time. Moving water is cooler and more oxygenated and therefore more attractive to fish in the warmer weather even when not feeding. You will get fish in the slower sections but why not increase your odds?

Fish holding in current will not hold in the strongest fastest sections but in slack water, or lies, in the moving water. Places where this occurs are rocks, the back, the sides and, in some cases, the front. Some rocks are quite obvious as they are sticking above the water line but some of these rocks need to be ‘read’ with nothing more to tell you they are there than a change in the look of the surface water. Dead falls (fallen trees) are another fish magnet or, in the right cases, fish hotels. A good dead fall has enough hideouts for insects, crustaceans and forage fish as well as places for game fish to hide away from ospreys and fly fishers. This particular kind of structure is hard to fish and one should expect to give up a few, or more, flies to branches. Here is a thought; sometimes fly fishers use a real strong tippet as fly insurance but if you do snag the tree all that commotion you make dislodging your fly will put down all the fish so sometimes a lighter more breakable tippet makes more sense. There is plenty of winter ahead to tie more flies.

Another facet of the current section is the back flow or backwash. These are eddies in the current are where there is a lot of food floating around and usually fish in the waiting. There are two challenges to fishing back currents. One the current tends to be slower so the fish get a longer look at your fly and the complexity of the current makes drag free drifts and natural nymph presentation difficult.

Because the fish get a better look at your fly you then need to have more realistic and less impressionistic patterns. At the very least don’t flog the same fly over and over. They saw it and rejected it tie something else on. The current is going the opposite direction here so if you cast right at the back eddy the main current will pull your fly away in an unnatural way. You can combat this in a couple of ways. In some cases you should just make an inside or outside curve cast depending on the variables. Properly done this cast can lay your main line parallel to the shore with the leader and fly in the pool. If these casts are not possible then another approach is to use a George Harvey style ‘slack line leader’ in simple terms these are overly long leaders with a longer than normal tippet section. Originally designed for extending dry fly drifts I find the do and excellent job with nymphs as well. Because there is this slack in the leader detecting strikes becomes more of a ‘gestalt’ thing or maybe an ESP thing. If your eyes are good or the light is right you might see the leader move. If this is done enough you can get a real feel for it.

Okay so you are getting the point, we are looking for the different things that we see in our river. We are looking for the features not the featureless. We are looking for the interesting. This is called reading a river.

So what else does our river have to offer? Fish the outside bends these tend to collect food and have fish holding under cuts. Fish under the over hangs the vegetation produces. Drift flies through the current and fish out the whole thing. Put a nymph under a strike indicator or dry fly. Quarter cast wet flies and use an induced drag till the line straightens out. Strip streamers through the pockets between the current seams. Fish the foam lines, where the foam travels in the current so does the food.

Rivers of this description are an under utilized fishing opportunity in Manitoba. If you choose to try this type of fly fishing you will be rewarded with fish, beautiful unspoiled surroundings, solitude and a real fly fishing challenge. Fly fishing was born on these types of rivers and these rivers where made for fly fishing.