When most anglers hear the phrase backcountry fishing, they typically imagine the pristine environs of an alpine lake or meadow stream. And while we’ve all seen photos of behemoth cutthroat and golden trout, we also typically associate backcountry fishing with smaller fish. Much of the thrill in backcountry fishing, many of us point out, comes from the journey to get there. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t giants lurking in backcountry waters.
The truth is, if a watershed offers adequate conditions (food, habitat, and climate), it can produce large fish, even if it doesn’t get much wider than a sidewalk. One of the more effective ways to catch these fish? Streamers. Here’s our guide for targeting (and landing) big fish in small water.
1. Scout before fishing
Scouting is a good practice any time you go fishing, but it is even more important in smaller backcountry waters. Before rigging up, spend 10 minutes reading water, observing features, and watching any visible fish. In small water, large fish often hang out in surprising areas. Look for spots that offer good cover, access to the food buffet, and a bit of slack current that allows fish to expend less energy. These spots are often surprisingly small! Key in on tussocks of grass sticking out in the water and underwater rock structure.
Looking for proof that there are large fish in your local skinny water? Go explore during peak spawning periods. You can easily see these fish sitting on redds, typically in the shallow tailouts of pools. This is especially visible in the fall, when large browns begin their spawning runs and watersheds are usually low and clear. Leave these fish be and enjoy seeing a rare glimpse of the caliber trout that swim in your favorite fishing hole.
2. Learn to handle poor casting conditions
When you’re streamer fishing from a boat or wading a large river, you typically don’t have to worry too much about your back cast. In those situations, you can bomb the opposite bank with double hauls all day and cover lots of water with a single retrieve. Backcountry waters seldom offer these casting conditions. Instead, expect your back and head to be surrounded by rock faces or thick brush. These are fairly easy to navigate when drifting nymphs or dabbing dry flies but become difficult when you’re trying to effectively cast and retrieve a larger fly. Here are a few tips and tricks to present streamers effectively when there is little to no casting room:
Keep your leader short!
4-5 feet is plenty of line and will help turn over large flies.
Let the current do the work.
When you don’t have much room to cast and retrieve, flick your fly downstream above where you think a fish is likely to hold. Let line out until your fly is in the suspected zone, and then allow it to swing across the area you want to target. This technique also allows the fly to get down in the water column and in front of a fish.
Consider different retrieve styles.
On small water where casting room is an issue, you might not be able to pull off a typical “rope pull” retrieve. Instead, work on jigging presentations and dead drifts. Here, it’s essential to use the correct pattern. Something with erratic action (like a dungeon) will not look good dead drifted. But, a leech can be successfully drifted with small twitches.
Don’t be afraid to cast upstream.
Sometimes, the classic 45-degree angle downstream cast just isn’t available. Strip line and jerk your rod tip to move the streamer, or dead drift some patterns in the current.
3. Try to fish during prime conditions
Smaller waters are highly sensitive to climate conditions. Recent rain and recent temperatures play a huge role in fish activity. When it comes to the streamer game, small waters fish best at slightly elevated flows with cloudy water. If you have flexibility on when to fish, keep and eye on flows and go when the water is a bit elevated. When the water is low and clear, streamer fishing is best done in low-light conditions.
4. Get deep in alpine lakes
Plenty of fish can be caught with both dry flies and indicator rigs on stillwater. And while large fish certainly chow down on small bugs, they also develop more of a predator approach to feeding. Fishing streamers in lakes is a great way to target the larger caliber fish. Pack a second reel or spool with sinking line for lakes and work flies deep along drop-off zones.
5. Understand the forage.
Yes, general baitfish patterns can and will get bites from fish. But, throwing a pattern that actually matches the most common forage in a given body of water will increase hookup rates. Are the larger fish feeding on smaller trout? Crayfish? Small baitfish? Knowing the right answer will dictate the best color, size, and profile of flies. This can be tricky to figure out without a lot of observation. Reduce the learning curve by talking to your local fly shop and doing some research about the ecosystems in your target watershed.
6. Bring the right gear
Streamer fishing might seem daunting to those who like to keep their gear simple in the backcountry. Larger flies typically won’t fit in a small fly box that can go in your back pocket. Here’s a shameless plug for our Thorofare Clip Kit. With an XL sheepskin fly patch, it’s the perfect tool to have access to lots of big bugs without having to carry a larger pack. Check it out here.
7. The setup: rods, lines, leaders, and rigging
On multi-day backcountry trips (and even single day trips if the conditions are right), I’ll bring two rods: a 5 weight with floating line that I will use to fish dry flies or indicator rigs and an 8 weight with a sinking line that I’ll use for streamer fishing. On the streamer rod, I’ll use an old butt section of leader (a great way to recycle leaders that have been cut short!) and add on a section of 0x tippet. If you don’t have old leader sections to use, 10-12 lb fluorocarbon line works great. I like to tie streamers with a perfection loop, instead of a traditional clinch knot to give them a bit more action.
8. Commit to the streamer game
This can be a tough task for a competent dry fly or nymph angler, especially when there’s an obvious hatch happening or fish feeding on the surface. But in my experience, if you’re going to try streamer fishing, you need to commit to the bit. For one, successfully fishing streamers requires a certain setup. We’ve probably all been in a position where we fish a run with a dry dropper and are tempted to throw on a streamer when we walk around a bend and see a different type of water. Should you cut your leader down? Try to turn over a streamer on a 9 foot 4x leader? You can, and will, catch fish on this setup, but it’s not the optimal rigging. Plus, you’ll spend half your time on the banks re-tying when you inevitably go back to hopper fishing around the next bend. If you insist on being able to have the best of both worlds, bring two rods rigged for each type of fishing. However, be warned – I’ve found that instead of being the best of two worlds, you’re now only fishing half as effectively with each method. If you’re set on learning to streamer fish, go when the conditions warrant it and challenge yourself to only bring a streamer setup.