Carefully exploring the shores and tails of deep pools or the borders of runs is the best way of finding a big trout, because those are their favorite hunting spots.
A while ago, watching a European video about mayflies and brown trout, I understood the importance of shallow waters when looking for big fish. In the film, a group of browns were working as individuals to get together a shoal of fry fish against the shore. It took them some time to get them together in the shallow part and once they made it, they started to trap them one by one.
It’s clear that in a zone with deep waters they would have had great problems in getting their food, considering the incredible agility and speed of fry when given some room.
Big trout, like golden dorados, know that surrounding small fish against the shore increases their chances of getting a bite, the same happens to us when we want to catch a small fish with our hands.
We have all scared a good number of big fish by walking through the shore in very low waters, but we go on, not paying attention to these sites. Old traditions make us fish in deeper waters.
In the Quillén River, near to the Aluminé, I constantly see rainbows and browns feeding themselves just some centimeters from the shore, with their dorsal fin and the tail sticking out in the surface. A semi drowned nymph doesn’t fail then, if we are aware of the movement of the trout because the bite will be very soft.
Something similar happens when we deal with water vegetation that forms small and narrow channels close to the banks, here there are good fish. A CDC dry or an emergent are perfect when the vegetation does not allow nymphs and other flies to do their work.
Convinced that big trout are only located in the depth of the pools, a good number of anglers forget the low waters where most of the big trout look for small fish and other organism.
The big ones are capable of swimming in very shallow waters when they follow something that they care for, and in low waters is where we find the biggest nymphs and crustaceans. We should have to start thinking carefully before invading the shore to cast towards the middle or the other side.It’s true that not all shores are going to have big trout but some details can guide us to find them.The low waters in the tail of deep pools when fished at the right time, with little light, are a classic way to find big fish. We don’t always have a bite but surely a lot of big ones eat there.
All the important pools have one or several trout and we will hardly make them bite in the main body of the pool, unless there is a storm or dim light. The borders of the pool, the tail and the head are the points where we have to pay the most attention, using flies and gear that work naturally in this type of current and depth.
In the Pulmarí River, there is a deep long pool with high rocky edges. We can see, without been noticed, the activity of large trout. Hidden between the big rocks, so as not to scare them, we will soon see big trout eating on the edge, the tail and the head of the pool. If we scare them, they will quickly leave towards the deep waters without feeding.
Even in shallow rocky bottoms of lakes there are good trout, because there are lots of foods there: fry, nymphs and crabs.
Pay special attention to where shallow waters meet deep waters, here and in other hiding spots, trout go to feed themselves. In pockets, we will be amazed to find heavy trout, also in the borders of fast runs, were the water runs slower.
Before fishing a run, I never fail to try the borders and it’s where I generally find the best trout. The line on the water that indicates the difference between the fast water of the run and the slow one is a hot zone where we will find good trout all the time, especially when this line is over a rocky bottom. Attractor flies like the PMX are perfect for these current lines, or a good beetle fly that usually doesn’t fail in tempting huge brown trout.
In the slow tail waters that we find past big pools, good trout take a fixed position or they move, going over a perimeter that they look after, quickly scaring any trout that dares to go in. It’s common to see them in this attitude still during daylight.
As mentioned before, early in the morning or in the evening are both perfect moments to fish in low waters but I have had good results fishing in the shore with full light, using terrestrial imitations, especially big beetles in the first two months of the season.
We will find fast and shallow waters that run over a bed of stones that apparently don’t offer shelter, nevertheless it is surprising to see the large number of trout that we can find in a flat where the water is barely knee-deep.
When we fish by floating on a boat in a river or lake, most of the casting is aimed to the coastal waters and the bites happen before the fly takes distance from it. It is curious that, traditionally, fishermen wade to fish the middle of the river more than the edges, wasting opportunities of catching big trout without having to handle lots of line or casting far.
Knowing that most of the trout are close to the edge, it’s interesting to develop the ability and techniques to cast towards the edges; either from the coast itself, entering very little into the water and wading across to the middle and casting from there to the edge. I have forced myself to fish with no waders, so as to look what happens on the shores, hide and see the activity on those waters we always step on.
The advantage of fishing in low waters is that the trout will be very close to the surface and very willing to take anything that floats. Happy circumstances for the ones that would rather fish with floating lines most of the time and enjoy a strike in the low water where we can see all the body of the trout at the moment of the take.
Who can forget the wave produced by a big brown trout in low water when going after the fly? Those are hard to forget things.
The fry fish migration in Patagonia rivers like the Collón Curá and Caleufu are a perfect example of big trout hunting in very shallow waters. The smaller fish go up and down the current just centimeters off the edges. The flies have to perfectly imitate this behavior, they won´t even look at the fly if not.
Fishing in the shore water we can find some difficulties that don’t happen when we cast through the current. Frequently we will have to cast upstream placing the fly a few centimeters from the bank. This kind of cast is simpler if we use dry flies or suspended nymphs a few centimeters below an indicator. Fishing streamers this way, casting upstream, is not easy in small rivers where there is vegetation and dry branches from the shore, but we can try in bigger rivers with rocky bottoms using small, thin and light streamers so we don’t scare the fish. It’s a different sound that of a heavy streamer falling on the water than that of a dry foam fly, the first one frightens and the second makes the fish alert in a good way, so be careful about the sound of the fly falling in low water, it can be used in our favor.
While walking and casting –upstream- we stir up all the water sediments, this will not affect the fish and at the same time the fly line and the leader will be less noticed.
My favorite fly to use during the start of the season is a #6 black foam beetle with a peacock belly tied with olive green silicone legs, which are long and undulating. It never fails in catching browns and rainbows in the most unlikely places.
Further on in the season I use lighter attractors like the Royal PMX or similar, traditional dries like the regular Adams and CDC flies, with little CDC. A ball of CDC floats very well but fishes little or nothing.
Foam ants are killers during the whole season and very effective in autumn when the willow flea abounds in Patagonia.
Maybe the separated body of the ant simulates a couple of willow fleas travelling stuck together, we will never know but the theory seems solid and runs smoothly, season after season. When doubting on what the trout are eating close to the shore or behind branches, try a good foam ant in a #16 hook, you will be surprised with the results.
The Royal Wulff with its body split in two by the red floss band is another attractor, more efficient with the appropriate volume to imitate lots of terrestrial insects.
It’s important to notice that the shores are like quicksand for terrestrial insects. They fall in hundreds without realizing, and we are not only talking about grasshoppers. Ants, bugs, beetles and caterpillar are only a portion of what trout take advantage of all day.
From time to time, other terrestrials are included in the diet of trout that patrol the shores; the most notorious is the willow worm that produces great feeding activity. Gone are the times when a simple fishing hook covered with green fluorescent vernille was enough to catch many trout.
Nowadays, the worm has to be more sophisticated, we have to try different sizes, tones, forms and sinking speeds when we are not using floating varieties. We take a special box with the worms instead of taking a couple of worms, times change.
Historically, the favorite terrestrial is the grasshopper. Where the tall grass joins with the shore at the rhythm of the wind, the grasshopper rules supremely.
Fishing with hoppers teaches us about the fine ear of the trout; without seeing them, when a grasshopper lands in the surface with its characteristic noise, the trout has no trouble in turning back fast and catch it.
The sound our fly makes when falling has magic properties if we utilize it well; to achieve the perfect tone it’s important to experiment with flies of different materials. The old hoppers with hair wings from Joe Brooks’ period, like Joe´s Hopper, are less effective compared to modern hoppers because of the noise when they do when they hit the water.
Sound in water travels five times faster than in the air, and there is no doubt that is important for fish, that detect the fall of insects or run away from clumsy fishermen that wade across. If there are many fishermen, trout learn to tolerate us like with cows and other animals, but they also learn to avoid most of the flies that they are presented with.
Fishing downstream we will seldom have more than 50 centimeter of depth, something that makes most sinking flies useless. Everything that floats or navigates partially suspended will be effective and it’s not worth trying with a heavy fly that will spook a lonely trout.
In rivers like the Malalco, a small Pheasant Tail tied like the Frank Sawyer original becomes great if we fish it without an indicator, greasing the leader some 5 centimeters before the nymph. The movement of the trout marks the strike but it’s also important to watch the exact point where the leader penetrates the water surface. At that point in the surface, the water produces a depression in an inverted cone shape that is easy to see. When a strike happens we can see how the leader runs downstream and the cone disappears, a signal that shows something has stopped the nymph. Obviously we are talking about smooth waters like in pools and flats.
It is highly recommended to use dark no shine monofilaments to avoid any suspicion by the trout, the dark monofilament in my case is an essential tool when fishing dries and nymphs.
The crab imitations are not easy to fish in the low waters, imitating the crab movements we will take them out too fast. That’s why I reserve them for the tail of pools to move them well, and the results are brilliant, specially at the end of the day. I use small imitations of crabs not to scare the fish. A fly that arrives smoothly to the water is important in these cases.
A big trout in shallow waters feels the danger and escapes to the depth if anything rare appears. A slow close up is essential and I prefer, as I mentioned before, fishing upstream. An important detail is trying to bend down, choose a trout and cast with the fishing rod horizontally and as low as possible. The line scares less if it flies low.
The more false casts, the more possibilities of frightening fish. A balanced rod and reel and a line that runs well are key factors.
If the line is smooth, a bit of line shoot before entering the water facilitates the casting. In the past, the lines were greased neatly and they were made of the same material we use today, PVC.
Even the lines with textures work better with line shoot, even if the manufacturer tells us we don’t need to lubricate it. Today the floating line is used less than the sinking one and some habits became lost. Greasing the line eliminates the dirt from the surface, reduces the friction coefficient considerably and does not harm the cover of the line that is still PVC, like in the sixties.
Fishing downstream we have to do everything possible, so the first cast is good and a line that runs and obeys to the double haul helps a lot.
In shallow waters we can get closer to the trout before they see us because of the phenomenon of the refraction of the light and the position of the trout, remember that throwing with a low angle is better.
Upstream, it’s easier to fish the left shore for a right handed fisherman. Fishing the right shore is totally different and its imperative to dominate the cast over the left elbow, always in the case of a right handed fisherman.
In some spots where the depth and the current are moderate we can go into the middle of the river and fish the shores comfortably, casting as if we were on a boat. In this case we can go upstream or downstream in the river. What is removed from the bottom won’t go directly to the trout and we can fish downstream using the reach cast to present the fly first; it never fails, as the trout see the fly before the leader and the line.
In pockets, we can get closer by careful wading towards the trout and in some cases we will be fishing practically with the leader. This allows a very precise handling of the fly and with nymphs we can see the fly when it is taken.
Cliff shores with abundant grass are fantastic to check carefully for trout activity, fishing for them is a whole other thing.
I will never forget the afternoons in the Aluminé River while I waited for the rafts on the days I had to guide only during the walking and wading moments. Without my waders and only with a box of nymphs and worm flies, I located myself without been seen, very quietly, between the branches. I only had to wait for the rainbows and browns that continually patrolled the shores.
Putting down the rod very slowly, only the fly and the tippet went into the water. The response from trout were immediate, as well as the tangling of the rod with the branches, but those were fine hours before I could see the rafts turn towards the curve of the river where I awaited.
We all have the desire to measure ourselves with a trout that challenges our gear and this will happen more often if we learn to play the game of the shallow waters.
