Common Spring Creek Mistakes

Fishing spring creeks can be a great challenge. Avoid these common mistakes to improve your success on the water. 

• Limit your false casting. Too much false casting increases the odds that the fish will sense your presence. Whether it’s spray on the water, seeing the line overhead, or feeling your movement in the water, too much false casting can put the fish down.

Insure accuracy. Too many swats on the water will spook fish. I’m from the school of thought that your first cast to feeding fish is your most important one. Slow down, take your time, and make an accurate cast. Too many people hurry to get their fly in the water and pay far too little attention to the accuracy of their cast.

Long distance casts. The majority of the fish I catch are between 10 and 50 feet. Great if you can cast 100 feet, but its very impractical from a fish catching perspective. It’s just too hard to get a good drift with a ton of line out. Go into stealth mode and keep it short

Careless wading. Look, I’ve got the coordination of a pregnant yak, so I’m certainly not one to be critical. Sound travels underwater remarkedly well. The trout can see and sense you. I always use a wading stick. That metal tip can make a lot of noise though. I bought some thick rubber gloves, cut the fingers off, put them over the tip, then used good ole duct tape to secure. It works, don’t laugh!

Inexperience with long leaders. If you’re not used to accurately casting with 15’ leaders, then don’t use them. Accuracy is key on spring creeks. If you’re really good with a 9’ leader, use that with say 18”-24” of tippet.

Changing flies too often. Many folks think if they get the perfect drift and don’t get a fish it’s time to change flies. Not so fast my friend. Have a look at trout feeding on naturals. Not everyone gets plucked. If you’re dropping a fly 5 seconds after a rise, on the rise, I guarantee you that you won’t get bit. Pay attention to the timing of the rises and what kind of feeding pattern the trout is in. Then make you perfect drift.

Remember, we only have this one earth. Take care of her. Pack it in, Pack it out.

Tight Lines and Screaming Drags