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Let’s talk about fishing big rivers. For the most part, all of us here at Troutbitten are river anglers, meaning not much stillwater. Furthermore we’re mostly wade anglers. We spend most of our time wading rather than floating, because we enjoy it, and because in a lot of cases, wading gives us the best chance for success.
But over the years I’ve noticed some misunderstandings about where and how we fish. I hear from a lot of reader, listeners and watchers of Troutbitten stuff. And one thing that frequently comes up is an assumption that all of our waters are small to medium sized. But that’s not true. Each of us spends plenty of time on big rivers. We all have our favorite rivers outside of this region. We’ve all traveled. And even around here, we have opportunities to fish big rivers.
So, what’s big? I’ll say a big river is one that you could float. And it’s probably the kind of river where you can’t wade all of it.
So we’re here to talk about fishing big water. In previous podcasts, we’ve spent some time talking about specific tactics and strategies for fishing small water, so let’s do the same for big rivers.
Each of us has a few tricks and some plans for getting the most out of a big water trip. We’ve made the mistakes, and we’ve all shared among ourselves how we eventually learned to not only manage big water but have some of the best days of the season.
I always say that fishing big water and fishing it well takes a lot of discipline. We talk about all of that and a lot more in this podcast.
My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Josh Darling join me for a great discussion.
Resources
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Reading Water in Levels, Lanes and Seams
READ: Troutbitten | Never Blame the Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Fishing Big Water — One Key Tip
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Season Fifteen of the Troutbitten Podcast continues next week. So look for episode four in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
The mainstem of the ******* River is on the eastern edge of PA. Google Earth measurements show many reaches/spots that are well over 300′ in width.
It’s a big river with many much smaller secret rivers that get overlooked.
Right on. 300 is a big river, for sure. Careful with that spot burn. I changed the name to *****.
Cheers.
Dom
That river has no secrets left. There are only 3 wade access spots that are at overflow parking this time of year. Wade anglers are treated to a steady parade of drift boats, all day – every day. Until recent heavy rains, it was the only drift boat option on system due to low water conditions everywhere else, and it was an absolute zoo. Currently, it is coming down from 21,000 cfs. It wade fishes best at 1,500 – 3,000.
The only way to beat the crowds is to fish at xxxx.
Ha!
Good stuff, Rick. From the beginning, we adopted a policy of never naming stream names. Because it’s not for you or me or anyone else to decide if there are “no secrets left,” or everyone knows about. Even with the river you mentioned, sure people know about it, but that’s not the point. It doesn’t need the extra pressure of being named. It’s that simple. We don’t publicly name stream names. The reach is too wide.
READ: Troutbitten | A Fisherman’s Thoughts On Friendship and Spot Burning
Message received. Won’t do that again.
Hello Dom,
Always enjoy and learn something from both your podcasts and articles- Thank you.
I picked up some good nuggets of info from this podcast:
• being disciplined
• recognizing pace fishing an area
• presentation still key regardless of river size
• knowing that there’s still structure even though one may not see it.
• etc…
Many of us have limited time fishing when traveling to some of these larger river destinations. What I’ve found helpful as a wade angler is to string-up multiple rigs (nymphing rig; dry dropper; and a Spey swing setup) prior to starting my day which I’ve found has helped maximize time on the water. I’m also selective with identifying water that looks fishy and that I feel I can competently cover. The rivers I fish have many miles of roadside access that lends well to being selective. Doing some advanced research about the river(s) and supporting local fly shops I’ve found pays dividends.
Many THANKS for an educational and entertaining podcast. There’s always plenty of laughs….
Love it.