This section will be expanded as time goes along . This should get you started for now though :) ...
The river is the sum of it's parts ! These are words worth remembering because you can (and in fact have to ) not only fish the river as a whole but fish each of her many features and parts separately , one at a time . Now some of these parts are large , slow , glassy surfaced pools filled with thoughtful , cautious , sipping trout that demand they be approached in an equally thoughtful manner . This is what most have come to think of as typical Elk River fishing and this is of course a big part of the experience here . The thing is though that there are many other parts (and experiences ) that make up this wonderful river . The ones we will be looking at here are the ones that make up what I like to think of as Elk Creek , or creeks , which are the small streams that flow within the confines of the Lady . These creeks provide a chance to partake of some far less demanding fishing , fishing that is more akin to typical small streams in our state . Why fish Elk Creek/Creeks ? For one it's a small stream that you can fish for an hour then leave immediately returning to the river . Mixing some small water wild rainbow fishing into a day of Elk River match the hatch pool fishing makes for a very enjoyable and well rounded day . Secondly because it is a small stream with teeth ;) !( More on that below ....) . 3rd , the trout there tend to be beautiful :) . Lastly it is water that is often uncrowded even when the river is packed with snout seekers !
Now the 1st thing to keep in mind is that the location of Elk Creek changes constantly as the river rises or drops with the river reclaiming a section at the same time she is creating another one . The creek that was so good in the low flows of August won't even exist in the high flows of April (or after a big rain ) and vice versa ! You have to adjust along with her . It is probably easiest to find the creek when the river is at her lowest because under these conditions the whole river has been transformed into a series of big pools connected by sections of small - mid size stream . The other extreme is when she is quite high . Under these conditions the creek is generally the 1st 10' or so from each bank and it can be a very productive 10' . If you can "tune out" everything else , in your mind placing a bank on the mid-stream side , these edges suddenly are transformed into an easy to see , easy to fish small stream . In between these 2 extremes the creek constantly changes . Lose 10 cfs of flow and sections that were very turbulent transform into beautiful small stream type pocket water while at the same time the pocket water you fished a few days prior is now 2"s deep with no visible current . Add 10 cfs and the situation reverses . The thing that makes the creek hard to find at times is that we tend to adjust things to scale . By this I mean that we look at a run on the river that is just as deep as a prime run on a small stream and dismiss it as too shallow because in relation to the big pools on the river it is shallow and in our mind the good fish should be in deeper/better areas . However if an identical run , with identical depth and identical flows was encountered on a little mountain stream we would be thinking "now this run should hold a good one" . You have to forget the big pools and large deeper runs (and the way they can distort things) and judge the runs as if you were standing in a little stream . Make sense ?
Now that we have found the creek we really should fish it ;) ! There is nothing fancy involved with this . A big dry and a beadhead dropper produces just as well here as it does elsewhere and drag free presentations are just as important as they are elsewhere (some thoughts on how to achieve them are below) . There is really only one major thing you need to make yourself stay aware of at all times while fishing Elk creek . Any time you lift the rod you need to be ready to do battle with a beast because it can and does happen .... Yes most of the fish will be about the size of a good small stream fish 6"- 10 or 11's but you will at times find 17" - 24" class trout in water you just would not expect them to be . As I mentioned above , think of Elk Creek as a small stream with teeth ;) !!
Here are some thoughts on fishing and avoiding drag in the pocket water that makes up so much of Elk Creek (and most streams for that matter) . They should help you anywhere pocket water is encountered ....
1. Keep your casts as short as possible !
2. Avoid casting over multiple spillovers as the lower will certainly grab your line and tow your fly ...
3. Keep your line from being pulled over spillovers . This is easily accomplished by keeping your casts short and tilting your wrist (which raises your rod tip) picking up line and keeping the point where your line meets the water upstream of the spillover . It amazes me how few do this ... You have 7-9' of lift built into that rod . Use it !!
4. Seams are your friend :) . Good fish like them .
5. Remember to fish the hydraulic in front of that rock as well as the pocket behind it . The better fish will often be there getting the 1st whack at food ...
6. If you are fishing for rainbows concentrate your efforts in the current rather then the still pockets .
7. Almost no pocket is too small to hold a good fish !
8. Make a cast or 2 into a spot then move onto the next . There is nothing to be gained by standing there pounding one pocket . These fish generally react immediately if they are going to .
9. Be methodical and thorough . Hit every little crease , seam , pocket and hydraulic !
Employing the rules of thumb above should help you meet plenty of these :) ....
Now the 1st thing to keep in mind is that the location of Elk Creek changes constantly as the river rises or drops with the river reclaiming a section at the same time she is creating another one . The creek that was so good in the low flows of August won't even exist in the high flows of April (or after a big rain ) and vice versa ! You have to adjust along with her . It is probably easiest to find the creek when the river is at her lowest because under these conditions the whole river has been transformed into a series of big pools connected by sections of small - mid size stream . The other extreme is when she is quite high . Under these conditions the creek is generally the 1st 10' or so from each bank and it can be a very productive 10' . If you can "tune out" everything else , in your mind placing a bank on the mid-stream side , these edges suddenly are transformed into an easy to see , easy to fish small stream . In between these 2 extremes the creek constantly changes . Lose 10 cfs of flow and sections that were very turbulent transform into beautiful small stream type pocket water while at the same time the pocket water you fished a few days prior is now 2"s deep with no visible current . Add 10 cfs and the situation reverses . The thing that makes the creek hard to find at times is that we tend to adjust things to scale . By this I mean that we look at a run on the river that is just as deep as a prime run on a small stream and dismiss it as too shallow because in relation to the big pools on the river it is shallow and in our mind the good fish should be in deeper/better areas . However if an identical run , with identical depth and identical flows was encountered on a little mountain stream we would be thinking "now this run should hold a good one" . You have to forget the big pools and large deeper runs (and the way they can distort things) and judge the runs as if you were standing in a little stream . Make sense ?
Now that we have found the creek we really should fish it ;) ! There is nothing fancy involved with this . A big dry and a beadhead dropper produces just as well here as it does elsewhere and drag free presentations are just as important as they are elsewhere (some thoughts on how to achieve them are below) . There is really only one major thing you need to make yourself stay aware of at all times while fishing Elk creek . Any time you lift the rod you need to be ready to do battle with a beast because it can and does happen .... Yes most of the fish will be about the size of a good small stream fish 6"- 10 or 11's but you will at times find 17" - 24" class trout in water you just would not expect them to be . As I mentioned above , think of Elk Creek as a small stream with teeth ;) !!
Here are some thoughts on fishing and avoiding drag in the pocket water that makes up so much of Elk Creek (and most streams for that matter) . They should help you anywhere pocket water is encountered ....
1. Keep your casts as short as possible !
2. Avoid casting over multiple spillovers as the lower will certainly grab your line and tow your fly ...
3. Keep your line from being pulled over spillovers . This is easily accomplished by keeping your casts short and tilting your wrist (which raises your rod tip) picking up line and keeping the point where your line meets the water upstream of the spillover . It amazes me how few do this ... You have 7-9' of lift built into that rod . Use it !!
4. Seams are your friend :) . Good fish like them .
5. Remember to fish the hydraulic in front of that rock as well as the pocket behind it . The better fish will often be there getting the 1st whack at food ...
6. If you are fishing for rainbows concentrate your efforts in the current rather then the still pockets .
7. Almost no pocket is too small to hold a good fish !
8. Make a cast or 2 into a spot then move onto the next . There is nothing to be gained by standing there pounding one pocket . These fish generally react immediately if they are going to .
9. Be methodical and thorough . Hit every little crease , seam , pocket and hydraulic !
Employing the rules of thumb above should help you meet plenty of these :) ....
