Its that time of year when cabin fever transitions to early spring fever, and while there is much more hope in the air while suffering from early spring fever, the reality is the conditions are not that much different. Depending on where you fish, there may be a real window of opportunity as a trout fisherman as the air temps, and then water temps rise to create a meaningful and legitimate opportunity at great fishing during early spring. For most however, trout season comes slow and those first few nice days on the water usually still involve cold-water temps and sluggish fish.
The last couple days I was fortunate to spend on the water, it was just that type of situation. Some fish were moving around and it was better than usual for this time of year, but generally speaking it was still early. Being on the water those couple days, and in talking to some new people I ran into at the local watering hole that I had never met, I heard some folks throwing around some crazy floats they were doing. Crazy as in the distance was long, way too long in my opinion to fish effectively. These conversations prompted this post and some ideas I think may serve some well, especially those that have recently gotten a boat and suffering from early spring fever- a dual combination of enthusiasm that can defeat all logic you may have in planning your day on the water.
Think Short Floats on the Right Water for the Situation
In the early season, there is a shorter window of productive fishing per day due to water temps being cold. That means you usually have 1-3 hours of prime fishing time, with some fringe time on either side of the day that you can drum a few up if you want to grind out a full day fishing hard. Often, if you are fishing in a drift boat or some other type of watercraft, the first instinct is lets row 25 miles and throw streamers all day. I’ve found this to give rise to more bad days than good in terms of success.
Instead, I find doing a few miles of quality water per float is more productive. If on the fringe of the dry fly season ( which in the case of upstate NY we are) , I try to float short but quality stretches that offer back channels (and with that shelter from the wind ) which is a critical element to finding risers early season. During the times of the day that dry fly fishing is unlikely during the day, I try to throw streamers or nymph quality stretches hard, rather than continuously cover water pounding the banks. The reality is if you aren’t catching fish in the first 10 miles, you aren’t catching fish in the second stretch of mile 10 – 20 either. Fish smart and focus on water that you can be confident the fish are in. When the window comes for those fish to turn on, they will . And if it doesn’t turn on , it doesn’t but at least you knew that to be true by being in the right place to prove it out rather than trying to be everywhere at once over a long float.
If You Want To Cover a lot of Water Break up Where you Fish
I get that early season you sometimes want to just see the river and cover it. Part of the early spring fever is just seeing the spots again for the first time of the year. Fishing wise however, I often have 2-3 floats I want to do in a given day on an exploratory day to see which river/stretch is heating up earlier than others. Short floats still accomplish that. Rather than do 10-20 miles straight, do 2-4 miles on three different stretches, or rivers entirely to get a glimpse of what is happening on each stretch. If one stretch is dead, the reality is going another 3-4 miles on that same river where conditions are consistent or fairly similar to that which you have just covered is not going to change the situation if you are chucking meat at the banks. Set up short floats and do your own shuttles to not break the bank.
If the area you are fishing doesn’t offer multiple options in terms of rivers to float in the same day, I recommend at least choosing floats that offer dramatic changes to the river system where you are floating at some point in the float. Float a stretch that has a major trib entering, or some other factor that dramatically alters the water, perhaps the temps, and generally the behavior of the fish during the course of the float. Also, I find that bugs will sometimes be very localized early season and having these different water chemistries of sorts between sections of river that are materially different offers the best chance to encounter bugs and rising fish early season on the fringe weeks before its really going.
This is particularly true if you are trying to hit fish on both streamers and dries. Where fish are willing to chase meat isn’t always where they are likely to rise. So break up floats that are conducive to both and time your dry fly float for the warmest part of the day. Stoneflies are water type specific and hatch best in my experience in clean freestone streams, or at least more freestone influenced streams which is the polar opposite from where you are likely to do best with streamers in cold early season conditions. So break it up and time each float right.
Use the boat as a Taxi (Yes, Put on Your Waders)
Having a boat is a nice luxury to have in terms of covering water and remaining comfortable, but don’t get married to it. Too many dudes get a pair of boat shoes and wading pants and try to not go above the ball of their ankle all day. If your response is “I’m out here to relax” ok I understand go drink your IPA’s and take some pictures of the bottle with a mayfly next to it on your boat.
For those that aren’t totally burnt out and still will roll up the sleeves, use the boat as a taxi and anchor up in spots that are likely to hold fish and wade. The reality is that when the fish are slow, floating by and giving them one shot to hit the streamer you are no doubt stripping too fast is not the best approach. Again, back channels in my experience are prime places to do this early season as fish are likely to be there as high early spring flows recede, and you can find shelter from the wind if looking for heads. Plus, everyone likes nailing a fish in a sweet back channel we delusionally believe no one else fishes.
Keep it to Yourself
Early season, the good fishing is concentrated. So if you find a stretch where the fishing is on keep it to yourself unless you want to share that secret back channel with other people. The first fringe weeks of the season can offer some of the most enjoyable days you have all season, in part because most aren’t there yet.
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