Wrote this this afternoon. This is my favorite part of the drift. I thought I'd share it!
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Don't let any water pass you by during these low water conditions!
While traveling from one hole to another, or pushing on to the take out ramp, I often witness people sitting back, enjoying the ride, but letting some really good water pass them by. What a pity!
I can't stand it!
For these occasions, I always have to have my TH 1143 bobber rod along. Add to that a couple pink and white jigs, a small, natural cork bobber, and perhaps a shrimp tail. (Very optional).
It drives me crazy to hear people say, "There are very few fishable pockets from here on down."
"Oh yeah?"
Oh, wise words from the age old drift fisherman!
Grab your jiggin rod, babe! Show 'em a fish trick or two!
Stand in the bow of the boat, and keep a keen eye out for those overhanging branches. Watch for bends, where the current cuts a deep, swift channel. Cast at the head of these faster running currents! Watch for those seams!
Ever driven a bobber?
Use your hand to pull your line back and away from those dipping branches to steer your bobber clear of snags. It's a thrill to see.... just how close you can get! Let the line back out, once past the danger. The current will magically sweep your jig right into the steelies nose!
In those frog water sections of the river, listen! Listen for the current, for water rushing. It's there! You can't see the fish, but you can feel them there. They are there!
I often feel my heart lurch forward when I see the right water. The beat quickens as I realize I have one chance to cast to hit this drift just right. The boat is traveling fast, and I have seconds to decide. My knees grip into the braces on the boat for the cast.
There! The line sweeps off my Stradic and lands, and hits it's mark, inches from shore. The current sweeps it just fast enough to keep time with the boat.
While traveling, I have to make allowances for the person on the oars. She wants to travel, to hurry to the next drift. I want to cover the most water with my jig without interrupting the process.
If you use this method, you will slow her down, eventually, if only to net the catch!
Rarely can you cast straight left or right to the boat. It's a juggling game. Sometimes the boat will be traveling faster than the water in which you want to fish. Sometimes the pocket you throw to runs faster. I find it a fun challenge to adjust accordingly.
Calculate before you cast!
If the oarsmen is pushing through some slow, tidal frog water, yet there is a fast flowing pocket to your left, you may need to cast upstream a bit.
I find a bit of persuading, "Over there, bobber!" an perhaps a slight tug on the mono, will line it up just perfectly for those fish producing seams.
Sometimes I can get two, and even three casts in before my time is up. Other times, I get one chance, and it's over.
I most often set my depth no more than three feet (often two) for this type of angling, as there is nothing more embarrassing than snagging your jig. [Someone else] shakes their head in frustration, in a hurry to get where they are convinced the catching shall be done!
I'm all for pulling plugs.
I'm all for hooking it up with corkie and eggs.
Nothing is more exciting and gratifying, however, than knowing that there beside you, not 10 feet from the boat, lies a chrome steelhead.
With quick, agile casts, you can pluck a hatchery brat out of unimaginable places!
All the while, the rhythmic music of the oars propel you, as you travel down stream to yet more fishy water!
There is a thrill to reading the water! Don't miss this dynamite chance at a hookup!
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Thanks To Lynn and Roger of
Silent Approach Jigs
And thanks to Mark of
First Cast Jigs for introducing me to the finer points of jig fishing. I still have much to learn!
Jen
[ 12-29-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]</p>
Have travel, will fish!
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