Riffle Surprises

Nice things about fishing small streams for wild Leetle Fellers are the surprises. I'm talking about a trout hitting my dry fly when I'm not expecting it. It keeps the adrenaline flowing through the day. Those little wild trout can hide almost anywhere in the structure of a steam. Yeah, they can come out of a tiny hidy hole where I can't see them and slam my fly, from the most unexpected places in a stream.

These surprises are why I try to cover the entire section of any little mountain stream I'm fishing. Yeah, I hit the usual fishy spots like plunge pools, deep runs, and the pocket water. But, I always run my fly over the riffles even when they are so shallow you wouldn't think a fish could be in there. And, that's where I get my most surprising catches. My mouth usually drops open and my face shows the, "I can't believe that fish was there" look. It's all kinds of fun!!!

These surprises are why I love dry fly fishing so much. Those shallow riffles are made for a dry fly, and can rescue a slow day when the trout aren't hitting my floating fly in the usual spots. Sure, I could tie on a nymph and go down deep in the runs to catch a trout, but it's just not as fun as those hits I get on top of the water. Like I always say, "the bottom of the stream belongs to the trout, but the top is mine."