Bridges Over Trout

Is there a fly fisher who has never fished under a bridge? I would really be surprised if there was one. When on the water with a bright open sky, the shadow of a bridge can keep you from getting skunked for the day. Any fly fisher I know will hit that shadow with a fly to see if there are any takers. And, often there are...

I will approach a bridge, when possible, from the downstream side so I can cast upstream up and under the bridge. My preference is to cast the fly into a feeding lane, beyond the bridge's shadow, and let it dead drift back into the shadow and down in front of the trout's nose. It's works for me. My belief is there's something about the dry fly being lit up by the sun that attracts the attention of the trout and by the time it floats down to him in the shadow, the trout is highly motivated to hit it. I don't know if that's true, but it's a positive thought and visual in my head as I'm in the act of casting and watching the fly bobble down the stream. Yeah, I'm kind of a 'Law of Attraction' believer...positive thoughts work!

There is a drawback to fishing under a bridge that I learned the hard way. I hooked a trout on the other side of the bridge and was walking toward the trout while managing the tight line. I was focused on landing the Leetle Feller and nothing else. Yup, I walked right into a steel beam with my head leading the way. Only a little blood, rust on my bucket hat, and a little cussing at being a dumb**s. Well, actually a lot of cussing. It hurt, but not enough for me to take my focus away from landing that trout. You know, I approach that bridge much more carefully now, with one eye on my fly and the other on that steel beam.

Note: I tend to go through bandaids a lot each year and why I keep a box of them in the truck. And, my wife reminds me when I depart for fishing, "do you have bandaids?"

*Top photo by Steve Rath - nope, I wasn't fishing off the bridge, just scouting the stream for trout.