Landing Those Rocky Mountain Monsters

They’re out there! Here’s how to bring these mega-trout in

By Landon Mayer

In the Spring and Fall large trout often times leave deeper waters and can be found in shallower areas, and this occurrence allows us fishermen to more easily spot and catch them.

Big fish can be found holding in the shallow riffles and runs where gravel or smaller rock stream bottoms are found.  Walking the stream bank stealthily, polarized sunglasses on, a brimmed hat or cap pulled low to block out sun glare, you watch for something that will give away the location of these large trout. Perhaps you'll see a flash of color as the trout moves within its feeding lane, or a brief white glint as its mouth opens to take in food, or perhaps that nearly breathtaking glimpse of a large red gill plate as the sun reflect off of it just right.

More often you are able to see, because of the shallowness of the water, the shape or shadow of the trout contrasting with the bottom coloration. The good news is that when these fish are in shallow riffles or runs their peripheral vision is reduced, thus making it less likely that they have been able to spot you.

Several important factors come into play at this time, one is that fish need to eat constantly to survive and big trout are more opportunistic eaters than the average sized trout. The second factor is that due to the physiology of the fish's eye construction it allows the trout to only see a cone or angle of 97 degrees from its eye to the surface.

You are now going to put both of these factors to good use in hooking up with that large trout you've found holding in shallow waters. Because a big trout needs to eat nearly constantly to maintain its larger body size, usually it will continue to do so even when in shallow waters. You are now going to satisfy the first factor by presenting a fly within the trout's feeding zone, and take advantage of the second factor to aid in a successful hookup.

Because your trout is in shallow water, and its cone of vision only allows it to see a reduced view between its eye and the nearby surface of the water, the trout has to react quickly to food it sees being presented in its feeding lane. Nearly all of its attention is going to be focused in that narrow field of view, so the fish is going to be less spooky or wary of predators outside of that small zone.  If you move slowly, stay low so as to not present a large profile to the fish, and take care to not wear objects that shine or glint, you can get even closer than normal to your large trout thus increasing your chances of catching it.

You should also take advantage of the trout's narrowed field of vision, and its focus on the feeding zone, and approach it from behind to avoid being detected.

When your fly enters that cone of view the trout's reaction time to commit to food is short and its movements must be fast, or the food will be out of its view and reach. This is when the Dotted Line technique becomes very effective. The Dotted Line technique is a simple method that you can use to make sure that the fly that you present to the trout is within its feeding zone. Here's how it works.

 

The Dotted Line

Start by observing the flow of water in front of the fish and any surrounding objects in the water, and how the water moves as it approaches the trout's holding spot. Now, in your mind, draw an imaginary Dotted Line from the trout to a spot two or three feet in front of the trout where you can cast your fly and the flow will pass it through the trout's feeding zone. Also be aware that you want to be able to place your fly on the Dotted Line in front of the fish, but not cast past the fish and thus spooking it by rubbing it with the fly line or leader.

Another common problem is making a cast too far ahead of your target. Remember the fish is in shallow water and there is a minimal space below the surface of the water and no need to use a long drift to get your fly down to the fish's depth. Casting too far in front of the fish will too often cause drag on the fly, and may spook the trout. So, by casting on the Dotted Line, being stealthy, and presenting the fly into the fish's feeding zone will allow the fish to see your fly and commit to eating.

After the big trout commits and takes the fly this is when you must get a proper hook set that will allow you play the fish. To accomplish this you want to wait until you see the trout take the fly, usually a sideways movement of its body, or the white flash as it opens its mouth. Another indicator of the trout having taken your fly is feeling or seeing your fly line go taut. Remember that often times in big trout waters anglers use small fluorocarbon tippet sizes to help fool these wiser fish. Setting the hook too hard may result in losing the fish of a life time.

So, when you see the trout take the fly, or feel the tension on your line, the fly is already in place in the trout's mouth. Resist the temptation to do a sharp setting action, and instead perform a simple smooth lift of the rod tip. This downstream gentle "set" will secure the fly firmly in the fish’s mouth without putting undo pressure that might pull the fly loose. By setting the hook with a downstream motion you will secure the hook into the corner of the fish’s mouth.

 

Walking the Dog

For you to be successful at fighting big trout on small flies and tippets it is crucial that you have a solid understanding of your equipment, and its capabilities. I’m not talking about the technical specifications of your rod’s construction, or how many pieces and parts make up your reel’s drag system, but rather how all the various pieces of equipment are used to overcome and land a big fish.

When you fight a large fish on small fluorocarbon tippets (5X or 6X) and tiny hooks (#20 or smaller) you want to be able to still apply as much leverage and tension as possible on the fish without breaking it off. Leverage is the pressure you apply to the fish to try to control the direction that it is facing in the water, and tension is the amount of stress that you place on the leader, line, and rod.

The first step to winning the battle is a technique that I refer to as Walking the Dog. To do this you place your rod as directly above the fish, and remain as close to the fish, as possible. This usually results in you traveling up stream and down with your big fish, taking in line whenever possible in an attempt to keep your rod tip virtually above the fish. With your rod tip close to the fish and your line length reduced to the minimum, preferable about 1-2 rod’s length of line between the tip and the fish, you'll decrease the chances of the trout taking control of the fight. When a big fish runs some distance away from you, more than 2 rod lengths of line out, it will drastically decrease your ability to put upwards or sideways leverage on it. At the same time a large fish out that distance will start to drag line through the water and this increases the chance of the fly being pulled loose due to the additional tension created by the drag of the line through the water.

So keeping your rod and line above the fish, you’ll soon begin to wear it down while you follow the fish wherever it attempts to go. Keeping the rod high and tension applied from above the trout prevents it from getting its head down and using its full strength to move up or down stream. Having the trout get farther away from you leads to numerous things the trout can do, such as run up or down the river wrapping your line around an object in the river, taking out line so that the additional line in the water increases the tension to the point the trout breaks off, or even taking out so much line that slack line causes you to lose tension and the fly works loose. So you try to stay above the fish and use whatever leverage and tension you can get to keep the fish off balance.

Along with line tension you also need to use good rod placement to create leverage on the fish. Rod placement is important in helping you direct the fish into waters that will lead to successful netting. More than likely your big fish knows the waters well where you’ve hooked it and will, out of instinct, try to use the surroundings in the water to help it get free from the fly. The most common tactic is for the fish to try to get to fast, turbulent, water where it can use its strength to the maximum. Here’re some tricks that will help you stay in control, and maintain leverage on a big fish.

You should always try to direct the fish into shallow, or slower moving, water. That way you can fight the fish, and not the fish as well as the current it’s swimming in. While you’re putting leverage on the fish you’ll want to keep your rod at a downstream angle, and preferably even slightly downstream from the fish. This keeps an ample amount of tension on the line, but you’ll be fighting the fish and not the fish plus the current as you would if your rod were angled upstream from the fish.

            So, keep your rod at a downstream angle and switch rod positions frequently from lifting the tip up, to side pressure on the fish. These changes in direction of leverage will help disorient the fish, which often times will lead to the fish coming up to the surface and doing head shakes, which tends to tire it out faster. If all of these tactics are followed your big trout will start to show signs of fatigue and may even start to roll in the water as a last attempt to break free.

 

It’s in the Bag

Landing a large trout can be one of the biggest challenges in fishing. Many really large fish that anglers hook are lost at this crucial point in the battle. A common reaction is for the angler to become overly anxious to land the trophy trout and try to speed up the process of getting the fish into the net. Remember when I talked about using leverage to direct a large trout into shallow, or slower moving, water to fight it? Well, the same applies to when you’re ready to net it. When netting a large trout, if you apply too much tension on your rig this often times leads to losing the fish, so don’t be hurried and don’t try to do it in fast current.

You want to watch the actions of the fish, and be able to read the fish’s movement, to determine the optimum time to net it. Several key indicators are used to know when this time is, one of them is when the fish rolls on the surface rather than doing head shakes when it surfaces. Another clue is when a large fish can no longer hold position in moving waters, and you’ll see it turn sideways and drift downstream rather than swimming with the current. The final sign that a large fish is ready to be netted is when it turns on its side on the surface of the water and it can be pulled headfirst towards the net.

Whenever possible always net the fish head first. Using this method will insure that the fish is pointed into the net and any further last burst of energy will propel the fish into the net, not away from it. It is important that you not get overly anxious and try to net the fish too early or tail first, either of which will often times result in losing the fish.

By using these strategies you too can hook up and land large trophy trout, perhaps even the fish of a lifetime.

 

About the Author

Landon Mayer is an extreme fishing guide and co-owner of Extreme Fly Fishing. For more information, and photos of fish that have been caught and released using these techniques visit their website at extremeflyfishing.com.