When there’s too many other flyfishermen

[Traveling Trout Co]

As I sit on the balcony of a room at the excellent Rough Cut Lodge on Upper Pine Creek (praying no one staying here reads this tonight and uncovers my true identify) I had a question for the fellers.

Do you ever get to a place to fly fish, see it’s packed with other fly fishermen, and just kinda hang back and not fish? Granted, my actual target is Coudersport tomorrow morning and the upper Allegheny, but still.

With waders and fly rods visibly strewn around the lodge area, fly fishing rod holders on top of cars, and a few gents on Upper Pine at the lodge, I find myself just casually observing and having a few cold ones quite happily.

The typically feverish energy to go catch a trou’ is conveniently absent. It’s kinda nice honestly. Anyways the real question is do you ever get to a place to fish, it’s packed, and your content just watching the show knowing you could wet ur line, but decide to sit back and hear the birds sing and watch the fish sip flys.

I know you all still hate me, but cheers my guys.

 

[dudemanspecial]

Lots of water on Pine.

 

[wildtrout2]

You flatter yourself. Nobody hates you, that's just your perception of things.

To answer your question though, I have never encountered the situation you describe. Enjoy the cold ones!

 

[Cznymph]

I don’t fish for stocked fish. I very rarely encounter any vehicles along my preferred wild trout streams.

However, in the event that I do, I just drive to a different one. You can’t swing a dead cat here without hitting a native fish stream.

 

[turkey]

I hang back a lot. I enjoy the camaraderie and stories. Especially up Pine. Its just nice to be there.

 

[jifigz]

Most of the time, I like to fish where people aren't. I do a lot of small stream fishing, and if I see a vehicle in a spot, I usually keep on cruising to somewhere else. At times, I can join the gang and fish a place with a lot of people, but it's but my norm. It's nice to mix it up sometimes. But yes, when I head to a wild stream and see people, it often bums me out..

 

[hooker-of-men]

One of my close buddies - who is otherwise a quite fishy guy - has grown to hate trout. If we do a group trip to the Delaware, where generally we get a place on the water, he's basically transitioned to drinking beer and watching the rest of the group fish the closest pool. He says we do the fishing for him 😂🤦‍♂️

Doesn't really have anything to do with this thread, I guess. Oh well.

 

[JimNovo]

While I really enjoy watching a great caster, or stopping to see someone fight a hooked fish, I don't travel or spend my money to watch fishing. I'll find a spot and fish.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I feel like a whole new series is about to drop

 

[Mike]

I rarely to almost never see other fly fishermen in the places that I fish and during the time of day or time of year when I fish them. I rarely fish special reg areas, perhaps once every five yrs or more, and when I fish two or three particularly famous waters the fly anglers are almost always leaving or soon will be when I’m arriving.

 

[sandflyx]

there is a lot of wild brookies in pine from the streams being washed out from debbie last year. small streams are not producing like they should because of it. upper allegheny is same hard to find fish.just spent a week with the old (beeber)(bil) fishing the small streams. green drakes are on now in pine here.

 

[sandflyx]

Lots of water on Pine.

pine is down to almost summer flows

 

[5footfenwick]

A lot to learn from Observation and streamside conversations!
@Traveling Trout Co , turn on your private messages my guy!
Glad you are back to Pa fishing. Good luck

 

[Mike]

It has been about 4 yrs since I had a “streamside conversation” with a fly angler other than one with whom I was fishing. I do remember the last one though. As I stood there with my True Temper 8.5 ft 6 wt and 1940’s Pfluger reel that I received for Xmas when I was 8 yrs old (It’s true, but I mention this for your humor), I learned from a nice angler that I could be using a $1,500, well-balanced, 10’ or 11’ fly rod and reel combination, in this case to fish for stocked trout, and more importantly, that the angler had been nymphing with lots of success well up in the water column rather than close to the bottom. I spend little time (maybe 1X every 2 yr) in one fly shop and I walk right past the rods and reels, so it was news to me that I could spend that amount on a rod/reel combo that would be used for trout fishing in Pa, but more interesting was his intentional utilization of nymphs well up in the water column other than in a dry/dropper situation.

 

[Bamboozle]

...but more interesting was his intentional utilization of nymphs well up in the water column other than in a dry/dropper situation.

I still remember a day fishing the Brodhead (Section 3) with a buddy and absolutely clobbering the fish by fishing a nymph in a deep run at least 2 - 3 feet above the bottom under an indicator. I've repeated this tactic many times at many deep places with similar results including some DEEP holes at Slate Run.

I've also had many days closer to home, as recently as yesterday when a nymph dead drifted a foot or two above the bottom under an indicator was ignored. However, if I "jiggled" it, ever so slightly (a trick I use when fishing for sunfish under a bobber)...

WHAM!!

Which just goes to show, many times unconventional and non-textbook is the ticket...

 

[Millsertime]

I hate fishing when there are other fisher ppl nearby which I why I typically don't fish popular spots until after memorial day and fish mostly on weekdays.

 

[Bamboozle]

I especially hate it when I schlep a long distance along or in a stream in an attempt to be alone and/or get to a favorite spot only to find it occupied...

Or worse than that, doing the same thing with a friend in an attempt to put some distance between us and in 30 minutes I turn around...

And there he is right behind me... 😡

 

[BrookieChaser]

I just find something else to do. I ain't that mad at them anymore.

 

[wildtrout2]

I especially hate it when I schlep a long distance along or in a stream in an attempt to be alone and/or get to a favorite spot only to find it occupied...

Or worse than that, doing the same thing with a friend in an attempt to put some distance between us and in 30 minutes I turn around...

And there he is right behind me... 😡

Better than having him upstream of you. 😉

 

[troutbert]

I especially hate it when I schlep a long distance along or in a stream in an attempt to be alone and/or get to a favorite spot only to find it occupied...

Or worse than that, doing the same thing with a friend in an attempt to put some distance between us and in 30 minutes I turn around...

And there he is right behind me... 😡

When fishing a small stream with a friend, it's a good idea to have a brief conversation to make a plan on how you will share the stream before starting fishing.