Middle Yough - Tips, Techniques, Setup

[sam]

I finally got a mountain bike after many years of putting it off so I decided to fish the Middle Yough this last weekend - specifically the Trophy Trout section below Ramcat. I rode along the GAP trail and tried several areas you could access from the trail.

I've fished the outflow area numerous times and I've had success wading and using dry dropper, streamers, nymphs, etc. I approached the section below Ramcat with the same mindset and gear. However, I STRUGGLED. Only ended up landing one rainbow on a black wooly bugger after ~8-9 hours of fishing throughout the weekend.

For some reason I was expecting the water to be a lot more shallow and wadeable, but it really isn't - at least the good fishy looking spots. Lots of very deep runs and drop offs. Dry dropper seemed pointless (didn't see any fish rising). I tried a few variations of heavy nymph setups and didn't get any takes. I had the most success with wooly buggers, but a lot of the bumps seemed more out of aggression than a desire to eat.

Based on my experience it seems like fishing a sinking line with very heavy streamers might be the best course of action. I also found casting to be a bit difficult. Due to the drop offs, you can't really wade out too far and the brush behind you made it tricky to get enough line out on the water to hit the potential sweet spots.

To be fair, I probably only fished the first 3 miles down from Ramcat so maybe the river changes further down and becomes a bit more wadeable?

Any tips or suggestions?

 

[chief17]

It's been a bit since I've fished the middle Yough since I moved further away from it, but from what I remember I always preferred to fish it when the Confluence gauge was under 1k. They typically release more water on the weekend for rafters and such but depends on rainfall. Above 1k it's a bit more difficult and I've waded myself into a couple of bad situations that I had to be real careful getting out of. That river is no joke.

I've had hit and miss success on the Yough. Don't recall any noteworthy hatches other than a Trico hatch one evening that I wasn't prepared for. I seemed to have the best luck hitting the pocket water and seams. I might be inclined to run a mono rig with a weighted streamer more than a sinking line if I can ever make it back down there. I'd certainly take both though.

If you can get away during the week when the flows are lower it might be more manageable.

 

[TerrellBFly]

Wading on the middle yough is tough. I respect anyone willing to give it a go. Generally, when I have fished the yough, its by boat. Even then, its a puzzle. There are so many drop offs, troughs, buckets, that it is impossible to get them all. Most of my success below ram cat has been on streamers, however, I do get into one on a nymph rig every once in a while.

I am considering taking a float with a guide, just to get their perspective and pick up on areas to concentrate on - I have yet to find one at a bar to pry with booze. Figure that may be the best way to get the 'cliff notes' version of how to make it a banner day.

 

[JSky]

From my experiences on this section I’d say you killed it. It’s hit and miss when you’ll find fish this time of year and wading it is tough. Float trips usually are more productive.