Casting over a big boulder

[gingerdun]

Could the Forum please tell me what you know about the origins of this technique that my father taught me?

He would stand upstream from a large boulder, hidden from any trout feeding in the eddies below it. He would cast over the boulder, laying the line right on top of it. The line is dry, but the leader and fly are meandering around aimlessly in the eddies below. He did a slow retrieve, pulling the line back over the boulder, causing the fly to rise slowly to the surface in the retrieve.

Anybody know any references to this technique from other writers prior to 1959 when he documented it?

Many thanks,

Lance

[fflutterffly]

Great question! I've used a technique much like this on my home waters, since it a venerable boulder land. However I do not use the retrieve. It is something I'll have to try.

[Mataura mayfly]

Lance, this is a great question. One I am not sure I can answer for you to the extent you require.
I can however offer my opinion and it will be just that- my opinion- no knocking anyone else's view of the origin or inventor of the technique as I do not have a lot of written reference from before '59 and most pre-dating that is of British Chalksteam origin, with not a boulder in sight!

I believe anyone who has spent a good amount of time on boulder strewn streams, both fishing and studying local insect life, would come to appreciate both where the fish lay in wait of dinner in relation to current and turbulence and the certain types of insect that like to leave the water by crawling up the face of a boulder protruding from the water surface to shed the skin of their nymph stage and emerge as winged adults.
A successful fisherman will learn these things and develop methods that closely imitate the natural insect as it swims to the boulder in the lazier eddies of the downstream currents. Then slowly "swim" his imitation to the face of the boulder and proceed to have the imitation "climb" the rock face to "emerge". If no strike is evoked, re-cast and try your luck again.

I dare say your Father had developed more than enough understanding of fish and insect habits to have "discovered" this method, he may not have been the first, but he may have been the first to document it in publication.

As stated, this is merely just my opinion on the method, a "horses for courses" kind of thing. Both insect life and water conditions vary a lot between here and over there, but no matter where in the World you may be, observation and imitation of how the natural aquatic life behaves is going to lean toward more successful fishing.

[gingerdun]

Ariel and Jeff, thanks for chiming in here on this most minor of the minor tactics. I feel a little silly even bringing it up.
It is exactly the kind of maneuver that he would try just for the hell of it. It obviously worked for him otherwise he wouldn't have written it down. I'll have to try it when I'm in West Yellowstone in two weeks.
I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks again.

[Mataura mayfly]

If I may be so bold...... you are silly for thinking yourself silly!
Lance, unless we ask questions and seek others opinions to learn new ways, methods and just plain increase your own personal knowledge base- then we may as just as well stay home, use the first fly pattern we ever learnt to tie and fish it in the bath tub.
Because unless we ask the questions and seek answers we will never develop into better fisher people.
I bet many that have read your initial post have gone "Hey, that might be a neat trick to try next time I am fishing that such and such stream, there are plenty of boulders and stonefly hatches there". Or something along those lines.

I think it an important and relevant question....... I enjoyed it.

[gingerdun]

Jeff, quite right. It is a minor, minor tactic, but one that Dad thought important.
After another read of the strategy section of THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF WET FLY FISHING (1961) I found that the technique was given three sentences:

Another approach is to cast your fly into the pocket of water below the boulder so that your leader falls across the rock. In this position the fly may float and move free of drag. This tactic is often useful with dry as well as wet flies." (page 47)

He knew that the biggest fish often defended these boulder havens from the smaller fish because there was no current there to fight against, they could zip out to grab passing food, and the broken water gave them cover from osprey and eagles. Any fish strong enough to keep possession of such a stronghold had a better chance of surviving. Dad caught some of his biggest fish behind boulders, and this was his most effective ploy.
I'm curious about other boulder strategies. I think it was tie2fish who told me that fish sometimes hold in front of a boulder because the current there is also quiet as the water splits to go around the rock.

Lance

[Mataura mayfly]

Lance, indeed they do lay in front of boulders, usually dead in centre, where the current splits to travel either side of the obstruction to the flow- this gives a pocket of slack water. Whereas there are a possible two or three positions of shelter at the back of the rock, one at either side and one in centre. The two side/ back positions are usual feeding stations and the centre more of a resting position.
Least that is the way I have figured it out here!

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing" by Joseph D. Bates Jr. there are some great illustrations and written information involving fishing around boulders in the stream and ones protruding from the bank.
Granted it is all about presentation of streamers, but a lot of the information crosses over to most wet fly or nymph fishing and speaks more (to me anyway) of where in the water trout might be laying more than the presentation of a certain type of fly.

[Old Hat]

Interesting tactic. Makes sense. Often the fish holding in midlane behind a boulder with be facing downstream opposed to the ones on the outer seams. The hydraulics of the water behind larger boulders often cause the current flow to be upstream. The same is for directly in front of boulders. We think of water splitting to either side of the upstream boulder, which it does, but it also pushes water back upstream directly in front of boulders. I haven't done this cast over the rock tactic before but, but I often cast my fly so it hits the boulder and drops down just along the boulder/water interface. This works especially well on the upstream side. Another note. We think of fish resting in stream at areas of slack water. In fact it takes more energy for a fish to habitat in slack water than in moving water. The fish are formed perfectly to reside in moving water and similar to an airplane wing I suppose, get a little push from the current upstream due to their shape. Actually easier for them to sit in moving water. I say fish, but mainly we are talking trout species here. Why do we find the lunkers in the slower pools and eddies more often....food....the bigger fish are often here or close by because the food is more easily accessible, they are bigger and territorially they get first dibs.

[kacbo]

Go here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

...and click "View this issue" (just under head line). Page 42 and later cover some stream approach topics, so maybe the answer You are looking for is there?

[gingerdun]

Now I am really glad that made this post. Learning things.
Jeff and Carl, how do you know about trout behavior in eddies around boulders? Personal observation? Underwater videos? Books? Some of it I had heard before, but some is new to me. I appreciate being reminded that trout like a little current better than none.

And kacbo, thanks for the link. That is the same article by my father that I quoted from above, so it is fantastic to have this link. I was using the book, and forgot that the text was online too.

Lance