Unfamiliar Water

Trip Report by Nick Feller

New water can get you out of your comfort zone. In recent attempts, I’d been mostly striking out while scouting new rivers. My usual rivers were still blown out from the record winter we had, so unfamiliar seem like the better bet as of late. On this day that bet paid off. 

My friend Taylor (@flyfishingwithtaylor) had hit me up recently wanting to try some new water. He pitched a few ideas at me, and we decided to tackle one. Technically two, but they were along the same route on a big loop back to our town. They were close and if one didn’t pan out, we could try the other along the way back. 

Our first stop was a spring creek that was allegedly less affected by runoff. After about a two hour drive, we stepped out of the car and realized the trip may be fruitful. We stretched our legs and beheld possibly the most calm water we’d seen all year. It was a campground, so possibly quite pressured, but we decided to split up and give it a go. 

Taylor took the far side, and I took the near, as we worked our way a mile or so upstream. While every hole looked juicy, we weren’t finding any luck. I was throwing a larger nymph from my friend Ikke (@Ikke_tenkara), and Taylor had a nymph he calls a “Dam Bug” (similar to a killer bug with a heavy tungsten bead head).

Wrapping our way back around to each other, I found a deep pool where I could see a trout! I cast my nymph and I suddenly saw a few trout begin to show some interest. Without being able to entice a bite however, I decided to change flies. 

I put on a small perdigon nymph, and it was immediately “fish on!” Without hesitation, one darted out to hit my fly! It took a surprisingly hard run and tried to get me into the current, but I was able to steer it back to myself and bring it to the net. A beautiful little brown trout. My first little butter stick of the year.

Numbers didn’t seem great for our time at the spot, so we decided to pack it up and move to another section of the river. Just a short drive and we found some more prime looking water and had to pull over. 

We stepped up to another juicy looking spot, and Taylor took the first cast since I already had a fish on the day. Well, it only took one cast for him to catch back up! My turn again. I took one cast and immediately was hooked up too! Taylor threw me his net, and I nabbed my fish as he took a cast. Before I could get my hook out, he had another on! I got my hook out and safely released the fish, but my hook got caught in his net! I couldn’t get it out and had to net his fish in the chaos as he put his rod tip in a tree. It was a shit-show, but it was also hilarious! A moment for the books!

From that point on it was game time! I think we both ended up with around ten fish each. We both got mostly rainbows, with a couple browns mixed in. After a lack of success on my usual spots, it felt really good to go find luck somewhere new.

Perseverance pays off. Keep trying. Try new places. Keep fishing. You’ll get ’em. Always stay safe. 

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Nick Feller found tenkara while going down the rabbit hole of ultralight backpacking and fell in love. Follow Nick’s tenkara adventures on Instagram @norcaltenkara.

This article originally appeared in the 2024 print issue of Tenkara Angler magazine.

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