Pocket Water Angling

When you hear the term"pocket water," you may be tempted to think it's where you haul out your trusty Popeil's Pocket Fisherman, as seen on TV.

It's not. So what is pocket water?

Ever come to that point in the river where the water cascades into puffy white pools, places where the water swirls and eddies into tiny smooth pools, where rocks and boulders sit like sentinels all over the river and cause pockets of short glass all around them?

That's pocket water.

The water moves in all directions, foamy and white and quick. Traditional lies are often difficult to read. Which means the trout can and will hide in any and all likely lies.

What are likely lies? Anywhere there are edges, like seams and current breaks. Around any rock. Where the water color changes. Where the shallow water drops off a ledge into deeper pools.

In pocket water, the river moves furiously, broken by the rocks and streambed and trees. Pocket-water trout fight this constant maelstrom and grow athletic and broad-shouldered. They become opportunistic feeders and fierce fighters when hooked.

Less Casting, More Control

Pocket-water angling rarely requires long casts. In fact, you will want to keep your false casts to a minimum. The idea is to have a short and manageable amount of line and tippet out from the reel.

Casting is not as important as how you manage the line as it hits the water. Since you don't want much more than 6 to 9 feet of combined line and tippet out, your casts should be tight and short, sometimes more of a pick up and place down than a true cast.

Many anglers just kind of flip the fly back upstream. Roll casting works well on pocket water. So does downstream drifting (usually from a pile or S-cast).

Fishing pocket water is an ideal time to practice your high-stick nymphing. And with dry flies, since you want to keep as much line off the water as possible (to cut drag), the technique is much like high-sticking.

Here are some essential tips that will help you next time you find yourself trying to fish pocket water:

Pocket Water 101

• You seldom have long drifts. Line control is essential. Mend often.
• Keep as much line off the water as possible and keep your line somewhat taut.
• Keep your rod-tip high so you don't have to move far to set the hook.
• When your fly hits the water, be in position to set the hook. Pocket-water trout must hit their prey quickly since the water flows so quickly. And pocket-water strikes are usually explosive. Be prepared.
• The water is broken, which means you can't see the trout, and more importantly, the trout cannot see you. Use this to your advantage by getting close to the lies.
• Fish all likely lies. Sounds simple but you'd be surprised how often anglers wade right past good trout holding spots.
• If you fish a subsurface fly, make sure to have enough weight to get the fly down quickly.
• A 50-yard stretch of pocket water may have 100 or 200 casting opportunities. Be persistent and work all of it. An inch or two difference one way or another can make a lot of difference.
• Fish the foamy pools, the plunge pools. If you don't get strikes at first, especially with dry flies, sink the dry or add a weighted nymph. These are the lies of the big boys, so work them with different presentations.
• Fish the glassy water with dry flies. Be delicate.
• Use a heavier gauge tippet than you would in other trout water; 4X is not too thick. Why? You won't have a lot of room or time to play a trout. Fool him, catch him, and land him. Don't mess around.
• Pocket water tends to hold caddis and stoneflies. Weighted nymphs of those insects are the most deadly imitations you can use.

Article © Mark D. Willliams, 2000.