One of my favorite types of fly fishing is the small streams that meander throughout the Maine woods. Specially the the tribs that connect to a larger body of water. The mouths which hold many surprises but that is a story for another blog. Great way to avoid the crowds and experience all kinds of nature along the way. Early spring with raising water temperature and levels you never know what monster maybe lying and wait in a small stream.
In the early spring months and warming days, I spend more times in these hidden gems, fine tuning my hiking and fishing skills. Some fly fisherman take a small packable Tenkara rod into these woods. A Tenkara rod and style is fishing with no reel and a lot less gear.
On Amazon I stumbled across this Reyr Gear fist Cast Rod, Telescoping Traver Fly Rod and reel combo. This rod is very compact has no eyelets and comes in a 6wt size. Rod tries to come up with a solution of packing in a fly rod and having the full function of a reel as well, or does it?
Reyr Gear Rod Review
The description on Amazon and a few Youtube video’s I watch claims it ideal setup for traveling and small streams. Rod has a telescoping feature and the excess line wraps around line seats like the Tenkara rods pack down. No guide concept is interesting, the line runs through the rod and out.
The Reyr Gear Fly Rod compacted starts at 19” and extends up to 9 feet in length. Comes with case to protect during travel through the Maine woods. The length of the rod gives you good reach of small stream to obtain a quality drift. Bit pricey at $279. I haven’t tried casting one of these yet and I don’t want to sway you to purchase the rod. I also don’t want to make this entire article about Reyr Gear. I think it has it’s place but for less money you can get a two piece rod and holder for less money and achieve better results.
Alternative
I find a two piece rod even a 8wt 9 foot rod is very useful in tight little streams. You can separate the two rods if needed and cast just he upper half. And or dangle the fly with the night foot rod together. The 8wt is considered big guns but if you have a limited budget and only have money enough for a multi-functional or use rod then the two piece is it. Of course you are still carrying it through the woods as a 4.5 foot rod. But I have been in some tight spots with this setup and works great. There are many kits for $99 on Amazon but most are four or five piece rods that are too practical in my opinion, you need a quick take down of two piece to navigate tight brush and trees…
LL Beans offers a two piece fly rod the Quest Fly Rod series. The rod is $139 and comes in 9 foot lengths, 5 - 8 weights. You can buy any old real from Cabela’s or anywhere cheap and cheap line too. This package is a lot cheaper than the $270 Reyr Gear offers.
That is all you need to hunt these small streams and catch loads of fish.
Bow cast
So in areas where you have no room to back cast because of trees or bank. I often use the bow cast technique to send the fly out. Some time too if you dangle the fly you may spook the fish with the rod over the water. So the bow cast is ideal for getting the fly out in tight spots.
I will coil the line also in my right hand which is holding the fly. Trying not to hook myself on release. It also allows you to stay stealthy around the clear water of a small brook. Trout are smart and quick to see your approach. When approaching the stream have the two piece rod broken down for easy carry. Survey the stream for signs of feeding trout and determine what you have to reach. Assemble the rod and set up for the bow cast.
Clothing
Don’t wear bright colors too. A white hat or TShirt can sound an alarm to feeding fish because they can see out of the water in all directions. Neutral colors and earth tones are the best for sneaking around to that spot where the fish are. Also watch out for setting up a silhouette against the sky. Fish are really skittish to shadows and you standing upright along a bank or the stream.
Reading the water
Look for pockets of pooling water. Under cut banks where trout can pop out to feed and zip back in to hide. I they are not hiding under a tree or bank, try the deeper pools if any. The three things you look for trout fishing is Structure, temperature, and oxygen. Structure is trees, foam on the water, rocks where they lay in front or behind in a hydro cushion. temperature trout love colder water in the 60F degree range. Oxygen enriched water which they thrive.
So small streams and having the right gear is a blast. Reach out if you have and questions or comments I would love to help. Tight lines!