Some anglers look for the best fishing spots, no matter how long it takes to get to the river from the car. Other anglers look for the shortest hike possible so they can fish as soon as they put the truck in park. If you do have to hike in chances are the fishing is going to be way better, but you have to know what you’re doing so the hike doesn’t keep you from fishing.
In order to stay light on your feet and make it to the river with enough energy to really fish hard, you need to give the hike in the respect it deserves. Here are some tips to make sure your hike in doesn’t feel like torture…or at least the whole time.
Get Ready, Then Hike
Postfly’s founder Brian Runnals hiked in nearly an hour each way to fish a canyon stream with Andrew Loffredo of Trout Unlimited/Costa’s 5 Rivers College Outreach Program, last weekend in Denver, Colorado. If you ask him, he’ll tell you that his body, “wasn’t ready for it,” but that might have something to do with late nights at vintage video game bars and Colorado’s local flavor…if you know what I mean.
In order to make sure the hike was enjoyable as possible, or at least not straight up torture, Runnals made sure he had a good pair of wading boots designed for hiking long distances to the river. Then once they parked the car, the whole group rigged up and got ready to fish right in the parking lot. If you get ready before you start your hike, then you can start fishing as soon as you get to the river. This makes you think about the fishing and stay excited, rather than dread the setup after a long hike.
Pack Light…Really Light
Good waders with pockets for your gear and small fly fishing packs smartly prepared with everything you need will make walking over mountains feel like a walk in the park. If you’re weighed down by heavy backpacks, coolers, and other non-essentials, your hike will quickly turn into a death march and the fishing will suffer.
Pack a light snack, a bottle of water, or even better, an empty canteen with purification tablets. Then you can stay energized and hydrated without burdening yourself with the extra weight on the hike in. Do some research before leaving your house and make sure you know what flies you need to fish that section of the river. Then you can pack just a handful of flies and not carry a whole fly box of patterns that you’ll never even tie on. Join The Postfly Tribe now and we’ll send you the right flies for how you fish every month.
Keep Things Moving
In order to make the most of your time at the river before you have to turn around and start hiking back to the car, it helps to keep moving. Rather than focus on a single spot and waste your entire day on showing a handful of fish different flies, rig up a presentation that will keep you moving and covering more water.
If you hit a spot with a few casts and don’t have any takes or bumps, move on. If you see a fish, then you can spend a little more time and present a few more flies to the fish, until you spook the fish, then move on. Making sure you cover as much water as possible in the time that you have before you hike back to the car will make sure you walk away thinking the whole day was worth it. There’s nothing worse than freezing your butt off in a snow-covered canyon all day long for just an hour or two of fishing unless you’ve put in a solid effort on the river. If you do it right, you might even forget about the hike entirely when talking about it at the bar that night. Maybe.
Make your hikes into the river suck less by having the right flies and gear before you even leave your house. Sign up for Postfly now and Join The Tribe of thousands of other fly anglers all around the country.
https://postflybox.com/blog/2016/12/07/questions-you-should-be-asking-your-fly-guide/
https://postflybox.com/blog/2016/11/18/how-to-become-a-master-of-euro-nymphing/