If you can't catch em', join em'

Yesterday, I took some time off from fishing to snorkel in some pools on the Wilson instead downstream of the Footbridge Trailhead parking spot. Here's a video of some parr-stage trout or salmon (ID help welcome, though I know the video quality isn't perfect!) and a couple rainbows. I also saw a school of larger steelhead nearby in the Wilson, and what I observed was:

1. Most pools, even very deep good-looking ones, were mostly empty
2. When there were fish, there were several
3. When I saw bigger fish, they tended to be hanging out in the middle of the smoother river bottom in deeper water, where the tailout started but before it lost a lot of depth. I saw no one hanging out in tailouts when they started getting shallow.
4. They would run to the really deep cracks when spooked, but didn't seem to spend most of their time there.
5. Some were incredibly non-responsive and totally ignored me, even when I was swimming only a few feet above them
6. You can get a lot of free lures down there

 

[mcswny]

pretty cool observations. thanks for sharing.

 

[Matt B]

Cool, I think you should keep it up. You can learn a lot about where fish are holding and how they behave doing this. If you go during different months you can start to learn how they occupy different parts of the river at different times of year and flows and temperatures. There's something about steelhead and tailouts...also woody debris...

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Totally agree with @Matt B
You can learn a ton about a stream by snorkeling it.

 

[Creatch’r]

Tail outs could be a thread of their own. Overlooked? Misunderstood? Hard to read? Probably a little of each. Yet big fish seem to like them.

 

[Matt B]

Tail outs could be a thread of their own. Overlooked? Misunderstood? Hard to read? Probably a little of each. Yet big fish seem to like them.

Maybe it's because tail outs usually have good visibility of surroundings and if a fish in a tail out needs to leave in a hurry, they just turn around and peace out into the riffle or rapid below.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

As a kid I fished the "rocky gorge reservoir " (Washington DC's water supply) for years. When my sister got some snorkeling gear for a class field trip to Florida, I took that gear and started to snorkel my local lake. Holly molly, I was astonished to see what was actually swimming in that lake. It started me on a life long journey of diving. Today living nearby, and fishing Pass Lake, I have resisted the temptation to dive in that local lake that I like to fish. I am certain that I would gain massive amounts of knowledge regarding the fish population..but it almost feels like I would be cheating, in some way. Maybe this year year I'll suit up, jump in the water and see what is actually going on down there....then again maybe not.

 

[Creatch’r]

As a kid I fished the "rocky gorge reservoir " (Washington DC's water supply) for years. When my sister got some snorkeling gear for a class field trip to Florida, I took that gear and started to snorkel my local lake. Holly molly, I was astonished to see what was actually swimming in that lake. It started me on a life long journey of diving. Today living nearby, and fishing Pass Lake, I have resisted the temptation to dive in that local lake that I like to fish. I am certain that I would gain massive amounts of knowledge regarding the fish population..but it almost feels like I would be cheating, in some way. Maybe this year year I'll suit up, jump in the water and see what is actually going on down there....then again maybe not.

Screw the fish imagine how many rods, reels and Hemostats you’ll find

 

[Matt B]

Looking at ‘em ain’t cheating.
Call me when you bring your reel with type 7 line to pass and snorkel out and hand line trout on mids. Then we will discuss cheating.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Looking at ‘em ain’t cheating.
Call me when you bring your reel with type 7 line to pass and snorkel out and hand line trout on mids. Then we will discuss cheating.

Really feels like cheating when you've got a guy wearing snorkel gear in the river telling you exactly where to cast and when to set the hook.

 

[Matt B]

Really feels like cheating when you've got a guy wearing snorkel gear in the river telling you exactly where to cast and when to set the hook.

Teaming up. That’s a little different. Sorta like a deer drive.
I guess your scenario is basically Caveman Livescope.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

I guess your scenario is basically Caveman Livescope.

It was pre go pro era. Now days, you could setup the snorkeler with a go pro and watch the live feed on a phone and have actual live scope. Live livescope.

 

[Sneax]

It was pre go pro era. Now days, you could setup the snorkeler with a go pro and watch the live feed on a phone and have actual live scope. Live livescope.

I appreciate that on one hand I'm worried about spooking them with a splashy presentation with a #18 dry fly on 6x tippet, and on the other I'm thinking I should just jump in and go at em' like a river otter

 

[Sneax]

Tail outs could be a thread of their own. Overlooked? Misunderstood? Hard to read? Probably a little of each. Yet big fish seem to like them.

I think my main takeaway from this experience is that the "tail out" really starts a little further upstream than it looks like it does from the surface.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

I'm thinking I should just jump in and go at em' like a river otter

Please share how this works out for you!

 

[Sneax]

Please share how this works out for you!

So far, Spey and Direct Hands-on Predation have the same success rate for me, but I'm hoping to improve!

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Tail outs could be a thread of their own. Overlooked? Misunderstood? Hard to read? Probably a little of each. Yet big fish seem to like them.

Yeah probably a little of each. I tend to gravitate toward tail outs in the early morning - especially when there's significant moving water below the tail out. Figure the fish get tired after coming up the rapid and rest in the comfort of low light for a little bit. I don't know if there's any truth to that - but it's my theory and it's paid off a few times (along with failing to pay off many many times ).

Once the spawn kicks in, I figure they're there for a different reason, and I try and stay away.