For many of us, backpacking deep into the wilderness means fishing small streams with a lot of pocket water. I ran across this quick video demonstrating the high-sticking technique with some tips on how to avoid drag in these tricky little pockets.
Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.
Great video. I love fishing pocket water on many of the mountain streams in Montana. Pocket water is also a great place for new anglers to begin fly fishing because it is much easier to approach the trout. I often take our beginning fly fishing guests to swift pocket water for their first day of fishing. Often, a traditional cast is not needed, just a roll or flip cast. My rule of thumb is to get as close to the trout as possible in order to have better hook sets and presentation.
Great video. I love fishing pocket water on many of the mountain streams in Montana. Pocket water is also a great place for new anglers to begin fly fishing because it is much easier to approach the trout. I often take our beginning fly fishing guests to swift pocket water for their first day of fishing. Often, a traditional cast is not needed, just a roll or flip cast. My rule of thumb is to get as close to the trout as possible in order to have better hook sets and presentation.