Fishing Methods for Trout and Salmon

article and illustrations by J.Jelev

Most of us started fishing with a hazel pole, hastily harvested from the banks of a favorite stream to attach a piece of line and a hook to it. The simplicity and charm of this primitive method entails the perfect connection to nature and fish where one needs not carry any extra weight and losing or damaging fishing equipment is never a concern. I myself was a fan of this method for many years.

Bigger streams present more challenges. Since approaching trout is a tricky business, long casts can be quite useful. To be able to fish in the pools at distances of 10-15 meters or more, I eventually bought into the concept of spinning. The bigger the stream the easier it was to fish it with this new method.

Trout in streams are very often surface oriented. Seeing rising trout inevitably led me to believe that there were even better methods out there. After a trip to the high mountains of Southwestern Bulgaria I was given a couple of flies by a local angler who had been using them with great faith and success. Being able to see the trout taking a fly on the surface is quite an excitement, so I added a fly rod to the arsenal. Flies also worked on the hazel pole.

Fishing lakes and deep places in the rivers called for other types of set up and equipment and my collection of reels, rods, lures, flies and jigs continued to expand. There was nothing wrong with that. The way that I see it is, the proper reels and rods can help me pull out a fish much bigger than 12” out of a creek much wider than 7 feet.

The present diversity of fishing techniques is based on the varying fishing condition between creeks, rivers and lakes, the changing seasons or personal preference. Some methods also evolved as a result of specific feeding habits and migratory patterns, fishing regulations, tackle availability or just following tradition.

Usually there is plenty of room for variation even within one fishing technique. Dry fly fishing on a lake is certainly very different from casting heavy sink tips and weighted streamers. Casting and fishing a flatfish is quite different from fishing a spoon, jig or spinner.

Using a specific fishing method does not guarantee success, even if it is the best method to be used under certain conditions. Trout may be very picky as to the color or size of your dry fly, or the action of your lure.

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