Float fishing advice, lots of different questions

[triocd]

I bought a pontoon boat a few years ago but I only get to use it 2-3 times a year. Floatable rivers are 2+ hours away with no shuttle service so I end up bringing a bike and biking the shuttle. First time getting out this weekend and I need some advice. Water temps are still pretty chilly, in the high 30's.

1) Does a typical drift go the same speed or slower than the current? I have the option of an 8 or 12 mile drift during a 3 hour release from the dam. I'm planning on floating the whole time and not stopping unless both of my rods get their leaders knotted or while changing flies. I'd love to do the 12 mile float but I'm worried that if I drift too slowly I'll run out of high water. Any ideas on how a pontoon boat keeps up with the pace of the current?

2) Any advice on how to nymph from the boat? I haven't caught a fish drifting yet, they've all been caught while anchored or while I stop and get out wading. The picture above is the river I'll be floating. Pretty wide and straight with a steady riffle. I'd say 3-8 foot depth riffles with intermittent 10-15 foot slow pools. I'm thinking a 9-12 foot leader with the indicator 8 or so feet from the flies for the 3-5 foot riffle sections and a longer leader on a different rod for the slow pools? Does that sound right?

3) How long should my drifts be before I pickup and recast? Any advice for getting a long clean drift?

4) I'll probably be fishing streamers and large stoneflies. Dead drift streamer fishing can be successful too, right? I can't really do much stripping because I need to keep a hand on an oar pretty frequently to straighten to boat out.

 

[Ard]

The only thing I can tell you with some level of confidence is that the raft will move slower than the current and if you become unlucky with an upstream wind much slower. I don't envy you doing a solo drift under a time constraint, does the river become so low that you can't find channels during periods between water releases?

I've had several large rafts and still keep a Fishcat Cougar here but use it very little. They are a great way to reach areas where you may want to get out and wade but difficult to fish from in my experience.

Hopefully you'll get some more uplifting replies soon so consider this a thread bump

 

[flybri2]

IMO an 8 mile drift in a pontoon boat will be a challenge to do in 3 hrs. Especially if as Ard said, if you have wind in your face. It usually takes me about 8-10 hours to complete an 8 mile drift but I usually anchor up and fish for rising fish so it takes quite a bit longer.
I would recommend you inflate your pontoons more. The right one in your pic looks under-inflated. Remember that when the pontoons hit cold water the air contracts.
Good luck.

 

[triggw]

... I need to keep a hand on an oar pretty frequently to straighten to boat out.

You should also have fins, which you use to position the boat. Unless it's a shallow as in the photo. Beautiful river, BTW.

 

[triocd]

The only thing I can tell you with some level of confidence is that the raft will move slower than the current and if you become unlucky with an upstream wind much slower. I don't envy you doing a solo drift under a time constraint, does the river become so low that you can't find channels during periods between water releases?

I've had several large rafts and still keep a Fishcat Cougar here but use it very little. They are a great way to reach areas where you may want to get out and wade but difficult to fish from in my experience.

Hopefully you'll get some more uplifting replies soon so consider this a thread bump

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the 3 hour release schedule is what we have to work with. The river still holds enough water to limp back to the car when the release stops but it involves a lot more rowing and some dragging.

 

[triocd]

I have more like 6-7 hours to do the 8 mile float. I start when the water rises and it takes the water about 3-4 hours to flow 8 miles but the release is 3 hours long.

The forecast calls for wind at my back so that will help me not get stalled out. I've done some floats on the Delaware (your area?) where the wind practically blows me backwards!

I also would love fins to position the boat but the boat I have has a standing platform that pulls out under your feet so the seat is a little higher. Unfortunately fins would barely reach into the water.

 

[Ard]

Just thinking out loud here but.............. If the water becomes too low to float a one man pontoon raft when the discharge stops wouldn't the target areas to fish be nearer to those deep pools and runs you mentioned in the first post? I'm thinking that when the outflow is shut off and water depth may drop to as little as a foot or less in the low period that shallow water may not be home to too many trout.

There's something positive to be said for taking the whole day and negotiating the shallow stuff. When that river is at low stage that is when you can learn where all the troths are located, the pools the deeper runs, in other words locating most good holding water where trout would likely be all the time water release or not.

 

[al_a]

Rule of thumb for fishing floats if you don't stop and get out of the boat a lot is about a mile per hour.

I'd do whatever it takes to modify your boat so that you can use swim fins. But failing that, I don't see why nymphing while drifting should be a problem. Use a strike indicator, mend when necessary, and just let the nymphs drift with the same speed (more or less) the boat is going. We do that all the time on western rivers out of various watercraft. Cast angling downstream, and with proper mending you won't need to pick up for another cast until you either run out of water in the line you're drifting or the indicator gets well behind your boat. (Or you get snagged.) Rivers with very slow pools can be a problem because your flies, if properly weighted to get down to the bottom on fast runs, will continually catch on the bottom in the slow water. But that's where I'd carry two rods and have one rigged with a streamer or dry fly, which you can fish more effectively in the slow water. And even without swim fins to keep the boat straight, you should be able to get in a cast stripping the streamer, or several casts, before having to re-position the boat.

 

[triocd]

Thanks for the info on nymphing/streamer fishing. You kind of motivated me to rig one rod for streamer fishing instead of two for nymphs.

I'm not sure if the fish are starting to get aggressive yet or are still in winter mode of laying low and not really chasing a streamer. I have to decide if I'll rig up my sinking line for low and slow streamer fishing or use my floating line/sink tip for more on the surface streamers which is my much preferred type of fishing.

 

[Ard]

Just thinking out loud here but.............. If the water becomes too low to float a one man pontoon raft when the discharge stops wouldn't the target areas to fish be nearer to those deep pools and runs you mentioned in the first post? I'm thinking that when the outflow is shut off and water depth may drop to as little as a foot or less in the low period that shallow water may not be home to too many trout.

There's something positive to be said for taking the whole day and negotiating the shallow stuff. When that river is at low stage that is when you can learn where all the troths are located, the pools the deeper runs, in other words locating most good holding water where trout would likely be all the time water release or not.

Any thoughts on that?

 

[flybri2]

The forecast calls for wind at my back so that will help me not get stalled out. I've done some floats on the Delaware (your area?) where the wind practically blows me backwards!

The Delaware is where I normally drift my pontoon and your right, the wind can have a huge effect on the trip.

 

[triocd]

Any thoughts on that?

I never ended up making it out last weekend due to some last minute house projects that popped up. Bummer because they ended up realeasing lots of water all day so I could’ve floated all day if I wanted. I’m hoping to get out this weekend.

 

[Kyo]

I hate this part, but you're going to want to stop and adjust your
weight now and then. If you get caught up too much it's going to get old.
That said, plucking the bottom from time to time means you're at the
right depth. Figure that one out . . . :frusty::frusty::frusty:

Twitch that dead drift streamer now and then to give it
that I'm dying to get caught kind of look.

 

[jangles]

Zoooom…………………..

I never ended up making it out last weekend due to some last minute house projects that popped up. Bummer because they ended up realeasing lots of water all day so I could’ve floated all day if I wanted. I’m hoping to get out this weekend.