5 Tips for Fishing Spring Creeks

Catching a spring-creek trout is an accomplishment that any angler should celebrate. Photo: Kubie Brown

The goal of most anglers is constant improvement, and there are plenty of way for us to challenge ourselves. From learning to become a better caster to pursuing a difficult species like steelhead or permit, fly fishing has lots of different ways to level up. For my money, the absolute double black diamond for trout anglers is fishing a spring creek.

Spring creek trout are just different from fish found in other streams and rivers. In these unique water systems—formed when underground springs produce enough water to feed a free-flowing creek that maintains a constant water temperature—trout live their best lives. In the ultra clear water, trout become more selective, and the slow, meandering flows allow the fish to scrutinize every potential food item that drifts past. In addition, long flat-water stretches mean that trout can detect every movement and sense every little shadow both in and around the water, which makes approaching them incredibly difficult.

There’s just something special about catching spring-creek trout that makes it worth pulling your hair out. The fish are healthy and beautiful, and landing one can give you a bit of extra swagger in your step. By keeping a few simple things in mind, you’ll be able to bring a few more unique and beautiful spring creek trout to hand.

A fly rod that can help you achieve delicate presentations is a must. Photo: R.L. Winston Rod Co.

1. Light Gear is The Right Gear

In the clear, slow-flowing water of a spring creek, your normal tippet will stand out to trout like a suspension cable, and a fast-action 5-weight rod can cause your line, leader, and tippet to splash down like you’ve thrown a stick in the water. Those large, attractor-style flies that work so well on freestone rivers appear as mutant alien invaders. In short, success in spring creek fishing is all about using the lightest gear possible and the smallest, most detailed flies in your box.

You can get away with a 5- or 6-weight rod, but you’ll be wise to use one with a slow or full-flex action designed to deliver short, accurate casts and make delicate presentations. If you’re looking for a spring-creek-specific stick, your best bet is a 3- or 4-weight medium-action rod. The ability to cast tiny nymphs or small dry flies very accurately is a must, the rod must also have enough backbone to give you complete control over your flies and act as a shock absorber for fighting big trout on a light tippet.

Use the longest leader you’re comfortable with—between 10 and 15 feet—and still comfortably cast, mend, and set the hook. Fishing with leaders this long makes it less likely that you’ll spook a fish. Start with a tapered fluorocarbon leader in 5X or 6X, and then add a 6X or 7X fluorocarbon tippet.

Spring-creek trout can be incredibly selective, so you need to familiarize yourself with the entomology of the creek you’re fishing and use fly patterns that match the hatch as closely as possible. That means being able to match the entire life cycle of insects, as spring-creek trout tend single-out nymphs, emergers, duns, and spinners individually, feeding on one stage at a time.

Buzz Cox with a gorgeous Colorado spring-creek brown caught while creeping slowly through the grass. Photo: Phil Monahan

2. Stay Low and Move Slowly

Because the water is clear and flat and there’s steady angling pressure, spring creek-trout are usually spookier than river trout. Even when the fish are rising steadily, the slightest movement, sound, or shadow from an angler can make them bolt for cover and completely blow your chance at a hook up. Accordingly, to catch spring creek trout consistently, you must concentrate on stealth.

Whenever you’re approaching the banks of a spring creek, keep a low profile. Crouch, shimmy, and even crawl if you must, and try to disguise your approach. When you’re getting ready to cast, try to do so from areas where high grass, brush, and trees will break up your silhouette. Be aware of the position of the sun, as well, as it can both help and hurt you.

On a bright sunny day, you’ll be able to spot cruising trout quite easily on a spring creek, but you always have to be very aware of where your shadow is on the water. Spring creek trout are incredibly wary of overhead predators like ospreys, eagles, and herons, so they react badly to shadows—including those made from a casting fly line. Even the smallest flicker of a shadow can be enough to spook a trout, so always try to move and position yourself to cast as little shade on the water as you can.

When you move along a spring creek’s bank or towards a rising trout, you’ll want to do so slowly. A trout’s lateral-line system and keen eyesight allow it to easily detect approaching anglers, both in the water and along the bank, especially on heavily pressured creeks, so you’ll want to approach as gently as you can. When you’re walking along the edge of the bank or moving through the water, try to not splash or stumble or make quick movements of any kind, as this will alert the trout to your presence and blow you opportunities.

This rainbow fell for a nymph in a fast riffle between pools on Armstrong Spring Creek in Montana’s Paradise Valley. Photo: Brant Oswald

3. Nymph the Fast Water

In almost every other fly fishing situation, nymphing will catch fish in any part of the river, but this isn’t the case on most spring creeks. In clear, slow-moving water, it can be extremely difficult to make nymphs look realistic enough to fool wary trout. I’ve even seen nymph-gorging trout on spring creeks move out of the way of my drifting nymphs, even when I’ve matched the hatch perfectly. Yet, if you find a spot with some faster moving water, nymphing on a spring creek can be incredibly productive.

Spring-creek trout will stack up in faster riffles along drop-offs and in deeper, narrow channels where the current funnels food right to them. These spots are ideal for nymphing, but make sure you’re using the right flies and the right setup to be successful. While you can tightline-nymph on a spring creek, I’ve always found an indicator set-up to be more effective because it presents flies more naturally and allows you to cover more water, perfect for spooky trout.

When you’re nymphing in a spring creek, use a light leader that is half-again as long as the depth of water you’re fishing. (For example, in 2 feet of water, use a 3-foot leader, and in 3 feet use a 4½ foot leader, and so on.) Attach a small, light strike indicator in a subdued color such as white, gray, or olive that won’t spook the fish. Start with a weighted beadhead nymph, such as a Perdigon or a Tungsten Hot Spot Nymph, and then about 6 to 8 inches below that add a small, unweighted dropper fly that matches the creek’s natural forage, such as an English Pheasant Tail, midge, or a bead-less Hare’s Ear or scud pattern. Ideally, the heavier nymph acts as both a weight and an attractor fly to draw trout in, and the bottom fly will get eaten.

Cast your nymphs to the top of the fast water, make a mend that will help your flies sink down to the strike zone, and then drift the flies with the current. Set the hook any time your indicator twitches or vanishes or even if it slows down, as spring creek strikes can be incredibly subtle. Work your way downstream through all the fast water you can find, casting a bit farther with each drift until you’ve covered the entire section.

4. Mark Your Targets

When you’re dry-fly fishing on a spring creek, you need to be meticulous. Spring creek trout tend to rise in pods, with several fish feeding at once, and if you target the wrong fish first, you can blow up the whole area. Instead of just drifting your fly through the center of a group of risers, pick your targets and work each fish individually to ensure that you can catch as many trout as possible.

When you spot a pod of risers, move into position so you can start casting toward specific trout that are either at the back of the pack or on the fringes of the group. Ideally, you’ll be able to hook this fish and pull it away from the rest of the pod without spooking the other trout, allowing you to target each fish in the group with individual casts.

Usually, even if the hooked fish does spook a couple trout in the back of the pod, the other fish will quickly settle back into feeding allowing you to get another hookup. However, hooking a fish at the front of the group will scatter the fish like bowling pins, taking away any opportunity for multiple hook-ups.

Get into position early, and the cast to specific fish, moving from the rear of the pod to the front. Photo: Eric Strader

5. Wait for Your Moment

Patience is key whenever you’re fishing on a spring creek. Even when you can see a bunch of trout moving or staging at the backs of pools or along the edges of the bank, you must wait to cast until you see the fish begin to feed. This may mean sitting on the bank and hanging out for a while, but it’s a wait that can be worth it.

Unless there are insects that present consistent feeding opportunities for fish—such as grasshoppers or large stoneflies—spring-creek trout feed in surges, capitalizing on the emergence of different mayfly hatches that happen throughout the day. Often, this means dry-fly fishing will be limited to short, but extremely productive windows where groups of trout rise in earnest. To capitalize on this bounty, you’ve got to wait for the action to start but that doesn’t mean you have to be completely idle.

While you’re waiting for trout to start rising, spend time exploring the creek to find the perfect spot where you expect trout to feed. Look for long, slow-moving pools where there’s a lot of room to cast and plenty of opportunity to set up on staging trout. Try to spot fish to see where they’re starting to pile up, and then move into a waiting position where you’ll have immediate access when the trout begin to rise.

Once the trout begin to feed, don’t rush out and start casting. Instead, get a good look at the insects they’re feeding on and pick out a fly that matches the hatch as closely as possible. Your first shot is going to be your best shot, so you want to make sure your presentation is as perfect as you can get it before making your play.

Leveling Up

There’s a certain satisfaction that comes with finding success at the highest level. You’ve worked, planned, dealt with the frustrations of failure, and have now finally achieved your goal. It’s a feeling of having risen to a challenge, and that’s exactly what makes spring-creek fishing so addicting. Every trout you catch on a spring creek takes you a little higher up the scale.—not only because the fish are beautiful and healthy, but after you land a spring creek trout, everywhere else you fish will seem easy by comparison. Fishing spring creeks gives you confidence and lets you know that no matter how difficult a species or location is to fish, you caen rise to the task.