Sunday Classic / Fly Fishing Fast Water Chutes for Trout

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Why Trout Love Fast Water Chutes

Fast water chutes are great habitat for trout to set up residence around. Most of them provide everything a trout needs to survive, and fly fisherman should take the time to fish them because they almost always hold fish. Fast water chutes provide overhead cover that trout can quickly utilize by swimming into the chute if they feel threatened. The well defined current from the chute also acts as a food conveyor belt, supplying trout with a constant trickle of food 24/7. Furthermore, the turbulent waters created by chutes increase oxygen levels in the surrounding waters, and this is an added bonus and reason for trout to set up shop in and around chutes in streams and rivers. Lastly, chutes generally offer feeding lanes on each side that trout can take advantage of to feed effortlessly. These are the edges of the chute, where the fast and slow water come together and meet. Trout often gravitate towards the edges because it requires less energy to hold there, it’s very close to the conveyor belt of food and extremely close to their fast water overhead cover. Focus on drifting your flies along the edges of the chute first. After you’ve fish the edges, then work your flies through the main current of the chute.

There are multiple ways for anglers to fly fish fast water chutes, but most of the time, I find it most effective to wade to the sides of the chutes, and fly fish perpendicular to them. Doing so, it gives me better control of my drifting flies and improves my line management. Positioning to the side of a chute also improves my stealth, because I’m able to present my flies in front of the trout with just my leader, keeping my fly line out of sight. It also allows me to work with the current when drifting my flies, instead of fighting against it.

Check out the video below that demonstrates how I prefer to fish fast water chutes.

There you go, that’s how I tend to fish fast water chutes. As usual with fly fishing, there’s always other ways and strategies to fly fish trout water. If you’ve got a recommendation or you’ve found luck doing it another way, please take the time to drop us a comment. G&G is a family and our goal is to learn from each other to improve our skills and success on the water.

Keep it Reel,

Come fish with us in the Bahamas!

Kent Klewein
Gink & Gasoline
www.ginkandgasoline.com
hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
 
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4 thoughts on “Sunday Classic / Fly Fishing Fast Water Chutes for Trout

  1. I’ll go first. Don’t laugh! I may not be techniquely correct. I fished the tail of a small water fall this weekend. I can’t get to the side, because the water is so deep……..into a small retention basin until it runs downstream. This is in the poconos. I stand off to the side, but mostly at the base of the heavy flow coming down a 10 ft water fall. I feed it in at the top, leader only. As it begins to flow, I strip line allowing it to go back with the crushing current, until it’s about 50 ft away. I mend a few times to keep the fly line straight, but it’s going downstream. Then I slowly retrieve it…..6 inches at a time……..slowly. BAM! Fish on! It certainly worked Friday night. I let some beautiful fish go, as I learn different techniques. I used a Kelly Galloup leader style for two flies. The bottom a copper John, and a hares ear up top on a sliding 6 inch leader over a blood knot. Most trout took the hares ear.
    I wanted desperately to get sideways to the flow, but it’s impossible. A rock cliff on one side that’s inaccessible, and a deep pool to the other side, so it’s the only way to fish it, and not drown. Thanks,

  2. Excellent blog thanks! I find that fat runs and chutes are a good choice on a windy day. Once you measure the amount of line to use, you can minimize of the effects of a strong wind! Your strategy is a great way to accomplish that… Thanks, David

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