Tailwaters are like massive spring creeks. Impounding the rivers upstream enhances the nutrient content of the water, creating rich habitat for the fish and a year-round growing season. Water is released at the optimum temperature trout prefer, keeping the rivers cool enough for feeding during hot summer days and warm enough during winter.
For fishing, steady dam releases are best, but the action can also be good even where the flow fluctuates daily. The White, Little Red and Hiwassee rivers are three famous examples. The Jackson River and Smith River are Virginia’s two best tailwater trout fisheries, both just a few hours’ drive from the Shenandoah Valley.
The variety of foods available to tailwater trout is immense. There are populations of baitfish, aquatic insects including mayflies, caddis, and midges. An abundance of terrestrial insects get washed in from land and most tailwaters have heavy populations of scuds and crayfish. A well-stocked vest for tailwater fly fishing should carry imitations of all these important foods.
Streamers
Use these to imitate baitfish, fed on often by trout when waters are high or falling just after dam gates are shut. Sculpins, Woolly Buggers, Zonkers and Marabou Muddlers are good choices, size 1-6. Fish them on a hi-density sink tip line or a floating line with a few split shot crimped on 12-18 inches in front of the fly. Use short strips, pausing often so the fly drifts deep.
Nymphs, crustaceans and aquatic worms.
These three groups account for more trout caught on tailwaters than any other. Fortunately, they can all be fished in identical manner.
Use floating, weight-forward taper lines, 4-7 weight, coupled with a 9-10 foot leader. Squeeze a strike indicator on just below where the leader joins the fly line and use either weighted flies or split shot about 16 inches above the offering.
Scud, sow bug and crayfish patterns, mayfly nymphs and caddis pupae can all be effective on tailwaters. Also stock a few Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear and Pheasant Tail flies, plus the famous San Juan Worm, which imitates aquatic worms as well as earthworms.
As a rule, go with larger flies (sizes 6-12) during high water, smaller ones (14-20) during low water when no power is being generated at the dam.
An upstream or up and across dead-drift presentation is best. Sometimes you’ll even find trout tailing like bonefish in shallow riffles, backwater flats, weed beds and eddies as they search out these crustaceans and nymphs. Drop the fly delicately ahead of such fish and twitch it lightly as they approach.
Surface Flies—aquatic insects & terrestrials.
Hatches of mayflies can be heavy on tailwaters, particularly those that have regulated water flow instead of violent daily fluctuations. Important hatches you might encounter include a variety of Olives, Pale Morning Duns, Hendricksons, Tricos and various caddis species.
Best patterns for mayflies are those tied in Thorax, Comparadun and Parachute styles. For caddis flies, it’s hard to beat the Elk Hair Caddis in a variety of sizes in olive, brown and gray.
The Adams is another good all-around pattern to stock. When trout want tiny food, you’ll have to scale down to tiny midge patterns such as the Griffith’s Gnat, sizes 18-24.
Terrestrials are the final type of dry fly to stock. Because of the rising and falling water levels, even more land insects wind up in tailwaters than normal rivers. For day in and day out fishing on most tailwaters, offerings such as hoppers, crickets, beetles, caterpillars, bees and ants in sizes 10-18 are tops.
All of these surface flies require 10-14 foot leaders, tippets of 4-6X, and delicate presentations. The only exception would be the larger land insects—big beetles, hoppers and crickets—which sometimes work better when they are dropped next to fish near the bank with a “plopping” sound to draw the fish’s attention to the fly. This realistic impression of an insect falling in from streamside vegetation is often more than a hungry tailwater trout can resist.
For some exciting trout fishing this summer, give the Smith and Jackson, Virginia’s top tailwater rivers, a try. They are just a 2-4 hour drive south from the Shenandoah Valley.
Safety
A few tailwaters have a constant flow and some only fluctuate slightly. Many of these rivers, however, rise violently when the dam gates are opened. On those rivers, always be alert for any changes in water level.
Always head to shore immediately if the water starts to rise. Wearing a floatation vest and using a wading staff are also good safety practices on tailwater rivers.
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