Opening Weekend: Finding Rainbows in the Pocket Water

New Zealand’s opening weekend got off to a great start, with a day spent exploring one of our local backcountry rivers and putting some of my own creations to the test.

Having spent the weeks leading up to opening tying flies with different water types in mind, my goal was to fish plenty of pocket water and fast, broken water — the kind of water that can often get overlooked.

I was actually a day late to the initial opening day, which I thought could work in my favour. With the river having already seen some pressure, I expected the fish in the obvious lies to be a little more cautious. Rather than heading straight for the usual pools, drop-offs and pool heads, I decided to concentrate on the pocket water.

It turned out to be a great decision.

I came across several fantastic backcountry rainbows, with fish ranging from around 3 lb all the way up to 5.5 lb. They were in incredible condition and fought extremely hard in the fast water.

I started the day fishing my euro setup with a 5X micro leader, which worked well for presenting my flies naturally through the pockets. As the size and power of the fish became apparent, I eventually stepped up to a 3X setup for obvious reasons! Fighting a 5 lb-plus rainbow on light tippet in heavy current is certainly a good way to test your gear — and your nerves.

One of the things I love about pocket water is that some of the areas you might normally walk straight past can hold multiple quality fish. Fast seams, small cushions behind rocks and little pockets of slower water can provide exactly what a trout needs: food coming past with enough current to bring it to them, while still giving them somewhere to hold.

Most anglers naturally focus on the obvious water — deep pools, drop-offs and the head or “eye” of a pool. These are excellent places to find fish, but they are also some of the first places that get targeted, especially during opening weekend.

Once those areas have seen a bit of pressure, it can pay to think outside the box.

Sometimes the best fish of the day can be sitting in a piece of water that looks almost insignificant.

For me, this opening weekend was not only about catching fish, but also about putting my flies through their paces in real fishing situations. The patterns I had been tying in the weeks leading up to opening were designed with this type of fishing in mind, and it was great to see them producing when it mattered.

Here are a few photos from the day, along with some of the patterns from my range that performed particularly well.

Don’t always fish the water everyone else is fishing. Look between the obvious spots — there might be a 5 lb rainbow waiting there.Cased Caddis — A Pocket-Water Performer

One of the standout patterns from the weekend was my Cased Caddis, tied in size 16 on a Firehole 520 with a metallic red bead. This pattern accounted for the fish shown in the images, all caught from fast, deep pocket water.

The body is built with Kindale Flexi Floss in brown, creating a slim, ribbed profile that closely suits the look of a cased caddis while keeping the fly nice and streamlined.

I really like this fly when fishing heavy current. The metallic red bead provides an extra flash, helping the fly catch a trout’s attention as it moves through fast, broken water, while the slim body allows it to get down quickly into the strike zone.

The CDC gives the pattern plenty of movement as it pulses in the current, adding a little life without requiring much from the angler.

In fast pocket water, getting a fly down quickly while still maintaining a natural presentation can be the difference between getting a response and having your fly wash straight through the pocket. The combination of the heavy Firehole 520 hook, metallic red bead, slim ribbed Flexi Floss body and pulsating CDC makes this a pattern I’ll be keeping close at hand whenever I’m working fast, deep water.