Picking pockets
Roman Moser's masterclass on fishing pocket water with streamers.
Bank-side trees protect the river from the wind, and slender wisps of morning fog hang over the stream, catching and dividing the sun’s rays. Silvery spider webs shimmer in the clear air. It is calm here, since the diverse vegetation that lines the streamside like a protective wall hardly allows a sound to penetrate the thick foliage. Only the rushing water can be heard as it pushes past big angular boulders. I sit down to rest on a tree stump and to be able to enjoy this fantastic sight a little longer and in more detail.

My glance turns downstream. Along the banks the stones are covered with mats of dark green moss, but there is an abrupt change to bright, water-polished rocks and current-breaking boulders in midstream. The current divides sharply and forms a complex collection of eddies, fast rapids, slower runs, pools and swirls that allow no clear vision to the stream bottom. If one were to cast systematically to all the spots that look ‘fishy’, one would need an hour to fish 30 yards.
I make an inspection for insects. If they are flying over the water, they would have to fly high against the dark background of the woods. They could make my selection of a fly a little easier. But there are only a few cinnamon sedges cavorting at streamside and mosquitoes dance up and down over the bushes on the bank. Should I wait? No! My fingers are twitching; the temptation is too great. But which fly, what pattern could be successful today? I consider this as I am already fumbling through the pockets of my vest as I look for the right fly box.
But wait. How would it be to try out the new sculpin pattern with the tungsten head. Actually, I wanted to use them first in the spring when the water would be higher. But the fast current and the swirling pockets behind the stone barriers would be perfect for trying out this streamer pattern now.

Read how Roman's 'pocket-picking' tactics are totally different from the normal way of working a streamer in the April 2008 issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine.