Thank you for that! I’ll give it a try and hope to report back with some success!

Hi PR. When fishing very small streams like this, stealth is probably more important than fly selection or technique. Make sure you approach productive looking water from downstream and/or hide as much as possible, getting on your knees if needed. Stay out of the water and cast from the bank if possible. Trout spook extremely easily on waters like this, so this is probably the most important point.

Regarding flies, a generic bead head nymph like a hares ear is good for deeper pockets. I prefer using a bead head soft hackle fly on small water like this though, as it can both be dead drifted or swung. While you can do the same thing with a standard nymph, I feel like the soft hackle makes the fly more life-like on the swing. I find it also slows down the sink rate a little, making it easier to control in small slow waters.

Also, don’t discount dry flies, even early season when there are no visible hatches. I like to use something that floats really well, in a size 12-14. A Red or Yellow Humpy has worked well for me, but even a simple elk hair caddis will do. Usually I’ll try drifting it naturally and if that doesn’t produce any hits, I’ll try skating it across the surface. You can change up the skating pattern… what works well for me is skating the fly one or two feet as soon as it hits the water, let it drift a bit and repeat. Other times I’ll drag it slowly across the entire width of the stream. Often this will really drive the trout crazy.

Good luck out there and let me know if this helps out.