Zig-Zag, or Zag-Zig? River stalking, up then down, or...

[Angly]

OK, I've suffered brain fag (no idea what it is, but it sounds like a thing to have, and my Mother has an old advert for some now obsolete tincture which cures it), when trotting a section of river, does one walk upstream baiting likely looking swims, then back down to fish them, or vice versa, and why?

Edited October 14, 2008 by Angly

[DavyR]

Others may do things differently, but walking upstream, baiting and returning to fish the baited swims is something I associate more with legering than trotting. If I'm trotting, I work downstream and loose feed as I trot (the principle being that the baited hook is passing the fish at approximately the same time as the feed).

 

In a brisk flow, the fish will be mostly facing upstream so, in theory, should be easier to approach from a downstream direction (in clear water). If the flow is minimal and/or the water coloured, I'm not sure it makes too much difference (so long as you don't "skyline" yourself).

[Angly]

Yes, that all makes perfect sense, thank you.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Generally, I head upstream in a kind of 2-steps-forward-1-step-back fashion. I creep up beind the fish, give a pool a good going over, move onto the next pool and the next and then go back a swim and try again...repeat. That way you don't thrash every pool to foam but you still give each one a proper chance to produce, calm down a bit and maybe produce again.