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[BigFisher]

The last couple of days Iv started fishing the upper vedder river. I dont normal fish up here, but thought id give it a try. I usually pick out nice runs to fish, but i noticed a bunch of people fishing pocket waters, In around heavy white waters.  Is this just another type of flossing, or is this fishing? I dont think the fish have enough time to see, act and bite the bait.

[Gooey]

I have seen flossers go to town in pocket water, but I also know its a good place to target fish (ethically) too.  IN a heavy white water run fish will stop in the pockets and rest so you have a captive audience for a moment.  What you do then is up to you but pocket water is good structure to fish.

I think that the less time a fish has to make up its mind on hitting something, the more likely they are to strike.  So in  pocket water where something may drift into a hole and then quickly slide out, I think you are likely to get reactionary strike quite redily. 

[Ribwart]

I agree with gooey there...but I might add, that there is a point where the pocket water being fished is so small, and filled with white water, that I question the sport in that approach...There is plenty of water on the upper vedder that I would call "pocket water", but that still requires a short drift and good presentation....the difference between that and dropping your pencil lead onto a fishes head in a foot long slot is obvious to me.
rib

[blaydRnr]

nothing wrong with fishing the pockets. its not where you fish, its how you do it.

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

very true, I know when steelhead fishing I look for big boulders and some times the fish will sit in the white water behind them!

[Pat AV]

I agree that you can get fish to bite in pocket water. Steelheading in pocket water is excellent, although fresh steelhead are alot more aggresive than any salmon.

That said IMO 90% of the guys fishing the Tamahi Pockets for salmon are flossing their fish.

[jetboatjim]

this typ of fishing has been going on since the 80's, this was the most popular way to catch cap coho.(back before we sent our water to the u.s.)I do think most,( not all) salmon are flossed this way in heavy pocket water.

[chris gadsden]

Once again float line lenght is a key on how they are fishing. Then you just look where they are hooked most of the time. You will see they are hooked in the sockeye hinge of the mouth or just snagged. No flossing thread here please.

[dead head]

Good points gooey,What would the length be from your hook to sinker?

[BigFisher]

Ok, After seeing a bunch of people fishing pocket waters in the upper Vedder I decided I would give it ago. I tried a bunch of different white waters on the upper, and later came a across a little stretch of water where every fish on the river was passing through, it was only about a 2 foot wide gap, and the fish would have to travel about 7 feet to get through it. Well since the water was so low I could see fish constantly passing into the tight white water stretch and so I dropped my line in and started hooking into fish right away. The first 3 fish were all chums, which were tighly hooked on the inside top of the mouth, but then not long after i had snagged a 40 pound spring in the right fin, and then into 2 tomatoe coho, one hooked on the outside of the mouth lip and the other in the mouth. But overal my hooking ration was about 50% in the mouth, I gave up after foul hooking another as I figured the fish werent biting my drift in the fast white water, and found it a pain to play a fish. Im sitill not sure If the fish were biting my bait, or it was an accidental hook in the mouth. the water is just so fast the only way I could get a slower drift was to thumb the spool and make quick short drifts.
 

[TrophyHunter]

I personally enjoy fishing the pocket water more than anywhere else, and I honestly can't remember the last time I snagged a fish in pocket water.. one thing I always do is use a heavier weight to keep my presentation in the drift longer and I always shorten my leader to about 8-10 inces so it stake close to my weight, the biggest mistake I see when people are fishing the faster water is they use a long leader, when you use a long leader your presentaion is going to be drifting all over the place because the water is too fast.. if you shorten up and use a heavier weight your presentation will stay in the drift longer and have  much bigger chance of enticing a bite, where as if you are using a long leader which is drifting out of control you have a much higher chance of foul hooking a fish !!  I have discovered over the years that fishing pocket water can be a very valuble tool when the fish are tight lipped, it seems as if the fish are more comforatable with the cover they get in the pockets plus the fact that they only see your presentation for a few moments which means they can't annalyze you're presentation before they decide to bite....
TR

[BigFisher]

I was using a long leader around 15 inchs.. maybe that was my problem, also lost a bunch of gear, but I guess thats the risk you take when you wanna hook into more fish.

[Fish Assassin]

I agree with Thickrick. Short leaders and a heavier weight.

[troutbreath]

Ya I think at the Cap that there were people using pocket water to snag them, but I have had some success getting down into fast moving water to where fish hid behind structure. Short leader and some Nazarith playing Razamataz on the walkman, that my friend is the ticket