Opening up river banks

[Keenan Spann]

Hey Guys, I have a question to ask other fellow flyfishermen. How do you guys feel about "river" owners opening up and clearing the sides of their rivers in the hope that beginner flyfishermen dont snag their flies too much. Why I ask is because I am an owner of a strectch of river I am not sure what to do, whether to open up some sections or to leave it as natural as possible and making it potentialy difficult to cast effectively unless you know an array of different casting techniques.

My gut says to leave it as natural as possible but I want to find out what other fellow men of the fly think?

[leo1357]

As a beginner I don't know how much weight my opinion has haha but I would prefer it to stay natural

[Korrie]

This is a hotly debated topic.
a. in places in Europe, there is a selective opening of certain river stretches.
b. before we had a lot of dams in the rivers systems, I think that flooding occured more regularly, that would have cleared bank vegetation for you.
c. if you clear to much, you could help erosion and the warming of the river water. as the root system of the vegetation holds the banks stable
d. do you have photos of the stream/river of a couple of decades ago? it might help to see what the banks looked like then.
e. foreign or invasive plants might have taken over the banks, that are more suited to the climate, that was not there previously.
f. what wading will take place, in the stream or on the river banks?
g. losing a couple of flies, is not the end of the world.

maybe place a couple of photos of your stretch and lets hear the opinions.

[smallstreams.co.za]

Before you get rid of the Crack Willow and Weeping Willow (which mostly lines the banks of the KMS) you should try to establish some indigenous bush that would stabilise the banks once the willows are gone. A major issue with clearing banks is that you leave them open to erosion/degredation once the heavy rains come (like this week). You will quickly ruin a good stretch of river if you don't keep those banks stable.

[smallstreams.co.za]

beginner flyfishermen dont snag their flies too much.

making it potentialy difficult to cast effectively unless you know an array of different casting techniques.

Big fish water should make you work a little as well. Don't "cheapen" your water ... my opinion.