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new to the fly and need stillwater suggestions

3K views 53 replies 16 participants last post by  TROUTsniffer 
#1 ·
been fly fishing almost a year now and had a blast on the rivers all summer, fall, and winter but finally fished my first lake off of a pontoon this weekend. Not ever doing it i only bought one line and fished what i know. i was using a camolux 5wt and slow trolling buggers and dropping san juan worms with a slow retrieve. I had good luck but was wondering you guys with more experience are fishing, how your setting up your rods, what line types work best, etc...
thanks for the help
 
#2 ·
I find good success using a clear intermediate line with sub-surface patterns
such as buggers, leeches, various nymphs, and minnow imitations. For the next couple of months in the lowland lakes its hard to go wrong with that setup.
Read the archives (if you haven't yet) in this forum, there's a ton of detailed info on what setups/flies fishermen are using.
Fishing is pretty easy this time of year, it would be a good time to learn presentation techniques.
 
#4 ·
If you're only going to fish one sinking line, the camolux is a good one. Once you get comfortable with what that line can do, you'll want to start carrying two rods and rig the second with a floater for indicator fishing and the occasional dry fly opportunity. Between stripping bugs on an intermediate (horizontal presentation) and hanging bugs under an indicator (vertical presentation) you've got a large portion of stillwater trout fishing covered.
 
#6 ·
Once you get dialed into stillwater fishing, you'll likely want to add a full sink to your arsenal.
A floater, intermediate and a full sink will cover just about any situation you'll encounter on the lake.
A type III full sink would be a good place to start......
 
#7 ·
Before you run out to buy some things that you might regret later, take a few minutes to study where the fish most likely will be in the lake. Lakes are much different from rivers in holding water. Trout cruise the lake and look for food. Fish the dropoffs and areas where the water is not too deep and bugs will hatch out. If you are going to fish streamers and bait fish imitations, look for cover and weed beds. Where the little guys hang out. If you are fishing open water, go more with the roaming type of streamers and leaches but I would first look along a drop off or holes.
If a hatch is on and you are lucky enough to have the right type of bug in your box, fish a floater on the surface with a long leader.
 
#8 ·
The dropoffs that people speak of usually run parallel to the shoreline. Kick out and look for bottom, you'll want polarized glasses for this. When you get to the depth where you no longer can see bottom, start paralleling the shoreline. Chances are you'll be in 10-15 feet of water. This is in case you don't have a fish finder set up. Once you find fish stop there and work all angles of the drop off, try both inward and outward from shore.

I fish mostly with a full sink line, I want to get to depth as soon as I can. Using an intermediate line gives the fly more hang time. Play around, you'll see what works. Don't be afraid to let the line sink, give it a minute at least...
 
#9 ·
Also if you really want to find the depth just clip your forceps to your fly and drop it in.

Roper is spot on with looking for that drop off, what I try to do is find the inlet(or spring) and the outlet and fish the drop off in between those two areas.
 
#10 ·
Roper is on with the full sinking line. An intermediate can be offset by a full floater and a split shot or a weighted fly. My opinion is that the location of the line is not as important as the location of the fly. You can buy a lot of leader for the cost of the new top end fly lines. Of course, if you find that you must have a certain line or piece of equipment, go for it. It is your money.
 
#11 ·
I like a faster sinking line, my idea is to get down fairly quick, on how you move the fly, it seems to me trolling is about as effect as stripping , stripping for me is bring the fly up thru different depths, if they hit just trolling, then trolling it is. I fish with guys that always strip back, I don't . I usually have on fast sink, if they are close to the surface, I cast ,and strip giving it no time to sink, that method was very effect on Quake Lake last summer, and just the opposite on Wade Lake, had to get deep, two opposite conditions , using the same line with good results.
 
#13 ·
Planted trout in local lakes will be in the top of the water column early on. I fished two local lakes today and got fish trolling with a 3wt floating line setup and a 5wt sink tip with weighted fly setup. I also bring a third rod with a heavy full sink line for getting deep when looking for carry-overs. I tried the full sink a couple of times on the second lake today but got nothing with it.
Plants from this year will be stupid for the near future and will hit anything that looks alive. Older fish will get a little more picky at times but they'll still hit the random buggy looking flies too. I'm not a big lake fisherman but I get some local hold-overs on buggers, carey specials, and crawdad patterns.
 
#17 ·
Not to hijack the thread, but have you used the indicator in the link, Troutpocket? It looks interesting. A bit pricy with the shipping and all, but looks like a good set up, especially for longer leaders.
 
#18 ·
I have used them(or ones just like them), they work well but once and a while will put a kink in the leader, which is probably my fault for using too light of tippet when running out 12' or more? I am pretty sure I picked them up at pacific fly fishers in mill creek, they come in red and yellow make sure to get a couple of each, the yellow are really hard to see on the water in certain light conditions.
 
#21 ·
These slip indicators are a must for still water when you need to hang chironomids deep.

I have tried just about every indicator type and for still water this is what I use, whether I need the slip feature or not...

...unless I am putting a nymph just under the surface, or an emerger, or a hard to see small dry, in which case I use a small Pimp indicator or just some yarn for a light presentation.

I got my slip indicators mail order from "Blue" on this forum, http://utahflygoddess.yolasite.com/
 
#25 ·
Not a gimmick but also not your best option for stillwater. The problem is the loop-to-loop connection between the floating section and sink tip that hangs up in your guides. It's a great setup for swinging in rivers, though. If you're looking at buying another sinking line for lakes, a type V or VI full sink would be a nice contrast to your camolux. Your camolux will sink just a deep, it just takes longer to get down.
 
#24 ·
I'd suggest going to the content section of the site. Find all the articles written by WFF member Ford_Fenders. Save them, print them, read them, study them, then get on a lake and use his tactics and you will be BLOWN AWAY at how you can get some lakes dialed in.
 
#37 ·
well i tried some indicator fishing today from the pontoon, lake was DEAD and only hooked up two bows (2 good ones though) on a woolybugger but i got to play with rigging/casting them so maybe next time i'll get some action...
thanks for all the help
That is what it is all about.
 
#38 ·
These slip indicators are a must for still water when you need to hang chironomids deep.

I have tried just about every indicator type and for still water this is what I use, whether I need the slip feature or not...

...unless I am putting a nymph just under the surface, or an emerger, or a hard to see small dry, in which case I use a small Pimp indicator or just some yarn for a light presentation.

I got my slip indicators mail order from "Blue" on this forum, http://utahflygoddess.yolasite.com/
What size(s) did you go with? Does anyone know if the Gig Harbor Fly Shop has any indicators like these?
 
#39 ·
I bought slip indicators at the Gig Harbor shop last time I was there a month or two ago. I'd suggest going with a variety of sizes, and don't hesitate to get the larger ones, even if they seem too large. You'll appreciate having them on those choppy, heavy glare type days.

What size(s) did you go with? Does anyone know if the Gig Harbor Fly Shop has any indicators like these?
 
#40 ·
Thanks Nick. I'll add it to my list. A PM is likely more appropriate so feel free to respond there, but any recommedations on a local(ish) lake with decent chironomid action where I could try out some tactics with a reasonable chance of catching something if I do it right?
 
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