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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
 
#41 ·
That is hard for me to remember. Fly goes on last. Hmmmmm.
Should I use a dry fly with that?

I have to give a tip of the hat to the person that came up with this idea. Pretty darn slick. I have not tried them on the water as yet, but I figured out how they work, and all on my own. I feel like a jenius.

Maybe I am overthinking this thing, but I was concerned that if you mounted the wider part of the plug pin at the top of the bobber that the float would fall off the leader if the fish broke off. Then I remembered that the float will actually float. Not a real risk and at a buck a shot not a real show stopper.

Looking forward at a shot at trying this.
Hey there are many times I rig up, get both flies on there, drop it in the water and realize I never put the float on. Probably just because I got used to putting on a thingamabobber on whenever.

Since you have a pontoon and right in woodinville let me know if you get down to renton and we can sit around and stare at some bobbers.

KC
 
#43 ·
man it is the most boring thing in the world, but there are some days where you gotta do what you gotta do to get a fish. Believe me if chucking streamers or casting dries to rising fish is working im all over it.

But there are some days where the only answer is a bobber and a zebra nymph.
 
#45 ·
Keep at it man! Keep reading as much as you can, ask questions, and most of all just keep spending that time on the water. I know for a fact there are more than a few skilled vertical presentation fishers around these parts who have been known to be bribed into time on the water with certain beverages and such.

It'll come, and in spite of the naysayers, you may discover it is one hell of a lot of fun to watch that bobber plunge.
 
#46 ·
I find that the bobber adds to the suspense but I have never used one with a chironomid, er buzzer. I must try that this year. Next question will be about leaders, length, composition, and taper. But that is for another day.
 
#47 ·
oh don't get me wrong the suspense of thinking that bobber will drop kills me and i can't wait to nail one that way.... Last time i tried the fish were holding around 15 feet or so so that's how long my leader was (2x) still a little confused about how to retrieve it (if at all) so i just did a quick little 2" strip and waited a bit for a bite and continued like that with the occasional odd strip.... can't wait to get one that way though
 
#49 ·
oh don't get me wrong the suspense of thinking that bobber will drop kills me and i can't wait to nail one that way.... Last time i tried the fish were holding around 15 feet or so so that's how long my leader was (2x) still a little confused about how to retrieve it (if at all) so i just did a quick little 2" strip and waited a bit for a bite and continued like that with the occasional odd strip.... can't wait to get one that way though
well you dont really retrieve it until the end, so cast "upwind" of where you are anchored, let it drift, then hand twist retrieve it back. At least thats what I do, not that it works really well. I am an impatient bastard when watching a bobber.
 
#50 ·
I'd suggest casting downwind so your line stays straight and you get the full effect of the "chironomid chop". Keeping your line as straight as possible without slack will increase your hook-up ratio when the bobber goes down.
Keeping the wind at your back and having a good stable anchor set-up will help keep a lot of the slop out of your line.
 
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#53 ·
Troutsniffer, I don't want to hijack your thread, but I too have a question about chironomid fishing. I guess you are never too old to learn something new.
What about leaders and their length. Is a tapered leader necessary?

I am making some assumptions here. I would imagine that I am fishing with a floating line, a long leader, say 12 feet or so, a bobber of some sort, a fly and perhaps a dropper. An slow sinker might be in order or even perhaps a full sinking line? But I digress. Cast out downwind, let the line sink for some minutes until it hits the sweet spot. Do I have a good picture here?
 
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