NZ, it is apparent that you are a new guy and haven't fished with many guys on this board. But do go out with a few of them and anchor up and start stripping. By all means. But prepare to have your ass handed to you. And this BS that many of us can't read water, observe insects, tie flys, are entomology challenged, can't cast or fish shallow water and are so clumsy that we scare more fish than we catch-where did that come from? At this point it is not clear whether you are the latest in a recent wave of young guns that come on here and try to make a name for themselves by insulting everyone or if you are simply a misinformed dweeb that has done nothing more serious than smoke his own beard or sip his own bathwater. Time will tell I guess. Ive
Maybe you should read your post before you post it. Im glad you enjoy the sport and lifestyle of a Flyfisherman. I Think you should also let others enjoy it also without your personal judgments of their styles and or fishing choices. Such broad statements and one way opinions have no place here. Who died and mad you God of Fly Fishing.:beathead:
trolling, properly done takes just as much attention and thought as any other method (and it's just that, a method). Sure it can be done mindlessly, but so can sink and strip, fishing chronies, naked or with a float, or casting dries. It's all in being present. That said, I've caught an awful lot of fish while not paying attention, but it's gotta help. I'm at least competent at every flyfishing method I've found. They are all tools. What I'm really detecting here, NZ, is that the troller is you. :hmmm:
you're right daryl. other than size and color of fly, when trolling you can alter depth, speed and motion of your offering. the old s pattern is so good because it changes depth and speed without the rower having to do a thing but move in an s. course this effect can be toyed with by changing rowing speed while moving in an s also. motion can be imparted by giving a strip or two, twitching the line, or any other nervous habit you can imagine. start and stop is a good technique too. I can't count the number of fish that have hit just on the first couple of pulls on the oars. slow trolling combined with line imparted action is a very effective flyfishing method. that said, it is very, very difficult to present a trolled fly at anything near a natural speed, and to be truthful, I have never felt that the biggest, smartest fish in a lake are the ones I'm getting while trolling. Still, I'll stick with what is working on any given day, and if I'm hooking up every time I troll over an area I'm likely to just keep trolling. If I'm anchored and hooking up every few casts I'm not gonna pull anchor and start trolling either.
I was going to add something here but I just realized that I hate to fish lakes. I'd rather just shoot myself in the foot than sit in a float tube and pull a fly around a lake. With fins you can get quite tired if you are on a big lake. I know as I have been out of control now and then. Jim
I like to do anchoring and cast\stripping, chironomid\bobber, and dry fly fishing. And I also like to do various trolling methods, (especially when just searching) - skating\waking dries\emergers, wind drifting, deep water dredging, etc. But there is another method I like which does not involve an anchor and does not involve trolling. I like to either use a very slow trolling motor, or fins, and cruise the shoreline casting to structure or rises. I'll do this with dries if they are keyed in on the surface, or with streamers\buggers all other times. Works great for hunting browns, bass, crappie, brookies, and other species that like to hide in structure and ambush their prey.
The true still water fly fisher is the one standing on the bow of his boat casting to the shore line or to risers with the wife rowing or running the electric motor while trolling her fly. Cover lots of water plus the looks ya get from the guys setting with their butts in the water is priceless. (me)Oh, honey I got another one, (her)ya me too!!! (me)I'm getting tire, lets stop for a beer (her) you take a break I'll keep trolling
Right on the money!:thumb: Getting fish to commit after they already gave it a shot is hard but both stopping and panicked fly techniques have worked well for me. Depends on the fishes mood.. got to throw 'em a mixed bag and find what works and go from there IMO. Z
A great fly to troll on the westside is The Olive Willy. If I'm in my little boat with the electric motor I'll throw an Olive Willy on the end of an intermediate line and cruise around on the lowest speed. Usually just tracing the bank, as opposed to out in the middle of the lake. I troll in an "S" pattern and every now and again I'll bump it up to the 2nd highest gear and back down and then sometimes turn the electric motor on and off for a start and stop effect. I usually troll with my legs kicked up and my rod in one hand with my my pointer finger holding the line tight against the cork of the handle. When I get a short take I turn off the electric motor (ussually spilling my coffee, beer) and make two quick strips and 9.7 times out of ten I get hooked up. This is particularly satisfying because the hook up comes when I'm stripping and thus feels more like fly fishing than simply fishing with a fly. I haven't been here in awhile and I'm glad to see they've added a stillwater section.
Trolling is fly fishing as long as there is a fly involved and your weight is 18 inches above the fly... The State of Alaska Says So! :lol: Seriously Though trolling with a fly rod and fly line and fly is just as much fly fishing as standing in one place and swinging a fly on a 500 grain sink tip. I mean when I'm out trolling in the Naknek river for kings and everyone looks at me funny because instead of wiggle warts I have a fly rod with 600 grains on the line I sure feel like I'm fly fishing...
I have trolled many different ways...the most success I have had is when moving away from shore, such as Pass Lake...cast towards shore and start trolling away from the shoreline (or rock islands...especially a particular eastern wa lake) It's all fun ....I just hate kicking my float tube against some of those strong winds on certain eastern wa lakes...like Lenice bawling:
I grew up trolling flys.Still do it.Only difference is I traded the old Penn 209 with leadcore for a 8wt with whatever wt line it takes to get to the fish.I like to give it a jerky-retreive,which allways seems to work.On a short strike,put it in their face.We call that the "dinner-bell retreive".We landed over 50 fish a few weeks ago at Rufus doing this in a warm,enclosed heated boat.Took a break every-so-often to have a beer.Someday, maybe Ill graduate to full "flyfisherman" status, but untill then,Ill keep tying,learning,and knocking the piss out of fish.:beer2:
. I need heater for the pass lake boat , since I'm disabled I could use it and invite many a person but I won't. Fished Pass for many years and if I used the Pass I'd probably get stoned from the road. LOL Daryle
When I troll flies I use (what we call) the twitch, to give a different action to the fly. This is simply moving the fly line an inch or more (depending on what fly I am are using) while trolling. The erratic movement seems to make the bug more realistic which gets more fish to take it. Of course you also need to be at the right depth, the right speed, with the right bug.
In deep lakes on hot summer days the fish go deep, especially the big ones. Trolling allows me to go deep. It becomes an extremely effective method of catching fish. I like to troll very deep and slow with damsel fly nymphs and dragon fly nymphs or streamers. Twitching the fly or giving it a slight jerk ever so often will increase the amount of hits. You'll be surprised how many really big fish live in those deep lakes. Now those who don't troll but just cast often don't catch the really big fish because they often don't go deep enough. [Originally Posted by nz trout bum I guess that I just have never met many (any?) trollers who can cast well, observe hatches carefully, know anything much about entomology, imitate naturals with their flies, tie well, are able to adjust for conditions (fish shallow, not spook pods of fish, sight fish to feeing trout etc.)] The reply posted by nz trout bum is the reason why fly fishermen get such a bad reputation. I have been fly fishing for over 30 years. I troll and I can cast very well. I learned on streams but I also enjoy fishing lakes. Deep lakes like Rufus Woods require different techniques than smaller and shallower lakes. I suppose that trolling with a fly is to me a different method of fishing with a fly, hence fly fishing. I hope that NZ trout bum will learn that to insult folks and their methods of fly fishing is snobbery at its core and really has no place in the world of fly fishing. Keith
i just can't resist chiming in on this one. and by the way i am new to this, so here goes. i have to agree with nz trout bum. when i was anew flyfisherman and i didn't have the skills of fishing a hatch or retrieving a fly in a way that would interest the fish, i would troll. then i really learned how to fish still water by casting and retrieving (which is really flyfishing) then i started to catch more and much larger fish. my observation is that the majority of the fish i see caught by trolling are the smaller less selective and less causious fish. yes, there are always exceptions, but i can't help what i see. sorry if this sounds arrogant or if you feel put down, and yes, you can troll that fly if you want.
I don't get it? To fly fish or not to fly fish was not the ? How to troll a fly, was that not the ? Trolling a fly w/fly rod and line is fly fishing. If a guy is trolling really deep it's hard to pick up and cast to risers but who cares when your catching fish on the troll. Speaking of trolls or lurkers. Here's a ? for ya. How do ya catch a troll? Great fishing report!!!! The bite is on at X lake, using X fly. Then drive by the X lake on Saturday AM and have a good laugh at all the tooners freezing there ass's off w/no fish to show for it.
