Still water primer???

I rarely get to fish anything approaching still water. Once, though, I got
unlucky at Connetquot,and to stay next to Dad, had to take the two beats
below the dam. I gave Dad the good beat, and he got to fish the dam
outflow, but that left me with a bit of river that looked more like a lake.
Frankly, I had no clue how to effectively fish it, and thought that still
water techniques would have gotten me alot further than what I knew and
loved. I'm more or less clueless on how to fish for trout when the water
ain't moving.

How about some contributions that would help someone used to fishing in a
current to effectively fish still water?

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

Scott Seidman typed:
I rarely get to fish anything approaching still water. Once, though,
I got unlucky at Connetquot,and to stay next to Dad, had to take the
two beats below the dam. I gave Dad the good beat, and he got to
fish the dam outflow, but that left me with a bit of river that
looked more like a lake. Frankly, I had no clue how to effectively
fish it, and thought that still water techniques would have gotten me
alot further than what I knew and loved. I'm more or less clueless
on how to fish for trout when the water ain't moving.

How about some contributions that would help someone used to fishing
in a current to effectively fish still water?

Wait..... wait.... wait.... wait.... wait.... wait.... wait.... twitch.
Repeat.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On 23 Feb 2006 18:00:21 GMT, Scott Seidman
wrote:

How about some contributions that would help someone used to fishing in a
current to effectively fish still water?

If you can, Scott, get a couple of copies of "Flyfishing and Tying
Journal." Look up a column written by Brian Chan. He has addressed
this subject numerous times. Although Brian fishes many different
kinds of flies, he favors Chironomid pupae. These are easy ties and I
have had some success with them at the local pond that I fish in early
May. Think small, with most ties in the #18-22 range.

Another favorite is a woolly bugger fished just off of the bottom.
Hopefully the pond/lake will not be much deaper than 25 feet. It
would help if you knew the depths of the lake. You want to fish just
off the bottome - two or so feet.

At the pond I usually fish, or deep holes on rivers, I let my fly sink
to the bottom, *constantly watching the fly line at the surface*. If
you see the line twitch or make an unnatural move, set the hook.
Many times I have taken trout out of deep pools or ponds with this
technique. Make your cast of about 40 feet or so, and strip off line
as your fly sinks, constantly watching the line as it disappears below
the surface.

You should treat pond fishing the same as stream fishing as far as
what kind of nymph/dry to use. Check under any rocks or pieces of
wood along the shore, and examine the weed bed (if any) for insect
activity.

If you have a contour map of the pond/lake, look for underwater
shelves with a steep drop-off. You'll find fish at the bottom of
these drop offs. Also, check your local fly shop and ask about
underwater springs, which is a hide-away for many big trout. You
could also ask them about fly patterns.

Of course, if there is a hatch on, you've got it made! When pond
fishing in Maine recently (last year), I used only one fly - the Red
Devil Bug, about size 12. There was no hatch, but for some reason the
brookies loved this fly. After dinner when at Lakewood, I sometimes
go out on the dock and cast a size 16 parachute Adams and give it a
little action on the surface. I will usually take a small landlock
with this fly/method - nothing big, but it's a nice way to end the
day, especially if SWMBO and your dog are sitting there guarding your
Martini. d;o)

Do a google on "Brian Chan" and read anything you can find.
Good luck.


Dave

Dave LaCourse wrote in
:

some fine stuff snipped



Dave




Thanks, Dave

Sounds a little similar to nymphing, in that noticing and acting on the
take seems to be 3/4 of the battle


--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

Scott Seidman wrote:

Sounds a little similar to nymphing, in that noticing and acting on the
take seems to be 3/4 of the battle

I've recently read Morris & Chan's On Fly Fishing Trout Lakes, in
preparation for an upcoming still water trip.

In my experience, compared to stream fishing, lake fishing is usually
tedious: blind fishing with slow, slow retrieves. That's balanced by the
chance of catching some big dogs. Another interesting aspect is that
there's a wide variety of techniques and imitations that are very
different from stream fishing. In addition to Chan's favorite
chironomids, there are leeches, several types of mayflies (especially
callibaetis), caddis, damselfies, dragonflies, scuds, water boatmen, and
backswimmers.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"Dave LaCourse" wrote


Another favorite is a woolly bugger fished just off of the bottom.
Hopefully the pond/lake will not be much deaper than 25 feet. It
would help if you knew the depths of the lake. You want to fish just
off the bottome - two or so feet.



Try a HiSpeed Sinking line, short leader, and a foam body "wooly bugger"
..... the British use "Boobies" tied with foam balls and marabou in the same
way

let it sink all the way to the bottom ... the fly will be up off the bottom
.... now apply Tim J's retrieval prescription, but he left out a couple
needed 'waits' ... in his hurry

this is one style of fly fishing where having a 'buddy' might be nice ...
hell, a buddy, some booze, a metalflake painted gaudy bass boat, a portable
TV, maybe even a 'clave' ... anything to use up some time and give something
to think about until the next twitch G

but it does catch fish :-)

"Dave LaCourse"

If you can, Scott, get a couple of copies of "Flyfishing and Tying
Journal."
Another favorite is a woolly bugger fished just off of the bottom.
Hopefully the pond/lake will not be much deaper than 25 feet.

Dave


Yes, pretend your fishing for lethargic smallmouth...

john

Scott Seidman wrote:
I rarely get to fish anything approaching still water. Once, though, I got
unlucky at Connetquot,and to stay next to Dad, had to take the two beats
below the dam. I gave Dad the good beat, and he got to fish the dam
outflow, but that left me with a bit of river that looked more like a lake.
Frankly, I had no clue how to effectively fish it, and thought that still
water techniques would have gotten me alot further than what I knew and
loved. I'm more or less clueless on how to fish for trout when the water
ain't moving.

How about some contributions that would help someone used to fishing in a
current to effectively fish still water?



Fishing water like that is generally my last choice on a trout stream.
However, because of irrigation demands, there are times when my home
river is drawn down essentially leaving "still water" pools connected by
some short very shallow riffles. Sometimes I'm lucky and I finding some
actively feeding fish but usually in these situations, the fish are
hunkered down in the depths.

Over the years I've tried a number of tactics with active retrieves.
These would catch an occasional fish but not consistently. What's
worked the best for me is to dead drift a very small nymph. Because of
the slow drift, the fish have too much time to inspect your fly and,
IMO, a fly bigger than an 18 is going to look too phony. The minimal
current flows make getting a good drift difficult and the only way I've
found to get a drift is to use a length of tippet a couple feet deeper
than the pool you're fishing. You have to use no weight or the smallest
mini shot or your fly will drag on the bottom. If you try and fish a rig
like this with a normal leader setup, you are going to get severe drag
because of the resistance from the heavier line. It's boring fishing
because of the slowness of the drift but I've caught some big fish with
this technique.


Willi

Willi wrote:
Over the years I've tried a number of tactics with active retrieves.
These would catch an occasional fish but not consistently. What's
worked the best for me is to dead drift a very small nymph.

Lately I've discovered the effectiveness of the Heave it and Leave it,
especially if there's a little wind. I've been using a big dry and
then about 25" of 5x to a midge and then 25" to another midge. That
way I'll get about 4' of tippet between my dry and my last fly. Maybe
just a tiny #7 or #8 lead. If I can manage to just let it sit there,
especially when I can see fish in the vicinity, it's amazingly
effective. These fish aren't too difficult though.

bh

Scott Seidman wrote:
I rarely get to fish anything approaching still water. Once, though, I got
unlucky at Connetquot,and to stay next to Dad, had to take the two beats
below the dam. I gave Dad the good beat, and he got to fish the dam
outflow, but that left me with a bit of river that looked more like a lake.
Frankly, I had no clue how to effectively fish it, and thought that still
water techniques would have gotten me alot further than what I knew and
loved. I'm more or less clueless on how to fish for trout when the water
ain't moving.

How about some contributions that would help someone used to fishing in a
current to effectively fish still water?


spinning rig, flourocarbon line, stormz or rapala...g if you're into
catching. penns creek is the only place i've fished still water for
trout...and, as you know, the fish don't seem to be there until the bugs
appear. i'd try a dry/nymph dropper rig...let it sit, then bump it a bit.

jeff