Reason to fly fish stillwater :-)
- Thread starter gormaci
- Start date
As a beginner, being able to fly fish a little still water pond before tackling a river has been very helpful in my learning curve. It's much easier to see how the cast looks as it interfaces with the water on a still pond versus a river.
Some "purists" may say that fly fishing should only be moving water but to them I simply say that I'm having fun and learning in the best way I know how.
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Some "purists" may say that fly fishing should only be moving water but to them I simply say that I'm having fun and learning in the best way I know how.
Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
I fly fish. I also fish every other legal way, if I can't use the fly rod.
I fly fish 95% of the time. I don't care what water I'm on. I don't care what fish I'm expecting to catch. If I can reach to fish holding areas with the fly rod, I'm using that method.
Want a better reason? Because IIIIIIIIIIIIIII LIKE it !!!
I fly fish 95% of the time. I don't care what water I'm on. I don't care what fish I'm expecting to catch. If I can reach to fish holding areas with the fly rod, I'm using that method.
Want a better reason? Because IIIIIIIIIIIIIII LIKE it !!!
scotty macfly
Well-known member
I am pretty much a purist, about 98% purist, and to your comment above, I say as long as your having fun and learning, that is all you need to say because that to me should be the true definition of why we fish in the first place, no matter what others say or think.
Good for you UCChris, keep it up.
kentuckysteve
Well-known member
It's all fly fishing no matter what type water you are in.I love fishing still water.If you have never had the thrill of a giant largemouth bass exploding on your fly at the edge of a brush pile early in the morning while fishing a small farm pond then you are really missing out.I could cast a crankbait with a baitcasting rod or a plastic worm and get the same result but there is a peacefulness when fishing the same water with a fly that you just can't get while fishing any other method.
jeep.ster
jeepster
I see what you're saying. lol. I wish it were true but if all lake fishing was free around here the rivers would still be full of non fishers on the water. Even trout lakes are busy with multi-use recreation. So I can get low holed on a river or have a paddle board cross my cast, it's the same story. Got to get away from the people.
mcnerney
Administrator
I mainly fish streams, but during the spring when the rivers are running over the banks, I will switch to stillwater fishing, mainly because I just like to fly fish. Here are a few reasons I like stillwater fishing:
wthorpe
Well-known member
1. Nice Pics!
2. Fly fishing on lakes is horrible, no fish, cant catch 'em, too many fishers, etc. No, don't go. (At least don't go to the lake i fish on every day in the summer!)
2. Fly fishing on lakes is horrible, no fish, cant catch 'em, too many fishers, etc. No, don't go. (At least don't go to the lake i fish on every day in the summer!)
mcnerney
Administrator
Last spring I met two guys from Rock Springs, WY, they strictly fish stillwater's. Previously, they used to call the Green river in Wyoming their home water, but got fed up will the people with bad manners and no etiquette so they switched to fishing stillwater's and haven't looked back.
I don't know about purists, but pretty much every good fly fisherman I know splits time between rivers and stillwater. Stillwater requires a different skill set than rivers, it's not easier or harder, it's just different.
I know that every summer I look forward to the daily callibaetis hatch on my local lakes as much as any hatch during the year. There's something special about seeing a rise, trying to guess which way the fish is going, then making the cast and rising that fish. Gotta love those gulpers.
I know that every summer I look forward to the daily callibaetis hatch on my local lakes as much as any hatch during the year. There's something special about seeing a rise, trying to guess which way the fish is going, then making the cast and rising that fish. Gotta love those gulpers.
mcnerney
Administrator
How true that is! I'm still just a beginner at stillwater, but I love the challenge of figuring things out. I'll figure out those gulpers sooner or later. LOL!
Speaking for waters in my neck of the woods:
1) Definitely less crowding on lakes/reservoirs than on the local rivers. Actually it's more like guaranteed crowding versus never crowded.
2) More species diversity than the 90% browns, 9% rainbows, and 1% "other" of the local (popular) rivers.
3) Options from lower elevated, and highly fertile reservoirs to the alpine lakes of the mountain backcountry... I have stillwaters to target from late March thru November.
4) The fish, on average, are BIGGER.
5) Challenges are there... with no current to funnel your offering to the fish... it is left to the angler to locate fish, impart movement, adjust to conditions, etc. Frustrating at times, but incredibly rewarding when you come off a "code cracker"
1) Definitely less crowding on lakes/reservoirs than on the local rivers. Actually it's more like guaranteed crowding versus never crowded.
2) More species diversity than the 90% browns, 9% rainbows, and 1% "other" of the local (popular) rivers.
3) Options from lower elevated, and highly fertile reservoirs to the alpine lakes of the mountain backcountry... I have stillwaters to target from late March thru November.
4) The fish, on average, are BIGGER.
5) Challenges are there... with no current to funnel your offering to the fish... it is left to the angler to locate fish, impart movement, adjust to conditions, etc. Frustrating at times, but incredibly rewarding when you come off a "code cracker"
dillon
Well-known member
I have access to four stocked high desert trout ponds. They are close to my fishing cabin on the Deschutes River. I find myself drawn to them more and more for their solitude, prolific insect hatches and big hard fighting rainbows. Although these fish are stocked, they are keyed into the hatches, can be very finicky and grow very fast.
I was at the cabin several days this spring, including two weeks at the beginning of the famous salmon fly hatch. There is great trout water in front of the house. A long gravel bar that is wadeable and allows casting to the grassy and tree lined banks, a rarity on this big fast river. I had a couple good morning and evening sessions the first week. However, throughout the day every guide and other boater, would stop there and bang the banks. By the second week i couldn't buy a fish. Then I fished the Indian reservation with a guide, the only way the public is allowed to fish this side of the river. The fishing was slow and I was exhausted after a long day wading and hiking.
I needed some relaxing fishing away from the river crowd so my final two days I spent on the trout ponds. When I arrived the last morning, there were several fish working the surface. The pond is small, spring fed and lined with cattail reeds. From all appearances it's like a spring creek with no current. I climbed in my old donut style float tube and walked myself to the outer edges of an opening in the reeds. Here I could stand and lean on the tube and pot shoot rise forms.
My tie on bug was an adult midge pattern. The fish wouldn't touch it, so after 15 minutes I switched to an emerger and moved it very slowly in the film. It worked very well for awhile. However, suddenly they stopped eating it, but were still rising. Earlier I'd seen a few calibaetis with upright wings around the tube. Thinking maybe a hatch was starting I kept looking for them but never saw more. Then I noticed a calibaetis spinner beside me and realized those bugs seen earlier were probably spinners too.
Unfortunately I didn't have my spinner box with me. However, I had my small mayfly box in the vest, which include some calibaetis patterns. I tied on a convertible with microfibet tails and a cinnamon bear wing. I splayed out the wing and greased them up. For about 20 minutes I had great fishing. Several large bows sucked in the spinner and put aerial shows before coming to the net or a long line release.
That afternoon I stood on the cabin deck and watched a guide friend coach a couple dudes on "my" house water. As they left fishless, the guide waved and asked me if I'd caught them all. I replied, "Not lately I've been fishing the ponds, so there would be more room for you and your friends on the river..."
I was at the cabin several days this spring, including two weeks at the beginning of the famous salmon fly hatch. There is great trout water in front of the house. A long gravel bar that is wadeable and allows casting to the grassy and tree lined banks, a rarity on this big fast river. I had a couple good morning and evening sessions the first week. However, throughout the day every guide and other boater, would stop there and bang the banks. By the second week i couldn't buy a fish. Then I fished the Indian reservation with a guide, the only way the public is allowed to fish this side of the river. The fishing was slow and I was exhausted after a long day wading and hiking.
I needed some relaxing fishing away from the river crowd so my final two days I spent on the trout ponds. When I arrived the last morning, there were several fish working the surface. The pond is small, spring fed and lined with cattail reeds. From all appearances it's like a spring creek with no current. I climbed in my old donut style float tube and walked myself to the outer edges of an opening in the reeds. Here I could stand and lean on the tube and pot shoot rise forms.
My tie on bug was an adult midge pattern. The fish wouldn't touch it, so after 15 minutes I switched to an emerger and moved it very slowly in the film. It worked very well for awhile. However, suddenly they stopped eating it, but were still rising. Earlier I'd seen a few calibaetis with upright wings around the tube. Thinking maybe a hatch was starting I kept looking for them but never saw more. Then I noticed a calibaetis spinner beside me and realized those bugs seen earlier were probably spinners too.
Unfortunately I didn't have my spinner box with me. However, I had my small mayfly box in the vest, which include some calibaetis patterns. I tied on a convertible with microfibet tails and a cinnamon bear wing. I splayed out the wing and greased them up. For about 20 minutes I had great fishing. Several large bows sucked in the spinner and put aerial shows before coming to the net or a long line release.
That afternoon I stood on the cabin deck and watched a guide friend coach a couple dudes on "my" house water. As they left fishless, the guide waved and asked me if I'd caught them all. I replied, "Not lately I've been fishing the ponds, so there would be more room for you and your friends on the river..."
ia_trouter
Senior Member
I fish a lot of still warm water, because that is what I have locally. 10 minutes to quality stillwater fishing. 90 minutes to just OK stocker bow fishing on a southern Driftless streamstream. I'm just gonna guess that if some of my western forum buddies lived next door to me, they might just jump in my boat with me a few evenings a year, and afterwards we'd enjoy a crappie fry now and then. I think they are called "specks" instead of crappie in some parts of the country. Bass and gills are pretty fun too now and then. I'd probably rethink all this if I lived in Wyoming or Montana, because who doesn't love to fly fish moving water?
As Ard always says, "Gotta make my own paradise". The other choice is just whine my trout fishing isn't so great. I'll not let those negative thoughts spend much time in my head.
As Ard always says, "Gotta make my own paradise". The other choice is just whine my trout fishing isn't so great. I'll not let those negative thoughts spend much time in my head.
dillon
Well-known member
I wouldn't hesitate to join you and I to would be more interested in your local water than the trout. I have winter steelhead runs close to my home in Portland, but decent trout fishing (except for stocked lakes in the spring) is at least two hours away and good match the hatch dry fly fishing is 6+ hours. However, there are abundant smallmouth bass, and other warm water species close to home. Sadly I don't take much advantage of it, I just go to the driving range...
I loved fly fishing ponds and lakes for panfish back in PA. I picked up a copy of Jack Ellis' book The Sunfishes at The Fly Fishing Show in NJ in the early 1990's and loved it for its application of trout tactics to bluegill and sunfish.
Making your own paradise... well said.
I'm in a spot that most would die for. Housatonic river to the west of me and the Farmington to the east. Across the street from me is a great little trout stream with everything from pasture waters with undercut banks as well as great pocket waters thru a beautiful gorge.
Problem is, at my age and with a few health problems in the not to distant past, I no longer have the strength to fish most moving water. Fishing is not much fun when you are more worried about your safety than catching fish.
There is a stillwater trout club 1/2 mile from my house. Old limestone quarries in a beautiful setting that have a lot of big trout. I drive for two minutes and I'm on the water fishing for big fish. As has been said it's not easy to figure out but when you do it's the best.
I'm a pretty lucky guy!
BTW, it's the Limestone Trout Club ....google it if you like.
Tight lines,
Joe
Problem is, at my age and with a few health problems in the not to distant past, I no longer have the strength to fish most moving water. Fishing is not much fun when you are more worried about your safety than catching fish.
There is a stillwater trout club 1/2 mile from my house. Old limestone quarries in a beautiful setting that have a lot of big trout. I drive for two minutes and I'm on the water fishing for big fish. As has been said it's not easy to figure out but when you do it's the best.
I'm a pretty lucky guy!
BTW, it's the Limestone Trout Club ....google it if you like.
Tight lines,
Joe
wthorpe
Well-known member
big rivers in the west (madison, henry's fork, etc. -- too many fishers), smaller streams (Gallatin etc.) too many bears. Lakes, neither problem. And, with a modest motor i can get away from either.
...plus all the other stuff about different skills, avoiding wading, bigger fish and so forth.
...plus all the other stuff about different skills, avoiding wading, bigger fish and so forth.
dennyk
Well-known member
Yesterday I fished a small pond for panfish & bass. Today I'll be fishing a small stream for Brown Trout.
Life Is Good!
Denny
Life Is Good!
Denny
The best reason to fish stillwaters is because they are fun and often have some large, quality fish. They also require a completely different approach than stream or saltwater fishing, so it simply adds even more fun to our sport - is that even possible?