Spring Stillwater Fishing?

So I've been fishing some lakes lately cuz' all the rivers are blown out with rainfall and the beginning of runoff. The trout are cruising in shallow water and fishing for them is somewhat like bonefishing, you see them and try and lead them, or just cast and wait till they come near your fly. I have been fishing little seal buggers despite the fact that I don't really like Denny Rickards. These fish are pre-spawn and in lakes that don't really have successful reproduction, so they're stockers from three or so years ago, I guess they're feral since they've lived in the lakes for a number of years.

I haven't fished for lake fish too much. What can I do to increase my catch? I can see the fish straight denying my offerings. Are there any flies that I should try? Next time I'm going to try 6X as opposed to the 4X flouro that I've been using.

These are the kind of fish that I've been catching:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21...idtLakeBow.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21...Bow4-16-06.jpg

Man! I don't see where there is anyway that any of us can help you if that is what you are catching!

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she who dies with the most toy's wins.

No kidding Fly Goddess!

UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait a minute, on second thought Benjo, what are the GPS coordinates for where you're fishing, we'll meet you there to give you help in person.

Fly Goddess can bring the flies, and I'll bring lunch and tie your flies on personally! Hehehehehehehe!!!!!!

You might take a look in the Lakes/Stillwater section. There are several articles by Gary LaFontaine on what lines and leaders to use.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

Denny just did a presentation at our club meeting. I MUST say it was one of the BEST presentations I have sat thru. If the members retained half the info he presented they will improve what we have seen by double at least. This is from one who is very easily bored with "MORE" trout presentations.
NICE fish, by the way. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif
....lee s.

Denny is a great sales man. I do have great luck on several of his flies, but, he needs to get out to the real world more instead of the private ponds and be a little more open minded to what works, even Chironomids.

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she who dies with the most toy's wins.

Benjo...those are a couple of sweet fish. I would try small buggers (size 10-14), olive damselfly nymphs (size 12 or 14), chiromonids, sprout emergers (size 18-24) and griffiths gnats (18-24) depending on whats hatching and their sizes. A soft hackle (size 16-20) will also work good when fish are feeding on emergers that havent quite reached the surface yet.

Suprisingly I had a ton of success last year in May fishing Hebgen with a black stonefly pattern I tie. Dont know why but they preferred that to buggers. One guy I know who fishes stillwaters a lot in the Beartooths says his goto fly is a black rubberlegs (10 or 12)and I have had some success with that pattern also. You might try suspending the nymph patterns under a strike indicator and letting the wave action (when its windy) bob the fly up and down in the water which owrks best with chiromonid patterns.

I have found that in lakes with no real inlet for reproduction to look for windswept gravel bars near the shores. In some lakes I fish like this, you can see the trout trying to spawn. Other than that, I look for cruising fish (especially yellowstone cutts).

I am still waiting for Hebgen to open up. Went down there over the weekend and it looks like its still two weeks from being ice free. Now I am really getting eager to fish stillwaters again. Should be real fun once I hit alpine lakes with my float tube http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...kerainbow3.jpg

The above fish was taken on the stonefly pattern I mentioned last May on Hebgen.

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Take care everyone and cya around. Mark



[This message has been edited by MarkKillam (edited 18 April 2006).]

HI
Black marabou 1/80 oz. jig, black crystal bugger, bead or jig, black and tan Bugger under an indicator. Works well this year in Canyon Ferry.

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Dean
"A legend in my own mind"

Wow in my area there isnt a hathery trout(or any trout for that matter) even half that size. (but that is cuz they all die in the summer)

Go small (12-16)
chironomids, backswimmers / water striders.
Stoneflies will work well. Best I've found in spring is a chironomid emerger, simple red body with one rib of silver flash, red glass bead head, and calf tail for the emerging wings. Simple, but effective.

Then again ...... with what you've noted there ....... I think you got some (if not all) of it figgured out.

darrell,

Benjo:
Lunker hit it on the head with recommended small jigs or bead head flies. A little black or black and tan with a few strands of rainbow flash will catch these fish. Well more than a few people have been hitting the local lakes to catch these wannabe spawners. I wouldn't say these fish are prespawn fish - they are definitely already spawning, but like you said, the spawning is not successful. The FWP closes fishing in the bays with tributary streams where fish can successfully spawn, and some of these rainbows are genetically limited, so to speak, and can't spawn anyway. I saw 4 kids out with their grandpa two weeks ago hauling out 35 to 40 pounds of fish, and that was only 5 fish - one of them was easily over 10 pounds, and the others 5 or 6. While I can't say this type of fishing is enjoyable for me, the fish do make for a nice photo.

FG,
The fly is THE least useful bit of info in any presentation. It is the how and why, the strategies, that make a presentation of any value. What he presented at the meeting was stillwater and could be applied to ANY stillwater....private or not. Matter of fact, we see little difference in stillwater strategies for warmwater or coldwater, other than troutoids travel to their food and a warmwater fish usually does more ambush stuff.....sorta. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif