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Trolling flies
I just spent a week fishing on Squam lake with a couple of friends. They are not fly fisherman so when we went out to fish it involved trolling spoons and Rapalas off a motor boat. This technique worked great and I would like to try it again next year but using my fly rod.
Does anyone have experience trolling with flies? I have done it on my float tube and did try to troll flies on the Squam trip but I could not get them down any more than a few inches.
If anyone has a favorite pattern I would also love to hear about it.
This is going to be a yearly trip so I want to be ready for next year. I don't mind trolling with spin rods but I would also like to do it and catch fish with my fly rod.
Thanks in advance,
Alberto
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Alberto,
I've trolled buggers and other streamers behind my toon. I usually used a weighted D-Bugger to get the fly down. I also use a sinking fly line to get the fly down to where the fish are feeding.
If your using a boat and motor, the speed of the boat may be enough to bring your weighted fly and sinking line back to the surface.
REE
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Using large flies trolled deep behind a downrigger is common for salmon and other fish in the ocean. Perhaps you could adapt some sort of downrigger for your trip.
Tim
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There are some places that I fish from a canoe and as I head across to some favorite places I'll troll a wet fly and have had some success. Those that seem to work best for me have been the black-nosed dace, black matuka, clouser minnow, mickey finn, both wooly buggers and wooly worms.
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Tarditionally, northern New Englang trolling for landlocks and trout is done after iceout and then again when the weather cools in the fall using intermediate lines when the fish are on the surface and fast sinking lines when they are not
In the summer, you'll need leadcore line to get down to the level where the fish are.
Each area and even the individual lakes have unique streamer patterns depending on the coloration of the local smelt.
There's a lot of tradition to this type of fishing and I'm sure that you'll be able to find plenty of information about it.
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I've fished for salmon in the Great Lakes with blue and white polar bear hair streamers with big eyes. Sometimes the fish are closer to the surface and you can just attach your fly line to a down-rigger ten feet or so down, I've also used the same fly with a cannon-ball and a flasher when the fish are deeper. I'm sure it varies from region to region and it sure is fun when it works! Worth experimenting for sure.
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Alberto;
I'm in southern Maine, and I tie tandem trolling flies ( front hook down, rear hook up), #4 R4-9672 Mustad. The most popular flies here are King Smelt, Arnold, Govenor Aiken, Mickey Finn, and the Sneaker.
Full sinking line is a must, right now about 15' down. You also have to tie them real scimpie (less is more). If you are buying them, be prepared to thin them with nippers.
The browns and rainbows have been attacking them hard. Haven't caught a Landlock so far this year.
Good Luck
P.S.
I always paint eyes on my flies, not sure if it makes any difference, but I feel better ha ha ha
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Thanks for all the replies - I'll have to look for some smelt patterns for Squam. I do have a sink-tip fly line, I'll have to give this a try.
One other thing I should have specified is that we were targeting smallmouth bass, with all the hot weather the salmon and trout were down deep. We also found a shallow cove (about 10'-20' deep) that had lots of aggressive pickerel. A 24" pickerel was fun to land on my 5wt.
Once again thanks, I'm starting to put together a picture of what I'm going to need for the next time.
Alberto
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I fish a pond, designated as a Trout Park,stocked with nice sized Rainbows, Browns and Tiger Trout. Slowly trolling from my canoe with a weighted, red head, black Wooly Bugger or a bead head Muddler has worked for me. Motors are not allowed and I believe that varying trolling speed is better anyway. This is a great way to "exercise" your fly rod when you are too old to wade anymore.
Fly rod trolling with small spin casting lures also works. Yellow Rooster Tails are good.
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Hi,
Trolling in some of the lakes here is quite popular. Lead core line is often used, and large matuku style streamers are very popular. A large Parson's Glory or Tiger Ross are two very popular patterns. For the Parson's Glory the tie is: Tail: small bunch of red hackle fibres, body, pale yellow chenille, wing honey grizzle hackle feathers lashed along the top of the body by the oval silver rib, and hackle same as wing. A Tiger Ross is the same thing, except Badger feathers are used for the wing nad hackle, and the head should be red by tradition.
- Jeff