I don't even really know what the ways are, let alone have preferences or plans.
Thanks man. That is very generous. Tying the flies is half of the fun for me though! Would you be willing to share your recipe?
Go-to Trout Lake Patterns
- Thread starter jaredoconnor
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I don't even really know what the ways are, let alone have preferences or plans.
Thanks man. That is very generous. Tying the flies is half of the fun for me though! Would you be willing to share your recipe?
These are simple & quick to tie and effective.I don't even really know what the ways are, let alone have preferences or plans.
Thanks man. That is very generous. Tying the flies is half of the fun for me though! Would you be willing to share your recipe?
They are light and easy to cast, and almost neutrally buoyant, so the tip you use will guide the depth.
They don't have much of a jigging action, but if you want that a tungsten head could get added. But I like the glass because it doesn't splash down much if you're using an intermediate or floater sight fishing to cruisers in the shallows.
Good searching pattern as well. You can troll them or cast and strip.
PM me your address, I'll whip you up a few and send em your way. If you promise to use you're new echo lagicator for at least one session of patriot nymphing I'll throw in some chromies.
I'm a big fan of the Denny Rickards philosophy. I use his patterns as well. My go to patterns are buggers, Cary's, Denny's Stillwater nymph, and when that fails an ap nymph or a soft hackle. If I'm in big fish country I'll fish various bait fish streamers but it's rare that those account for too many fish. I could likely fish anywhere with the bigger and stillwater nymph and be as productive as anything. I'm not really too technical. I tie pretty sparse and ornate buggers though that are likely more involved than they need to be. They work for me though. One item I'm a fan of is a nice soft longer hackle at the front of my lake buggers. Movement catches fish no matter what the venue.
If you want to catch lots of planters, fish any flavor of small caddis, mayfly, or midge nymph/emerger patterns (14 and smaller). My favorites are a hare's ear or a gray soft hackle. Cast them near rises and strip them back slowly (or try doing it quickly if they aren't taking it slow).
When there are a bunch of recently-planted big ones around, troll around a leech pattern (an olive or peacock bugger in size 6 works great for me), and you will almost always get into a couple of them; sometimes more than a couple. Trolling streamers (with a smaller soft hackle streamer behind*) is always a great way to locate fish in a new place. Covers a lot of water quickly and keeps your fly in the water. I like to troll in a zig-zag pattern (as long as it's not crowded, where it can mess with what other people are doing), because that speeds up and slows down your presentation. Fish don't always want the same speed, and a change in speed, depth, or direction can often trigger a bite from a follower that wasn't going to bite otherwise.
For some reason, I usually do a really lousy job of catching planters off the top, but I generally do best on emerger patterns. Most of what you see fish eating off the surface around here in the early spring will be midges. I have never found a dry midge pattern that works consistently for me; it's weird. When fish are cruising and sipping emergers, I tend to do well casting and stripping a small soft hackle or (a must have fly that doesn't always work but is dynamite when it does) about a #10 Muddler. I tie my small muddlers weightless, with a deer hair tail. That pattern must imitate a lot of different stuff fish like, because I have had it solve many a frustrating, fishless day where nothing else was working. Stripping it away (as close to perpendicular to their cruising path as possible) from rise forms often triggers hard strikes.
I fish only floating lines, mostly because I don't have a bunch of extra spools for my reels, but also because I'm lazy and like to keep it simple. A lot of people like intermediate or sinking lines for stillwater, but I catch plenty of fish on floaters, so I have never felt a real need to go there.
This is all stuff that works for me; your mileage may vary, depending on how you like to fish. I find new things that work every year, and I suspect you'll develop your own repertoire of tricks and superstitions from your experiences on the water (for which it's been said there are no substitute).
When there are a bunch of recently-planted big ones around, troll around a leech pattern (an olive or peacock bugger in size 6 works great for me), and you will almost always get into a couple of them; sometimes more than a couple. Trolling streamers (with a smaller soft hackle streamer behind*) is always a great way to locate fish in a new place. Covers a lot of water quickly and keeps your fly in the water. I like to troll in a zig-zag pattern (as long as it's not crowded, where it can mess with what other people are doing), because that speeds up and slows down your presentation. Fish don't always want the same speed, and a change in speed, depth, or direction can often trigger a bite from a follower that wasn't going to bite otherwise.
For some reason, I usually do a really lousy job of catching planters off the top, but I generally do best on emerger patterns. Most of what you see fish eating off the surface around here in the early spring will be midges. I have never found a dry midge pattern that works consistently for me; it's weird. When fish are cruising and sipping emergers, I tend to do well casting and stripping a small soft hackle or (a must have fly that doesn't always work but is dynamite when it does) about a #10 Muddler. I tie my small muddlers weightless, with a deer hair tail. That pattern must imitate a lot of different stuff fish like, because I have had it solve many a frustrating, fishless day where nothing else was working. Stripping it away (as close to perpendicular to their cruising path as possible) from rise forms often triggers hard strikes.
I fish only floating lines, mostly because I don't have a bunch of extra spools for my reels, but also because I'm lazy and like to keep it simple. A lot of people like intermediate or sinking lines for stillwater, but I catch plenty of fish on floaters, so I have never felt a real need to go there.
This is all stuff that works for me; your mileage may vary, depending on how you like to fish. I find new things that work every year, and I suspect you'll develop your own repertoire of tricks and superstitions from your experiences on the water (for which it's been said there are no substitute).
OP
Get a copy of Stillwater Presentation. Its the best book I have ever read on lake fishing.....and yes I have them all. Lake fishing is a sickness and over 90% of my trout fishing the last 40+ years has been on lakes.
Good luck and have a ton of fun!!
Get a copy of Stillwater Presentation. Its the best book I have ever read on lake fishing.....and yes I have them all. Lake fishing is a sickness and over 90% of my trout fishing the last 40+ years has been on lakes.
Good luck and have a ton of fun!!
I like Rickards patterns too. I had an experience once at a lake that had been stocked with triploids. I started with an olive bugger and was having fun catching trout but no triploids. I was taking a break at the launch and a small boat pulled in and had two limits of triploids. It was not a fly fishing only lake and these were gear guys so I asked what they were using.....rooster tails. What color I asked.. Black. I have a box with every color of bugger possible and I switched to black and bingo. Started catching triploids. Lesson learned. Since I'm into catch and release I know I caught a lot more fish than they did and a good fun day with lots of good fights from those feisty trips.
Looks good! Thanks for the offer. I really want to tie all the flies myself though. Believe it or not, I am kind of bored of tying generic tungsten jig euro flies. What do I need?
Tiemco 5262 sz 8/10/12 (I like 10s and 12s)
Glass bead (or whatever bead you want)
Marabou (your choice of color)
Senyo's Laser Dub (your choice of color)
That's it. Mix and match colors to your delight.
Add glass bead.
Tie on the marabou tail.
Run a dubbing loop of laser dub up the shank. Brush it out.
Done.
I like the vampire leech pattern too. Even with a drop of superglue on the tippet knot, I can't get my jig to hang horizontally like good old Phil does.
Rickard's AP emerger is a great lake fly for me.
Islander
Life of the Party
That’s because Scott doesn’t want Tim to copy him, Scott being the “fish oracle”.
troutpocket
Stillwater strategist
I started to really study lakes around 20 years ago and found Denny Rickards books, patterns, and approach very helpful. In this thread I recommended Tim’s book because it’s focused on western WA vs southern OR and the Rocky Mountains. There are certainly parts that translate but assuming @jaredoconnor plans to fish the local waters, I wanted to spotlight an author who was local when he published. The game planning aspects of Tim’s stuff is gold.
Islander
Life of the Party
Finding fish and finding feeding fish is a huge part of successful lake fishing. Lockhart’s books will teach you this. Once you master that skill, various fly patterns and techniques will be productive. If I’m fishing familiar stillwater, I take the same two or three patterns, usually the ones sitting in the cup holder of my truck from the last trip. I primarily fish full sink lines (cast & strip), but on occasion I’ll switch to the dark side, mainly just to brag to @Scott Salzer or @Irafly that I caught something with a bobber. 
Pumpkin head Simi-seal leech, Camo carry and sometimes my Redhead nymph.
Pumpkin head Simi-seal leech, Camo carry and sometimes my Redhead nymph.
troutpocket
Stillwater strategist
A stop at Creekside for pattern advice would certainly get you some good ideas.
maybe double up on the tungsten beads, overwrap the rear one?
Cowlitz Bottomfeeder
Life of the Party
Give us a clue, where are you? Do you plan to fish lowland lakes or alpine lakes? Trout, bass, or tiger Muskie?
I live in the Samammish area. I have a young baby, so my radius is very limited. I'll mostly need to fish whatever is closest/quickest. My only available watercraft will be a float tube and I'll be targeting trout.
Cowlitz Bottomfeeder
Life of the Party
If you’re fishing heavily pressured lakes in eastern Washington early season, you’ll likely catch more trout on olive or black #16-14 Chironomids than anything else.
If you’re fishing lowland lakes in western Washington after the opener, fish #6-10 leeches
If you’re fishing alpine lakes in Washington in late June to July, always have 12-14 foam ants
If you’re fishing the alpine lakes July and August have 14-16 Quigley Cripples and Adams
If you’re fishing lowland lakes in western Washington after the opener, fish #6-10 leeches
If you’re fishing alpine lakes in Washington in late June to July, always have 12-14 foam ants
If you’re fishing the alpine lakes July and August have 14-16 Quigley Cripples and Adams
Mine hung at an angle, between horizontal and vertical. I'm not convinced that a "horizontal" leech is always the ticket. Phil's tying his little cutie with a special new bead; some lopsided thingamajig which may account in the physics department for keeping the bug oriented, but I don't have that bead, again, not sure how critical it is. I'll give it a test tomorrow. I'm thinking that something like 4 billion people will be watching the superbowl so perhaps the water I want to fish (if it's ice free) won't be too crowded. ;-)
