tyler k asked:
I need to know some good techniques for fly fishing a lake from shore. It just seems much different techniques than if you were in a river.
I need to know some good techniques for fly fishing a lake from shore. It just seems much different techniques than if you were in a river.
You’re correct there are some differences but not many. Firstly you can use larger streamers/lures on a intermediate fished quicker, also you can use longer leaders and a team of up to three flies fished on a dropper.
Yes it is different if i were you after say ten minutes of casting move about ten yards either left or right and keep doing this then you cover far more water.
First off, look for rising fish.
Common lake hatches are damsel flys for which there are patterns as well as small black midges which can be imitated with a griffith gnat pattern. Sometimes just lobbing out a big attractor pattern such as a stimulator or a royal wulff will attract fish, it helps to give the fly a few twitches and make it dance on the water. I use floating flyline for this method.
If there is no action on top I usually use sparsely dressed woolly boogers (no bead head) and soft hackle nymph patterns such as a pheasant tail (obviously) on an intermediate sink tip line.
Cast out and let the line sink occasionally twitching the rod tip.
Retrieve the boogers with slow strips and pause between each. The nymphs I allow to settle and then slowly raise the rod tip and hand-line the retrieve, the slower the better.
Good luck and tight lines
When fishing from a bank I find that I have to be much more deliberate about casting in a fan pattern to cover as much water as possible. This is important because it is difficult to cover as much water from the bank as you can from a boat.
Of course, I don’t think I have to tell you that you have to pay a lot more attention to your back cast or your lure spends more time in the trees than on the water. UGH!!
In a lake you’ll need give the fly some movement. I would strip the line at different rates to see at what speed the fish are biting at.
I would look into the water to see what small life forms (bugs and small fish) are in the lake water and use pattern that most resembles the aquatic life.
- STB