Stillwater advice

[Dunn13]

I first got into fly fishing about three years ago and up until this summer I had only fished rivers, primarily the Middle Provo. I just recently got a dedicated stillwater setup to fish out of my kayak and have taken a couple trips so far. I am totally "hooked" and I am trying to learn as much as possible and expand my fly selections. I tie my own flies and it's been a lot of fun expanding into the chironomids and stillwater streamers. I have been using the "loch-style" method with three flies five feet apart primarily fishing two chironomids on top and a streamer on the point.

Just looking to get some of your general stillwater advice if you are willing to share what some of your top producing flies are, and even which flies tend to work on certain waters. I've read through some older posts and am looking forward to trying out Little Dell with it being so close to SLC.

Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!
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[Joe_Dizzy]

-- Carry a thermometer and watch your water temps, especially on lakes of lower elevation during the heat of the summer.

-- Google up names like Denny Rickards, Brian Chan, Phil Rowley and absorb all they have to offer.

-- Keep retrieves very slow most of the time... hand/wrist retrieve, or short (~4") strips with long pauses in between.

-- Practice double-hauling and making long casts (if needed). Big trout hunt the shallows early and late in the day... water is often flat calm during these times... need to get your fly to them without spooking them.

-- When in doubt, the answer usually has "olive" in it somewhere.

-- Fish a long leader... 12-14 ft.

-- Trust the system, be patient.

-- Phil Rowley's pie charts for stillwater trout diet (as a general guideline for what/when flies to use):






-- Attached are some fly recipes that have worked for me to get you going. []
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[Dunn13]

Thank you. Glad to know I was doing a few things right at least. I have been researching a lot of videos by Phil and Brian. You have provided some very good info I will be sure to digest. Thanks again.
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[T-DOG91]

You are the man with the plan. This is great info and you are always generous in sharing patterns.
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[OldTroller]

I like all the above info. I however am a faster fishing fool. My troll and my retrieve (I go back and forth or do both on the same day) is usually quite a bit faster than those around me but so is my fish count.

As for flies for certain waters... There are those that work better in some lakes but the good ones work in all lakes. Small flies like nymphs and chironomids work better when there's a hatch. Big flies work better when there isn't a hatch.

Fish darker colors and them nearer the surface when it's cloudy.

And the one color and I think the most often over looked color is PURPLE. Bright purple as in a purple crystal killer for some days. Dull purple as in a purple mohair leech and don't fish strawberry without a Purple Showgirl.

Two more ideas...

Make sure you are counting down to find the depth of the fish.

Learn to fish what I call the 360° of Death. I see so many guys casting in the same direction on every cast. That's great if it's working. What I find quite effective is to cast and retrieve in a circle. Meaning to make your next cast 30 to 40 degrees in another direction from your last one.

As you can see there is a lot to learn about still water so come back often with more specific questions.

Or get with one of us here and see how it's done first hand. I have gone with a few guys from on here as have many others.
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[Joe_Dizzy]

Great stuff Mr. Troller and excellent point regarding the color purple (or lavender actually I suppose).

See attached Purple Showgirl in original trolling form and Estaz Bugger in "showgirl" colors.

This thread shaping up to become a Stillwater 101 []
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[2fishon]

Don't forget about dries. I keep a spare rod with a dry tied on my kickboat at all times. I catch alot of fish on buggers. I drag two buggers quite a bit, one of them is almost always a midnight fire. The other one is usually some variant of olive. I really like olive with burnt orange hackle and olive or burnt orange tail.
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[OldTroller]

What's your favorite dry fly? My favorite three are The Royal Wolff, The Griffths Gnat, The Peacock Caddis.
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[2fishon]

Adams by far. I like elk hair caddis or an orange stimulator once in a while.
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[OldTroller]

Parachute or thorax tie? What size?
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[Joe_Dizzy]

When the Callibaetis are on the surface I like a Sparkle Dun.
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[2fishon]

I like to fish the parachutes just for visibility. I carry 16-22 and usually end up fishing an 18 or 20.
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[richyd4u]

Buggers and big hares ears....money every where I go. Strip them or drop them, either way works depending on where the fish are in the column. Of course...don't leave home to a stillwater fishery without some backup chironis and scuds! If you are ever in Southern UT and want to get on some pigs, hit me up...
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[Dunn13]

Thank you all for some great contributions. I have been a big fan of Fly Fish Food, both their store and their online tutorials and info. My most productive flies so far have been the midnight fire balanced blank saver and the chironomid frenchie. If you haven't tried the chironomid frenchie I would highly advise tying a few up. In my limited stillwater fishing the fish have been killing that fly. Sorry the pics are blurry, my phone doesn't like close-ups. Also had a little success on the balanced damsel and Phil Rowley's black and blue balanced bruised leech. I need to tie my leeches a little thinner but they seem to work pretty well.
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[OldTroller]

Another tip...

I call this my 1, 2, 3, strip. Whether you're stripping long or short this will often turn fish on that were reluctant strikers before.

Strip once, wait a given period, I usually wait 1 to 3 seconds.
Strip twice, and wait,
Strip thrice and wait.

Wait the same length of time in between each of the 1, 2 and 3 strip steps and repeat until you're retrieve is finished.

It's just erratic enough to elicit strikes and easy enough to remember what you were doing when you get back to fishing after you fight your fish.
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[2fishon]

Try pink, orange and brass heads on that midnight fire.
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[pa]

One trick that Flygoddess taught me some years ago is to tie your fly on with a double surgeons loop. Make sure the loop has enough room to give the fly the extra action it provides but not so big it can get tangled. Doing this really increased my strike rate tremendously . Simple but very effective. Also she turned me on to furled leaders and now thats all I use. Hope it helps.

Tight Lines
Pa
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[Joe_Dizzy]

Excellent point Pa! Many variations on the theme, but all meant to free the fly up to give it more movement.

Here's the version known as the non-slip knot:

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[Dunn13]

I like tying my top two droppers tags on with a triple surgeons. Like you said, there is a fine line between being too long and tangling and being too short and not getting enough action. They have to be long enough to survive a few fly changes if necessary as well.

The non-slip loop knot is what I use for buggers and streamers. Took me a few times to get it down but I like using that on the point fly. Thanks for the illustration.
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[night_flyguy]

Kayak fly fishing is a ton of fun. Balanced leeches have been killer for me. I came in 3rd in last year's Lifetime kayak fishing tourney fishing the balanced leech against 40 bait and lure guys.
The loop knot is key for fishing the balanced leech but I tie it differently. Instead of going thru the overhand loop after feeding it thru the eye of the hook, I just wrap the tag end around the standing line above the loop twice then thru the overhand knot loop. Much easier to tie, amazingly strong too.
I tried to find the video on the knot but no bruno. You should see this kayak video though to make fly fishing from a yak much easier.
https://youtu.be/TR-c5GkVJwY
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