Lake Fishing 101

A basic guide for stillwater fisheries

by: Jack Arnot

Stillwater fishing can be a daunting task for any new and experienced angler but it can open up a whole new world of fishing and a way to escape the crowds on the river. In my opinion, two ways of fishing can be used on a Stillwater, fishing from the bank and fishing from a boat. Both have their unique challenges they allow different lines, leaders, and flies to be used and permit an angler to broaden their still water fishing experience. In this post I want to highlight how to read the water of a lake, floating and sinking lines, leaders, and basic fly choice.

Brook trout taken on a light lake nymph while fishing from the bank

Across the board when I talk to new lake anglers the first thing I usually hear is “I have no idea where to go”. Stillwaters can look very barren to the naked eye and it can be very challenging to find at fish times and even recognize where fish congregate during different parts of the year. One of the first things I look at when fishing a new lake is the angle of the banks. A slow gradual angle being about 0-15 degrees tells me that this portion of the lake is fairly flat and depending on the time of year can be covered in weed beds. Fish in the summer and spring months tend to congregate in these areas looking for any kind of food in these weed beds being minnows, chironomids, scuds, crayfish, and even callibeatis. In contrast, water with a 15-30 degree bank angle tells me that it is a certain place for drop-offs, this is where fish come from deep to shallow to feed during the day. Simple tricks like this can tell the angler how to start a day of fishing and are something I take into consideration. Another great place to look where to fish is around islands, any point that juts out further than the rest, coves, and any stream that may flow in or out of the still water. Time of day and weather is crucial, a still water angler's worst nightmare is the high sun and no wind this in my experience has always pushed fish deep and shuts off feeding in most scenarios. A little bit of chop on the water is great because it gives the fish some cover to move around and pushes food into wind lines. Overcast most times bring fish closer to the surface and are great weather for hatching bugs. Overall there is no bad place to fish on a lake fish can be scattered everywhere but looking at small details like these can help bring a few more fish to the net and increase your knowledge of where you fish.

Fighting a fish mid session on Tunkwa Lake In BC, Canada

Sinking lines are crucial for fishing on still waters allowing an angler to reach many different depths and water types, choosing a line to use can become a bit complicated at times and can seem overwhelming. While there are all types of sinking lines on the market today I have found airflow lines to be the most consistent and durable for my fishing. I break them up into three categories, Top to shallow, shallow to mid, and mid to deep. For our top and shallow category, these lines would include floating lines, midge tips, and slow glass lines. All of these lines sink less than three inches a second and mostly keep you within the first 5 feet of the water column. Shallow to mid lines consist of type 2 lines, fast glass, type 3 lines, and type 4 lines these lines sink 2-4 inches a second and I use them to fish the mid-level of the column anywhere from 5-15 feet below the surface. Deep lines include 5 sweeps, type 5, type 6, and lastly type 7. These lines can bring an anglers flies with in excess of 35-60 ft if fished properly. My system for lines is having a real that has interchangeable cassettes all with different lines on each cassette that can be changed out within a minute and have you fishing deep or shallow very efficiently. I know people who carry upwards of 30+ sinking lines but I like to keep it simple with around 5-10 lines that I can fish different columns with as not to over-complicate my fishing. I always start with a more shallow line than I think I need for a day's fishing because it is an easy way to see if the fish are within the first 10 feet of the water column. If I opted for say a type 5 right off the bat I would lose my chance to fish the top of the column and my flies would be too deep. Learning when to change your sinking lines is crucial. If I go more than 30-45 minutes in a place where I know there are fish and after multiple fly changes without strikes, I will opt for a line change. I try to have the utmost confidence in my flies and think of the problem as being not getting my flies to the right depth. My favorite lake line is either a type 3 or fast glass I use these more than any other line in my arsenal and have found that I can fish effectively in many water columns with these two lines.

Lake leaders come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but I have two leaders that I have found work best for me. Depending on the scenario I fish 4.5x, 4x, and 3x fluorocarbon trout hunter tippet. For my leader, I do 4ft off my fly line tie in another 6ft and that makes my first tag. I then tie in another 6ft to make my second tag and allows me to tie on my third fly on the end. This is my leader for pulling flies with sinking and floating lines. For indicator fishing, I use 3ft of 3x to my indicator or in other scenarios a “bung” which is a comp legal indicator fly. Depending on the water depth I tend to use around 8-10 ft to my first fly and tag, and then another 3-5 ft to my second fly. I tend not to fish more than three flies below an indicator because it is prone to tangles and I haven’t found a real need for having three flies below the surface. Tapering lake leaders can tend to have negative effects and can affect the turnover rate especially when the wind is present. Sticking to just a level tippet of whatever an angler might choose for the day is a much better choice.

Stillwater ecosystems are diverse and so are the bugs and food sources within them. Throughout the fishing year, there are so many hatches and prime food opportunity it can be hard to figure out what fly to fish at what time of the year. Let's start with spring, the water is still cold from ice off and the fish are out of their winter slumber. Fish this time of year especially tend to feed on chironomids, blood worms, scuds, and leeches. Transitioning into the summer months fish are more likely to eat damsels, scuds, leeches, callibeatis, water boatman,midges, and chironomids. Fall is a great chance to cap off some of the best Stillwater fishing of the year and I tend to see fish feast on fry or minnows, scuds, chironomids, leeches, and crayfish. Keep in mind that many of these hatches can go on all year but are just more prevalent in certain seasons and determining when these hatches might be in full swing can be an angler's best shot at having a great day out on the lake. Here are a few pictures from my lake boxes!

Leader Formula For Lakes:

(4.5x,4x,3x) fluorocarbon or any tippet of the anglers choice

-From fly line -4.5-5ft of flouro off a tippet ring or welded loop

-5.5-6ft for the second section making the first tag to tie a fly on

-third section being 5.6-8ft allowing for a second tag and the third place to tie a fly onto at the end