Archive for the ‘Stillwater’ Category

I received a very nice email and photograph from Trevor Northan, Business Development Manager of Total Sea Fishing Magazine.  Trevor writes,

“I just came across your article (ed. Snowbee Classic Junior Fly Rod) purely by accident, and I gave the same Snowbee rod to my Granddaughter who started fly fishing at 7 years of age. Having been a keen fly angler myself for many years I was amazed at how quickly Poppy took to the sport, and not only managed some effective short range casts, but landed 3 fine rainbows on her first outing. I have attached a picture for your perusal.

As you say this rod is light and very easily put to great use by a young beginner to the sport, and casts beautifully. Like you I agree that it is best suited to a 6wt line. Whenever a product is aimed at the “ child market “ there is always a huge shortfall in it’s usefulness: not so with this gem of a rod. To an adult, as you say, you are restricted by its’ length: but a child is not. This is the finest rod that you could ever give a young fly fisher and 100% fit for the purpose!”

The image Trevor sent:

Trevor’s granddaughter Poppy caught the fish in the photo with the Snowbee Junior fly rod at Heathcote Lakes near Warwickshire, UK.  Warwickshire is located in the West Midlands region of England.  Trevor writes that the area has some hard fighting fish that take savagely and provide good sport.

I’m looking forward to posting some photos of my son David with some fish caught on his Snowbee Junior rod – crossing fingers he’ll be into some later this spring.

Thanks for the note and photo, Trevor! And congratulations, Poppy! I hope you continue to enjoy fly fishing with that rod your grandfather gave you.

Do you really want to have more success when you are fly fishing lakes? Lakes offer some tremendous opportunities for fly anglers and often, bigger fish than are typically found in small rivers and streams can be had. Even large ponds can hold some big old brutes of fish.

Although many anglers when fly fishing lakes will use traditional patterns such as Woolly Buggers, leeches and wet flies, often overlooked are chironomids.

This is a shame as chironomids are a large part of a fish’s diet in lakes. In North America, there are over a thousand varieties of these midges that don’t bite. They are also found in rivers and streams but are especially effective in stillwater fly fishing.

If you would like to have more catches when you visit lakes, it would be to your benefit to get to know more about chironomids and their various stages including the pupae and larva stage of their development. When the fish are taking them, chironomid fly fishing can be hot!

One of the nice things about chironomid fly patterns is their simplicity and ease to tie up. Effective patterns can be as simple as wrapping red stretchy material such as red Flextreme around a grub hook and securing it. The addition of a bead head and/or peacock herl at the head can add to the effectiveness of the pattern.

Another effective chironomid pattern is a simple tie of French Oval copper tinsel around the shank of a grub hook with a bead head and floss for breathers or gills. Of course, there are many other patterns that are simple to tie that you might have success with.

The best way to fish chironomid patterns is very slowly. Chironomids in a lake often have very little movement and are affected by the lake conditions and currents. When fishing them, give the line a quick twitch and then allow the fly to sink and move downward in the water and be moved around by the lake’s natural motions upon it. Often you will find a fish will take on this long pause after you’ve twitched your line.

Another effective way to fish them is to retrieve them very slowly.

Where legal, chironomids can be deadly when fished in a tandem of two or three flies. Experiment with them at various depths of the lake, and enjoy more success while stillwater fly fishing. Some chironomid and midge patterns here.