Question:
Any you Roffian pros have any pointers for the lake fishing novices? We
hear, thru the local fly shop, that fly fishing has been pretty good at some
of the lower elevation (read not frozen) lakes. What would the trout be
likely to be hitting this time of winter? The fly shop owner thought Wolly
Buggers fished on the bottom and slow might do the trick...any others?
Answer:
Sometimes it helps to know what fish species are in there. I know lakes
where there are trout but no bass. Pike but no trout. And so on. It depends
on who eats who in the food chain. In a lake with no trout but lots of
smallmouth bass for example, there were crayfish remains among the shoreline
rocks, so I'd use a crayfish lookalike fly and flip it near the shoreline.
Not to say you couldn't use something else but, what the heck...If you know
they like hot dogs, give 'em hot dogs!
I like to fish a lake several times to get to know it. The more the better.
Sometimes it takes a couple of years and a lot of listening to the local
liars club but don't necessarily believe them. Some of them wear leech
patterns as decoys on their hats but their fly box is full of muddlers.
