Fly fishing in lakes....

[Pickelfarmer]

I dont know anything about fly fishing nor do I own a fly rod. I was just wondering if any of you guys fish on lakes with fly rods and if so do you have any luck. I always kind of thought as fly fishing to be a river thing? Are fly rods any good on lakes that are deep?

[DEADhead]

I fly fish in lakes, though not too often for trout. It is just as successful a technique in lakes as it is on rivers. If the lake clarity is high, line and leader stealth is of importance. Also, if you are fishing insect patterns, they are typically fished more active than in a stream. Depending on how deep your going, you can use a fly rod for most conditions in a lake using a sinking line. They come in various sink rates. The only drawback is that in order to get real deep, you either need to wait a long time for the line/fly to reach the bottom, or a use a heavily weighted line which are more difficult to cast. Fly fishing may not be the most effective means of trying to fish in water deeper than 20-30' deep, but it can still be done. I know Quickstrike on here was catching lakers off the breakwall in Two Harbors in water 60-80'+ deep.

I have to imagine that most others fly fish in water no deeper than 10-20' and are likely targeting fish in the shallows and in weedbeds for species like bass, sunfish, crappies, pike, muskies, walleye, trout and carp.

[Sam Sterner]

I pretty much learned fly fishing in lakes after having such trouble in the rivers. It is much easier in a lake than river, especially if the water is calm. This makes fish much easier to see, in the case of trout anyway. Trout like to cruise the shore lines which makes them an easy target at times. Bass and bluegill are also very easily targeted with fly rod. A nine foot leader is what I generally use for all species, so nine feet is all the further down you will go. If serious about lakes with fly rods a sink tip line is a must but not necessary unless targeting some deeper species or later in summer.

[macgruber]

if yer interested in giving it a try, grab a 6 weight, some small poppers (really small) and head out on the local lake with a canoe/bass boat/etc...... or just wade the shallows..... sunnies, northern, crappie, rock bass, and large/smallmouth will all smash it..... if you are targetting panfish, small nymphs and wet flies are very effective....

[Pickelfarmer]

Ok so do you have to watch someone fly fish before you try it or can I just go out and give it a try and expect some success? I know there is a techniqe to it. I think it would be fun to try for sure. You guys talk about 9 ft leaders and what not but how do you Whip the line if it sinks down 9 ft? maybe dumb questions but I would like to get into it I just dont know ANYTHING about it.

[traveler]

There are tons of books on fly fishing/casting available, buy a cheap one and carry it with you the first couple times till you get the motions right. The basics of casting, lines, leaders, is fairly easy, and you can pick it up pretty quickly. The basics, that is. And I agree with the above poster, lakes are much easier than rivers, mainly cause theres no current to drift your line away from you. And rainbows love to cruise around the edge of the lake in fairly shallow water...just throw dry (floating) flys, which are easier and more fun (visual) than sinking lines/flys.

[Sam Sterner]

A fly line, or the most common type anyway, is a floating line and the leader is a tapering monofiliment line. It is very easy to get the nine feet up. When fly fishing the thing to remember is that you are casting the line instead of the fly, which is the key difference between fly fishing and cast/spinning tackle. The line is weighted and tapered all the way to the fly to "shoot" the fly where you want it to go. This is easier on a lake becasue mending the line is much easier as said with no current, which helps alot with beginers.