Trophy Trout to a Fly by Jim Crawford

Why fly fish lakes?When I first announced that I was writing this book, several friends in BC, Alberta and Montana who mostly fish rivers gave me the rolling-eyeballs, arched-eyebrow look and asked, “Why? After all,” they reasoned, “no real fly fisherman cares much about fishing lakes. Moving water is a lot more fun and challenging.” I answered that I was writing this book partly because western rivers are in trouble. Every major trout stream in western North America seems to have something wrong with it. Pollution, drought, whirling disease, quagga and zebra mussels, unrelenting draw-downs for irrigation, privatization, oil spills, catch-and-kill—every day more restrictions are placed on rivers in difficulty. If we want to continue enjoying our chosen sport of fly fishing for trout, lakes are perhaps our final frontier. Not to mention the fact that lakes often contain the very best trophy fish and to fish lakes successfully is more of a challenge than people think.In streams trout take up stations, watching and waiting to take food, or your fly, as it travels past in the current. Their ultimate survival in moving water depends on continuous split-second decisions. But in the distortion-free environment of a lake, fish move more leisurely and are able to methodically study the movement, size and color of a food form before they eat it. Stillwater fly fishers must consequently take great care to ensure that fly patterns are close imitations, that leaders are unobtrusive, and presentations and retrieves closely emulate the natural. These and other challenges, both tangible and intangible, are what continually drive me to pursue trophy trout in stillwater environments.This is not a book for absolute beginners—I assume the reader understands the basic mechanics of fly fishing. It does cover some basic terminology, equipment setups and gear pertinent to lake fly fishing—specific gear, methods and techniques I have found useful—as well as key observations and deductions for sizing up the potential of a lake. I trust that what follows will help lake newbie’s get started successfully and add to the arsenals of those already familiar with lake fly fishing.In this book I presume that every fly fisher’s desire is to hook a trophy trout on a cast fly, my interpretation of trophy being the best-quality fish a particular body of water has to offer. Indeed, if just plain big is your definition of a trophy trout, you’ll have a better chance of hooking and landing such fish in a lake than in a stream (with the exception of big, mature trout that move out of lakes into streams to spawn).Because a trout’s life primarily revolves around finding food, strategies for fishing lakes require a fundamental understanding of what occurs in a stillwater trout’s world, and knowledge about what and how it eats. A major portion of this book, therefore, addresses lake biology and entomology, as well as the physical structure and chemical characteristics of waterbodies (all in lay terms and sometimes even in my own made-up terms, of course, since I am not a scientist). The nymphs and floating fly patterns that I give tying instructions for match the majority of invertebrate species found in lake environments, and provide important insight for more substantial enjoyment of lake fishing with a fly.No one will ever know all the secrets about fly fishing for trout in stillwater. I sure don’t—not even close even though I’ve been at it for more than 60 years. Every outing I learn something I wasn’t aware of before or had forgotten. My hope is that this guide will help you become a more versatile and knowledgeable fly fisher, by introducing you to another realm where you can discover your own secrets.