"Fly Fishing Techniques For Lakes"

Well, for many of us here in the US, Spring is finally starting to take it's hold.

Here in Western Washington the Spring Trout Opener for low-land lake fishing offically gets underway, tomorrow morning. The WDFW estimates over 300,000 anglers will be fishing this opening day.

Since it is the trout opener for lowland lakes I wanted to give you guys a few tips.

I found a great article that'll I wanted to share with ya. It's full of a lot of tips that'll help ya find and hook the fish this weekend, Spring and Summer. You can read the article below.

Another great read we recommend if you're wanting to learn more about fly fishing in lakes is one of the bonuses I am offerring for my 101 Fly Fishing Tips for Beginners Ebook.

The bonus is called simply, "The Pocket Guide To Fly Fishing The Lakes".

You can get this book as well as 8 other bonus items at the site:

http://www.SimpleFlyFishing.com/index1.html

Have a great weekend and rip some lips!

Tight Lines,

Duke

================================

"Fly Fishing Techniques For Lakes"

By: Dale East

Lake fly fishing techniques are similar to those of any other types of water except you don't have to deal with currents. In lakes fish have to aggressively search for food and are more likely to be tempted by anything that looks edible than their fussier river cousins.

Often lake fish will gather in schools and cruise around looking for food, but often it is the small fish that rise to take surface insects while the bigger ones feed in deeper water.

Where the fish are:

Fish in lakes aren't much different than fish in rivers. Their concerns are still protection from predators and finding food. Lake fly fishing techniques involved finding the areas where both these concerns are met.

Remember that lake water is generally deeper than rivers water, so bottom structures may not be visible. Try fishing where a stream enters the lake. Insects are often carried into the lake here and the fish will be waiting for them.

Structure in lakes includes piers and boat ramps, weeded areas and deadfalls. Fish are likely to be hanging around man-made structures that have been sunken into the waters. Lake fish like to hang around drop off areas. Here they can munch on food that has fallen into the water and dart back into the depths when spooked. Warm water fish gather around natural springs and weeds also.

Dry flies and lake fishing :

Lake fly fishing techniques usually involved fishing deep. It takes energy for a fish to take insects from the surface and there has to be a darned good reason for a bigger fish to do so. A big hatch might entice a large fish from the depths to feed, but you are more likely to catch smaller fish when using dry flies on lakes.

Wet flies and lake fishing:

If a fish expends more energy than he receives in searching for food, he will not survive long. Lake fishing techniques include knowing how an aggressively feeding fish will behave. He will check out the feeding zones, feed, then return to safe water to rest until it is feeding time again. If you are looking for large lake fish, you need to get your hook down where they are holding.

The larger the fish, the more energy it takes for him to feed, therefore the offering needs to be worthwhile. A big juicy-looking streamer hanging right in front of his nose will often tempt a fish.

The advantage of fishing wets over dries in lakes is that you can vary the depth and the retrieve until you find the combination that the fish cannot resist. Keep a close eye on your line because often the take is subtle. Using a strike indicator is helpful here.

Often a sinking line or sink tip can give you a big advantage when fly fishing a lake. You have a much greater chance for success if you can get your fly to the fish.

About the author: Dale East is a long time outdoorsman and fly fisher and publisher of Fly Fishing Wyoming

A Couple Of Tips To Help With Fishing In The Wind...

I came accross this article today and thought this would be a great article to share...The wind sure does like to kick up in the Spring time so these tips are timely!

Enjoy,

Duke
SimpleFlyFishing.com

==============================

A couple of tips to help with fishing in the wind

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
By DAVE BUCHANAN

The Daily Sentinel

Rarely can it be said that wind is an angler’s friend.

Perhaps it is so in the occasional cases where gusts of summer wind dump grasshoppers and other terrestrials into fish-holding waters, creating an unexpected “hatch” that excites fish into feeding.

Or the same gusts driving away the ravenous mosquitoes that we’re certain to find in excess this summer on Grand Mesa.

Or the times when downriver winds (does the wind really blow downriver when you’re at the oars?) ameliorate the rowing as the day grows short, the take-out still is miles away and energy is fading fast.

In most cases, however, the wind is not the angler’s ally.

Float-tubing on open water when the wind starts to howl can be exciting to the point of danger, and even mid-sized boats have had to turn back when whitecaps start surging across Lake Powell.

Fly anglers, perhaps of all anglers, have to learn to come to terms with the wind. Attempting to get a natural drift while a wind stiff enough to blow the spots off a Dalmation whips your flyline into knots somewhere above your head can make even the most ardent fly angler into a fan of lead sinkers and metal lures.

Take fishing in the wind as the seasonal challenge it presents, and there are a few techniques and tricks that can bring success no matter how hard the wind blows. Well, almost.

After polling some veteran guides around the West, here’s a short compendium, a primer for the primavera, you might say.

Forget the overhand, looping cast and got to a low-profile sidearm cast, keeping the line down and out of the big gusts. Learn how to do a roll cast.

Punch the rod a bit more. Fly casting has been likened to tossing a tomato empaled on a fork, starting slow, smooth acceleration to a quick speed up and sudden stop at the end. Make that speed up and stop more pronounced to tighten the loop (less wind resistance) even more.

Don’t worry about being mistaken for Brad Pitt, standing on a rock and making long casts.
“As long as you can get your fly in the water and catch fish, who cares what you look like?” queried Jesse Eckley of Western Anglers Fly Shop.

Fish streamers, weighted flies or add more weight to get your offering down. The wind blows, there’s no hatches in sight, but the fish have to eat. Weighted streamers and Woolly Buggers cast easier and get down faster.

Thin out that strike indicator or completely get rid of it. Whether it’s balsa, foam or yarn, a strike indicator catches the wind and as it moves it carries your fly with it.

Shorten the length of your line on the water. High-stick nymphing made popular two decades ago by Chuck Fothergill and others seems to have fallen out of favor, but recently the Europeans have been kicking some serious fly-rod butts at the World Championships by using shorter lines. Your fly gets down faster and you have more contact (i.e., feel) with what’s happening down where you can’t see.

Take advantage whenever possible of the wind. Change the direction you are casting, change sides of the river, even change locations, said Drew Reid of Roaring Fork Anglers in Glenwood Springs.

“Try to make the wind your friend,” Reid suggested, and he laughed only a little when he said it.

Dave Buchanan can be reached via e-mail at dbuch-anan@gjds.com.

Knowing This One Secret Will Put You On The Trout This Summer!

An interesting article was posted on one of the Fly Fishing Forums that I frequent and I thought it would be great to let you guys know about it.

It has to do with how lake water mixes spreading oxygen around at various depths.

The article points out where lake trout like swim during the long days of summer. You may be surprised if you think they're on the bottom.

A question I posted on the forum has to do with this temp./density effect on depth and fish finders.

Do you think these temp differences would effect both of these tools?

I know that out in the ocean, temperature and density are major factors in Naval Anti-Submarine warfare tactics.

But we're talking fresh water here...So, what's your thoughts?

-Duke

Here's a link to the forum post...
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php?t=31447

Fly Fishing Success Relies On Stealth Tactics!

We couldn't agree more Joe.

On some popular web forums the discussion has come up multiple times. People are so concerned about long-distance casting, it makes me wonder if many of them are even thinking about accuracy.

All of the experts would agree that Accuracy comes first and then Distance.

You can read fly fishing expert Lefty Kreh's take on the subject in my newly released eBook called 101 Fly Fishing Tips.

The website address is: http://www.SimpleFlyFishing.com

The article we're linking to below, written by Joe, is very entertaining and worth your time to read.

Enjoy,

Duke

Chron.com Fly fishing hasn't always been such a walk in the park:

"A decent cast of 40 or 50 feet was a big deal. But one of the ageless truths of fly fishing is that, regardless of venue or species, a lot of fish can be caught within 40 feet of the rod tip. The keys for close-quarters success are a stealthy approach and an accurate presentation."

Trout Senses – Are Trout Color Blind?

Trout Senses – Are Trout Color Blind?

Observant anglers can learn a great deal about how trout use their senses to find food and avoid predators. For example, it’s obvious that trout have excellent, because they are quickly “put down” by any sudden movement. Once spooked, they are nearly impossible to catch for a considerable time.

Savvy trout anglers understand the importance of keeping low to stay out of the trout’s “window” of vision. Because of the way light rays entering the water are bent, trout can see a much wider area above the surface than you would expect.

The trout’s keen vision is evident to any fly fisherman who has been frustrated because his fly was not the same size or color as that of the insect on which the trout were feeding.

A trout’s color-vision capability is also apparent to anglers who use “hardware.” There are times, for instance, when the fish ignore a plain silver spoon. But if you attach a small piece of fluorescent orange tape, they greedily attack it.

Anglers walking the bank of a trout stream know that a heavy footstep has pretty much the same effect on trout as a sudden movement. Trout detect the vibrations using their well-developed lateral-line sense, consisting of a network of sensitive nerve endings along their side.

The fact that trout have a good sense of smell is evident if you watch how they react to odor-producing bait such as fresh salmon eggs. The eggs emit a milky colored scent trail, which the trout quickly detect and follow to the source.

We hope this gives you a better understanding of trout senses and why color is important when fishing.

Thanks to the North American Fishing Club for the use of this article. You can find out more about the club and what it has to offer by visiting this link:

http://www.FishingClub.com/

Tight Lines,

Duke

Baghdad Fly Fishing School...From Novice To Graduate!

Who would've thought that you could fish during a war?

Wow, times sure have changed!

It's great to see people, like crazygoof from the Outdoors Best Fly Fishing Forum and the rest of the staff at the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing, give of their time to teach our deployed Sailors and Soldiers how to fly fish.

In the midst of all that's going on over there in that part of the world, crazygoof managed to start up a fly fishing school in the middle of a warzone!

I say, that's something to blog about.

The link to his site where he's posted a lot of pictures and stories about the class are located at:

http://members.cox.net/flybox/BSFF.htm

Be sure to check out his site and send him an email thanking him for his service!

As a prior Naval Officer myself, I really appreciate it when I see people like the staff of the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing doing what they're doing.

BZ (Bravo Zulu = Great Job) to all of our service men and women currently deployed in harms way. Keep up the Great Work!

God Bless and Tight Lines,

- Michael
aka "The Duke"

Puget Sound Steelhead "Threatened"

Quite the discussion about this topic on the local Washington State Fly Fishing message boards. What do you think? Should the Puget Sound Steelhead be listed as a threatened species?

There is a lot of finger pointing go on from all sides. Who's to blame? I don't know...I think we all should take responsibility for the situation and all of the groups involved should work together to form a solution for this awesome Northwest fishery.

-Duke
SimpleFlyFishing.com

==============================

"Puget Sound Steelhead 'Threatened"

SEATTLE - The federal government is proposing to list Puget Sound steelhead as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act. The move starts the clock on a 12-month process to determine whether a listing is warranted.

An "endangered" listing means the species is in danger of extinction. "Threatened" indicates the species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

"But by the same token, we think we can make some progress with the state on hatchery reform, and we will continue to look at causes for decline and signs of progress as we reach the anniversary of the proposal" on March 29, 2007.

NMFS reviewed the steelhead's status as recently as 1996, when it determined the population did not warrant a listing. But agency scientists said then they were concerned about the health of summer-run stocks — one of four annual runs — and the harmful effects of hatchery-raised steelhead on wild steelhead runs.

Since then, agency biologists have noted widespread declines in Puget Sound steelhead populations, despite reductions in the sport-fishing harvest of natural steelhead. Only hatchery-raised fish may be kept by anglers.

In September 2004, retired fish biologist Sam Wright of Olympia urged the government to list the fish, saying, "Nearly all the river systems have distinct downward trends in population abundance and are not even coming close to replacing themselves from generation to generation."

Wednesday's action comes in response to his petition.

Over the next 12 months, NMFS will work to determine the root causes of the declines, which likely include degraded habitat, blockages by dams and other man-made barriers, unfavorable ocean conditions and harmful hatchery practices.

Hatchery-raised steelhead compete with wild fish for food, weaken them genetically by interbreeding, and sometimes stay longer in streams than expected and eat the newly emerging natural fish, Wright said.

Like salmon, steelhead migrate to the ocean to grow up and return to fresh water to spawn. Unlike salmon, they can return more than once.

They're already listed as endangered in Washington's Upper Columbia River and in Southern California; and as threatened in most of the rest of California, in Oregon's Upper Willamette River, the Middle Columbia and Snake River Basin in Washington, and the Lower Columbia separating Washington and Oregon.

Article from the Associated Press. (Link MidCurrent.com.)"

Steelhead Myth Exposed!

Steelhead Myth Exposed!

Do Steelhead Trout really take a fly or are they just "lined" by a fly fisherman's fly line?

Many of you may have heard of the Discover show, "MythBusters"...Well, today I'd like to share with you the truth.

This article written by a Michigan newspaper sports writer reveals the truth about catching Steelhead on a Fly.

So, in our opinion, while it does happen occasionally, for the most part fly fisherman do not "line" the fish, instead the fish is hooked with the fly.

So, this myth folks....Is BUSTED!

Enjoy the article,

-Duke

===============================

Fly fishing effective winter technique on Pere Marquette

Sunday, March 26, 2006
By Bob Gwizdz

BALDWIN -- There's a common perception among some anglers that fly fishermen don't ever really catch steelhead, that they simply "line" them -- as in snag them in the mouth -- by pulling their flies into the fish and setting the hook.

And while there is, no doubt, some of that going on, veteran fly fishermen will tell you they've seen steelies come after a fly, turn on it and lunge, as it drifted past.

That behavior may be more noticeable in the fall, when the fish are fresh in the river, still full of spit and vinegar and actively feeding. But steelhead will take a fly in the winter, too.

Case in point: I was fishing with Ed McCoy, who guides out of Pere Marquette River Lodge, the end of the first week of March as part of a two-boat trip, when the boatmen pulled off to the side of the river to cook lunch. I jumped out and began drifting a black stone fly nymph (No. 14) through a deep run under a strike indicator when I saw the cork go down. Seven or eight minutes later, I was posing for pictures with a shiny 9-pound-plus hen.

My fly was running five or six feet under the indicator, but the hole was several feet deeper than that. There's no way it would be possible to line that fish with that rig.

After lunch, I went right back to the hole and on the first drift, hooked a 13-inch brown trout.

The trout inspired me. I spent the next hour throwing a big black streamer on a sink-tip line with no success (I did move one very nice brown trout, however), then went back to the indicator rig.

"I think (indicator fishing) is one of the most deadly techniques for any of the cold-water species," said McCoy, who has a degree in wildlife and fisheries from Michigan State and has been guiding fly anglers on the PM for five years. "It allows you to make a realistic presentation.

"Your flies are going to remain vertical pretty much as long as you keep mending your line. With chuck-and-duck, your flies are describing an arc through the water, like a pendulum.

"With a bobber, your flies are presented properly the whole drift."

Anglers can easily see what McCoy means when fish are on gravel. Cast out your line; when you take up the slack, the flies begin moving back toward you as they tumble downstream.

I would have liked to see how the indicator rig worked with fish on shallow gravel, but although there were plenty of highly polished redds around, there weren't any fish on them. That's because the high sun chased them into the holes, McCoy said.

"Spawning is all based on water temperature," he said. "Anytime the water temperature hits 40 and stays there for a day or two, the fish will start moving. The magic number is 42. When it hits that, it's game on.

"When it's cold, it's not an all-day thing. It's low-light hours, mostly evenings. Or in high water, they'll move up during the day.

"But they'll stay there all day once the temperature gets right."

McCoy said he'd seen fish working gravel in January this year and in some years has seen hundreds on gravel in February.

"I don't know if they were depositing eggs, but that's been fairly normal since I've been guiding here," McCoy said.

We worked the deeper runs behind the polished gravel. McCoy caught a nice steelhead and a short-time later, I caught another brown, a 16-inch specimen on an tiny egg fly. And that, again, inspired me to pick up the streamer rod.

"Most people don't look at trout fishing until the trout opener," McCoy said, as he pointed out likely brown trout haunts. "They're missing the boat. There's great trout fishing before the opener.

"We've got flies hatching right now. There's no reason you can't catch them on a nymph or even an occasional dry fly. But you're going to catch your bigger fish on streamers."

McCoy switched me to a white circus peanut, a long, articulated fly with a little sparkle tied into it. Fish started coming from a distance to chase it.

I threw it up against a deadfall, stripped it quickly, and watched a trout dart out after it, but not buy it. Two casts later, I hooked and landed that fish.

And about 30 minutes later, I hit another fish in the 16-inch range, a brown trout I'd consider a great fish no matter when or where I caught it.

"You'll catch better numbers on nymphs and eggs on light leaders, but once a brown trout hits 12 to 14 inches, it becomes piscivorous," McCoy said. "They're big enough to attack and kill something and they're looking to get more bang for the buck, rather than picking up bugs and eggs."

Steelhead fishing should be at a peak right now and continue for several more weeks. To book McCoy, or another guide, call Pere Marquette River Lodge at (231) 745-3972.

SimpleFlyFishing.com Update!

Just wanted to let ya know that our websites are back online after the server upgrade. We apologize for the downtime and thank you for your patience.

Go to our site now and get signed up for our Free Newsletter where we give away "10 Top Tips For Becoming A Better Fisherman", as writen by Lefty Kreh.

Tight Lines,

Duke

We apologize...Our websites are down!

If you were trying to go to our new site we just launched about Fly Fishing Tips, we apologize as our webhosting company had to complete an emergency hard-drive replacement on the server that houses the files for my websites. Thank God for Blogger and being able to run this blog without needing a webhost.

Our site, SimpleFlyFishing.com should be back online in the morning.

We're sorry for the delay.

Sincerely,

Michael

Why Don't More People Fly Fish?

Larry Myhre, editor of the Sioux City Journal seems to have a pretty good bead on this.

In summary...This is what he said...

Well, there are a number of reasons. For one thing, fly casting is not easy to learn. It takes a lot of practice to learn to cast well, but the good news is it is a lot like learning to ride a bike. Once you've got it, it doesn't go away. Then, there is the initial investment, the knowledge which must be gained, the probable lack of fishing partners, the fact it is difficult to fly fish on windy days, jet skis, waterskiers...I could go on, but you get the picture."...

...While the best way to get started is to be coached by a knowledgeable fly fisherman, few in our area will have that opportunity. There just aren't that many fly fishermen...

I agree with him. Now's a perfect time to get started.

He mentions many more great tips on getting started fly fishing.

His recent article can be found by clicking the link below.

Sioux City Journal: If you want to learn fly fishing, just start now

My NEW eBook would be a perfect resource to have if you're just starting out as well. It's called..."101 Fly Fishing Tips For Beginners."

If you join my list you can receive 10 of the tips for free.

Go here to join:

http://www.SimpleFlyFishing.com

Discover 101 Fly Fishing Tips For Beginners!

Just a quick message announcing the launch of my new website:

http://www.SimpleFlyFishing.com

I've made available a Special Report titled, "10 Top Secrets To Becoming a Better Fly Fisherman"!

These tips are from my studies of the legend, Lefty Kreh.

They are only a small part of my new ebook titled, "101 Fly Fishing Tips For Beginners!".

While the title may say it's for beginners, there's definitely something there for everyone.

Go to my site today and check it out.

http://www.SimpleFlyFishing.com

It's already daylight savings time here and it's 3:50 AM!!! I need to get some sleep before the birds start chirping :)

Just wanted to let you know that you can now access the site.

Tight Lines,

Michael
a.k.a. "The Duke"