Tough Days on the Water

By Tom Johannesen

We have all experienced those days on the water where we just can’t seem to go wrong
no matter what we toss at the fish. This feature is going to cover the opposite side of that
scenario when fish are very selective and just don’t want to bite regardless of our offerings. To date there has never been a fly created that will catch fish 24/7 under any conditions. For that reason, we as anglers must step up our game to entice a fish to strike. I guess as anglers our goal at the end of the day is to have more productive days on the water than poor ones. For myself there were many days in the beginning when I questioned why I was even on the water as you could see fish but not get them to take. Fortunately, those days are now quite limited and have become a distant memory.

Early in the season

In the early part of the season from mid-April thru mid-May, fish commonly hold in a specific thermocline in the water. The thermocline is a temperature band that fish prefer to stay in during a specific time of year. This band is not only in the preferred temperature range but also holds the right oxygen levels for fish to survive. Sometimes this band can be in depths from 30 to 50 feet deep which makes it difficult to get a fly down to the fish. When covering these depths, anglers will often mooch a fly straight down which allows the imitation to remain in the zone until a fish picks it up. This method takes a lot of patience as you will spend a great deal of time staring at the rod tip waiting for a fish to pick up your offerings.

The most common flies for mooching are chironomids and blood worms as these natural insects are often present at these depths. When mooching a fly, a fish finder is a definite asset to help assist in locating fish before dropping the anchor. Without a fish finder the odds are stacked against you as the fish can hold anywhere in a lake and it becomes a guessing game on where they are. Mooching a fly is by no means the most exciting way to fish but is highly productive for rainbows and kokanee when they are feeding close to the bottom. When fishing this way, the “take” can vary from a gentle twitch on the line to the rod bending right over once a fish picks up your offerings.

The key to success when mooching with a fly is to keep your fly within a foot of the bottom where fish are cruising back and forth looking for live insects. To achieve this, you need a full sinking line and a pair of hemostats or a weight that can be clipped to your fly. All you need to do is lower your line straight down to the bottom then reel until the tip hits the surface. Once this is achieved, then strip in your line, take off the weight and let your line sink back into the depths. If you hold your rod tip a foot off the surface, then your fly will be hanging a foot off the bottom. When using this technique many anglers like to add a small split shot or swivel to the leader to help keep the fly in the zone as the boat gently moves around with the wind.

Fishing under calm clear conditions

If I had to pick the toughest conditions to fish in, it would have to be calm clear days with the sun blazing straight down on the water. A good fishing buddy once worded it perfectly when he referred to those days as a blue blazer. I’m not saying it’s impossible to catch fish on calm clear days, but those days can be challenging for the average angler. One of the main reasons it’s hard to entice a fish to strike on calm clear days is due to the fact the water’s surface has nothing to filter the light from the fish. As fish look into the glare it can be difficult for them to see small food sources such as chironomids, mayfly emergers and shrimp.

One way to limit the glare when the sun is directly beating down on the surface is to fish in deeper water. On bright sunny days try using a type 6 sinking line fished along the transition of a shoal. First start by working your fly in water from ten to fifteen feet deep then try to cover the depths in twenty plus feet of water. When fishing deeper water, I find larger patterns like leeches and dragons work best.

Fishing during windy conditions

When the wind appears on many interior lakes in the early afternoon the last thing you want to do is head to shore for a nap. The wind not only stirs up aquatic insect life forms in the water but more importantly it breaks the surface glare which often starts a bit of a feeding frenzy. I will be the first to admit that it’s not fun fly-fishing during windy conditions but if you double anchor in the right areas the fishing can be very productive.

When fishing in the wind I find it best to anchor with the wind to your back as the wind can make casting easier as it helps carry your line out. Having the wind at your back will also keep your line straight which helps to detect strikes easier.

Productive fly selection

Believe it or not, size does matter at least when it comes to flies. I have had many days on the water that simply changing the size of the fly made all the difference in the world when it came to having a productive day. This became very apparent to me over the years as I have paid more attention to size than the actual fly itself.

During a chironomid hatch with thousands of live ones available to the fish, we need our offerings to not only stand out from the rest but also look like a better offering. This not only works well when imitating chironomids but also works well when imitating shrimp and other forms of insects. This theory also works well when using a dry fly.

If the natural insects are equivalent to a #14 then I will often use a #12 imitation, so my
offerings stand out from the rest. Now when it comes to selecting the fly itself, a rule to live by is to stick with a staple food source first. If per chance they all fail to produce any action, then you can start into your attractor patterns.

The most common food sources in our interior lakes are chironomids, damsel nymphs, dragon nymphs, leeches, mayflies, water boatman and shrimp. Starting with the larger insects, first try matching your imitation to natural ones found under logs and rocks along the edge of the lake. If none are available, then start with a common source Like a dragon or damsel.

A good place to start working a fly in any interior lake is along the transition of a shoal. In most interior lakes, the transition of a shoal will be from six to fifteen feet in depth. When I first come to a lake I start by working a leech or dragon nymph along a transition for ten to fifteen minutes hoping to locate fish cruising around looking for food. If I don’t touch anything then I try a different insect imitation for another ten to fifteen minutes.

When I arrive at a lake I have never fished before, I start by using larger patterns
fished with a fast retrieve. Once fish are located then I usually change things up and use smaller patterns retrieved slowly as I know there are fish in an area. If the natural insect imitations don’t work, then I will try an attractor pattern before heading off to a different location.

When using attractor patterns keep in mind, they are designed to attract fish based on flash and color. Productive attractor patterns include variations of woolly buggers, boobies and blobs. These flies entice fish to strike even when they are not in a feeding mood. Personally, the most exciting way to fish attractors is on a shoal where you are actually targeting specific fish. It is hard to find a more exciting way to fish than going after a single fish in shallow water.

Using the appropriate leader

A leader may seem a little insignificant as fish are after the flies and not the leaders but the fact is the leader is the tool used to present our offerings to the fish. What this actually means, is the length and diameter play a significant role in landing more and bigger fish.

I’m often asked what pound tippet I use when fishing interior lakes that contain larger than average trout. When fishing lakes with trout as large as six pounds I will use a six-pound tippet. If the lake I’m fishing at only contains fish to three pounds, then I feel comfortable using a four-pound tippet. When using lighter leaders and you come across a knot in it, you must take the time to retie it or you will end up breaking off a fish when you get a strike. For that reason, it is important to check your leader every ten casts or so.

When I first started fly-fishing a few decades ago, my only choice for leader material was
monofilament. Over the years monofilament has taken a back seat to fluorocarbon leader due to the thin diameter and lack of stretch. Being the diameter is thinner than monofilament anglers can now use stronger leaders without increasing the visibility to the fish. I also find that most fluorocarbon does not have the same sheen as monofilament which makes it better when pursuing fish in shallow water. In saying that monofilament still works well if you stay on the lighter side.

The most common way of tying up a leader is by adding a couple feet of fluorocarbon to the tapered mono leader. This allows the fly to be turned over and still keeps the visibility down for the fish. When fishing in clear lakes on bright days I usually use a leader from nine to twelve feet in length tapering down to a four or six-pound tippet. When building your own leaders, use four feet of eight-pound monofilament tied to four feet of six pound mono tied to four feet of four-pound fluorocarbon tippet material. If you wish to fish a longer leader, then just make the tippet longer.

Fly lines to cover tough conditions

Now that flies and leaders have been covered it’s time to talk fly lines. Without the right fly line your fly cannot be presented to the fish in a natural manner. Every time I head out on a lake, I always have a minimum of six rod and reel combos on board. All the rods are six-weight as I find them best suited for trout in BC lakes.

The lines to cover any conditions are a weight forward floating line, an intermediate clear sinking line, a clear sink tip line, a type six fast sinking line, a Hover line and a 10ft sink-tip line. Last fall a buddy and I found out firsthand how important it is to be ready for any conditions. As it turned out the fish were cruising the edge of a shoal in approximately ten feet of water. We started with our type six lines but found it hard to keep the fly in the zone without dragging up on the bottom. From there we tried a floating line and a long leader and once again it just wasn’t the ticket. Without giving up we tried using a clear intermediate sinking line with a nine-foot leader and a dragon nymph. The mystery was solved, as we hooked fish on every second cast Intermediate lines do exactly what they were designed to do and allow the fly to be suspended as it gets retrieved.

All six of these lines have a specific purpose and can help assist you in getting your fly in front of the fish. It’s up to us as anglers to learn the best ways to fish the different lines available on the market today.

The key to catching fish during tough conditions is to be willing to adapt and try different combinations. Sometimes we must think outside the box and do a little experimenting. After all, isn’t this what fly-fishing is all about.