During the winter it is one of the main food items available and is often top of the menu for Stillwater trout which are feeding naturally. Casting to fish crashing through baitfish with a larger fly such as a booby or a floating perch fry and giving it a few short sharp pulls to cause a splashy disturbance will often grab the attention of nearby fish. This will allow you to fish the shallower margins and over the weed beds more effectively as your flies will be held up by a buoyant pattern on the point of your cast. The sunburst is very effective fished with various retrieves, particularly a steady figure of eight. I have been parenting, husband-ing, and building a brand new online fly fishing school called Fly Fish University! I carry the blob in various colours but sunburst, coral, orange and fluorescent yellow would be my main choices. Russell Owen Picks His Top Ten Deadly Stillwater Trout Flies. TOP 10 My Favorite Flies For Trout Small Stillwaters are ready for action! Fishing seasons tend to run until October, however many fisheries now stock Rainbow trout all year! These flies cover imitative patterns to suggestive patterns. Carrying the bead colours can often gain interest from lethargic winter fish, particularly on very cold mornings and the lures aren’t working. We are aiming to provoke a strike by limiting the trout’s time to think and the fast retrieve that we opt for in this technique allows us to do so. Ideal weather: a mild overcast day, with a light breeze. Small Stillwater Trout Fly Fishing. October 23, 2019 Three Tips for Late-Fall Stillwater Fly-Fishing Late fall can offer some of the season’s best stillwater fly-fishing in the Interior of B.C. This has to be my number one dry fly plain and simple if the fish are up in the water feeding on emerging insects of even the ... Brown Hog daddy. Get in touch with our sales team on01786 430400, Read the Best Fly Rods For Under £150 – 2021 article, Best Spring Trout Flies & How To Fish Them, Read the Best Spring Trout Flies & How To Fish Them article, Top 5 Baits For Rainbow Trout and How To Fish Them, Read the Top 5 Baits For Rainbow Trout and How To Fish Them article, What are the Best Lures for Trout? These smaller bite-sized snacks can convert following trout into takes. A selection of trout flies that fish well in still waters including trout farms, lakes and reservoirs during the Autumn months of September, October and November. The larger snake style patterns displace a lot of water and the brighter colours are an easy target, especially in the open or deeper water. 1) AR Orange Head Woolly Starter, 2) AR Hot Head Yellow Killer, 3) AR Fish Fry Booby Streamer, 4) AR Peacock Head Viva Special, 5) AR Skinny Fry Streamer, 6) AR Green Head Gentle Sparkler, 7) AR Bushy Seal Soldier, 8) AR Black & White Bit, 9) AR Diablo Bach, 10) AR Hot Spot Hare's Ear Buzzer = Patterns that NEVER miss! Best time of year: Unless well airated small lakes tend to get too warm and the trout become much harder to catch in high summer. Orange foam Daddy. The best trout flies to use in October are pin fry imitations, such as snakes, humungous, booby and fry patterns. For us anglers in the Seattle/Everett area of Washington, fly fishing opportunities peak for many different species. Fly lines vary from full floating lines to the fastest of sinkers, depending on where the fish are feeding and also the areas in which the fry are holding. ... Flyrus Fly Fishing24th October 2019. The heavier breaking strain provides a stiffer leader material which helps aid fly presentation when using larger profile flies that are not the most aerodynamic. This is a great pattern at any time of the year, but as we progress into the month of October you can expect fish to be… Top Tips on Catching Large Tiger Trout! You can opt out of this at any time or view our full privacy policy for more information. Fishing this with a slow figure of 8 or allowing your flies to fish static is a highly effective method, we can provoke a take by throwing in a sharp pull into the mix now and again. A 10-12lb breaking strain fluorocarbon is suited to the job. October’s cool mornings and shorter days are certainly upon us. Winter fly fishing tips for stillwater trout While some people talk of a season for stillwater fly fishing for trout, most fisheries are open all year round and the fly fishing is generally best during the winter months. It’s my first choice on frosty mornings as it is now… I carry cat’s in various forms including zonkers, standard marabou and also the ‘cat bug’ versions. Fiery brown bits. I have been fishing for nearly fifty years; and yes, when I started I messed about switching fly patterns, always looking for the best new trout fly to try this season. Chironomids or Buzzers are one of the few food items which are on the Stillwater trout’s menu throughout the year, whilst other items such as sedges and olives come and go, the buzzer is a consistent food source. Below we highlight the trout flies we would use in conjunction with specific techniques to target trout in various levels of the water column. (Sizes 4-8) If crayfish are present, you can bet that some of the bigger … Mayflies, such as Isonychia, are still hatching into and through October, along with Cahills, caddisflies, and blue-winged olives. If the fish are reacting to large flies, a slow retrieve with a Cat’s whisker zonker can be deadly. It doesn't really … Ensure that the proportion of the body and tail are correct as are the hackles with the hook gape. Sign up to receive email alerts when new blog posts are published. Another version of these unique fly patterns is the 8 legged worm, often referred to as the ‘pulling worm’ and is basically a lure which has a unique movement. Creating a surface disturbance with a few fast short pulls to make the floating fly splash or pop across the surface, can trigger a response. If however, you are in any doubt the standard marabou dressing style with either a chenille or fritz body is almost guaranteed to get some action if fished at the correct depth. The selection below is my top 6 winter fly patterns and I would not dream of fishing a small water in the winter without them in my box. All our fishing flies for sale are tied or sourced in the UK. When fishing over weed beds or in the margins a “washing line” set up can be effective. The fly can be fished static or on a varied retrieve using a floating line. These flies cover imitative patterns to suggestive patterns. Whilst some flies are famous for catching fish all year round, the vast majority of fly patterns have certain times of the year when they just work better than others, and this is certainly true of winter fly patterns. Woolly Bugger. Depending on the profile of the fly, we recommend using a 10-12lb breaking strain fluorocarbon leader. Fish will be looking to feed on hatching midges and can be caught when conditions are suitable. And since lake-bound trout do the majority of their feeding on aquatic insects subsurface just like stream trout nymphing is often the best plan of action. It can also be deadly in pink or olive but generally the red is almost always my first choice. In this article, I’ll share the 15 best flies for trout. Finding the best trout flies isn’t always easy. During the winter small dark midges are almost exclusively the only food item available to the fish, so it makes sense to have a suitable pattern at the ready. Remember, to mix it up and try not to become two dimensional in your approach. In this article, we will be going through our go-to fly choices, how to fish them and how to locate fry feeders. I carry the 4 legged version which I tend to fish slowly on a floating or intermediate line and long leader of 5lb Fulling Mill Fluorocarbon. Continuing on from September, trout will be primarily targeting baitfish/fry as it provides them with a rich protein-based diet. March to mid June then Mid September to October are great times for fishing small fisheries. It very loosely suggests bloodworm but in reality, it is a mobile suggestive pattern which can be deadly for fish which have learned to ignore large, bright lures. A selection of trout flies that fish best in the Autumn months of September, October and November, split by type of water. During this feeding up process, you can rest assured the trout will be honing in on the abundance of pin fry that becomes present in our lochs. Thin Blue Midge. Whilst these flies can, and do work, throughout the main body of the season, for various […] No matter which lake you are on, CATCH Stillwater flies will at least make sure you are putting fish in the boat. Other key areas to focus your efforts on are weed beds, buoys, jetties and moored boats. Red is the original and,  in my opinion, the best colour for this style of fly pattern. ... Eggs Flies. Fly fishing lakes is all about the dropper rigs you set up below either an indicator or a hopper pattern. Larger flies require a stiff fluorocarbon leader, this helps turn them over and provide a better presentation. Top 8 Spots to Find Stillwater Trout The top eight spots for lakes, ponds, and reservoirs To the uninitiated, a lake might just look like a featureless body of water, but your success rate will skyrocket once you learn to understand how the shoreline and bottom contours, the wind, and inflows and outflows affect trout behavior. But before we get into three of the best ways to fish nymphs in stillwater, a quick word of caution: When you take away the swift currents of a river, the act of fly fishing slows way down. We have a huge range of fishing flies in stock as well as fly tying supplies. Premium fishing flies tied or sourced by pro UK fly fishing guides. Top tip: Try to identify the species of fry. B Smo’s X-Leg Mini Leech Olive Sizes: 12 ACDPBS1013. By casting out as far as you can and stripping the line in very quickly or even using a roly-poly retrieve. Read more What it imitates: The cat's whisker is a brightly coloured lure pattern. We've waited for ice off to come to our favorite reservoirs and winter finally gave up its grip. Rods between 9ft6″ – 10ft in length and a line weight rating of #7 to #8 will be perfect for the job in hand. Hopefully, after reading this article, you can experiment with our 3 suggested tactics. The blob is also deadly fished under an indicator where the coral or orange can be very effective. A Cat’s whisker in its various forms has been one of my favourite lures for many years, but it’s at its best during the winter. Small imitative dry flies need to be fished on fine tippets, I tend to drop down to Fulling Mill Copolymer in 3-5lb breaking strains and use a tapered leader to ensure perfect turnover. Rainbow trout prefer cold, oxygen rich waters, so the cooler months are fantastic for fishing! I like a small CDC shuttlecock fly patterns as it imitates the midge when it is at its most vulnerable. If there is no surface activity, start working your way down through the water column. As the day moves on and temperatures rise it is better to try smaller buzzer patterns close to the surface as fish will be looking to feed on the naturals as they hatch through the warmest part of the day. The Woolly Bugger is one of the most effective wet flies that is used in South African waters. Brody Henderson, Guide and Content Writer – 2021. ». The Apps bloodworm in its various forms is a great winter pattern, the flexi-floss legs provide unrivalled movement on even the slowest retrieves and are perfectly suited to cold water conditions. Typically fish hold where the water current is moving like the … All these areas provide sanctuary and cover for fry. Winter buzzers tend to be dark so I will usually focus on black and occasionally dark olive. It's officially stillwater season. There is no better time to fish Montana for large trout than October … These sharp pulls will create surface disturbance as our booby or floating fry patterns pop across the surface. Al Ritt’s Fighting Crayfish. If you are drifting open water or not seeing any activity on the surface or margins, a Di3 (3-inch per second sink rate) or DI5 (5-inch per second sink rate)- 2 fly cast – with a couple of snakes or humi style patterns can work very well. A Starter’s Guide to Fly Fishing Stillwater in The Rocky Mountain Region Joe Shafer25th August 2020. Focusing on Fry Feeding Fish Continuing on from September, trout will be primarily targeting baitfish/fry as it provides them with a rich protein-based diet. The blob is very popular and an exceptionally versatile pattern and is as deadly fished slowly or even static during cold weather as it is stripped fast during the warmer months. Also included in depth are chapters covering stillwater insects, best lakes to fish, fly fishing by seasons, presentation from boat, float tube or wading, external weather factors, best flies, casting for distance, locating trout, proper tackle for lakes and much more. I carry this fly with and without weight but my preference is always for an unweighted version as it allows the zonker to be fished slowly without sinking too quickly. The best colours for this type is certainly olive and amber. Here are our tips for winter fly fishing for stillwater trout. One point worth noting is that the various apps worm are far more effective in clear water, so I tend not to persist with them if the water is coloured. However, I did put together two new podcast episodes recently to help you on your way to your best fall stillwater season yet! Stillwater Trout Flies Flies particularly suited to stillwater fly fishing in lakes for trout. If you are getting lots of takes which are not being converted try fishing an egg pattern in the same colours, the smaller fly is sometimes taken with greater positivity and results in more fish in the net. For more info on fly fishing Colorado lakes and choosing the best stillwater fly patterns, visit the Vail Valley Anglers fly shop in Edwards, Colorado. Cat's whisker. This rich diet allows fish to feed up and put on enough weight to see them through the winter months as their metabolism starts to slow down. Just because it is winter does not mean that there is no chance of dry-fly sport! If you’re fishing an indicator the ‘cat bug’ can be deadly. Here are our 15 best winter trout flies and some of our best tips on how to fly fish for trout in the winter. The Woolly Bugger is an “old school” type streamer pattern that is deadly on stillwater, and river systems in South Africa. Brown trout have spawning on their mind too, and they become defensive of their territory. How To Fly Fish Stillwater Flies. Best fished on an intermediate or sinking line with a stop-start-strip retrieve. (Psychedelic, Crystal) My top choice for a dropper fly and a deadly mid column pattern. Red head JC Corm. Best Trout Flies To Use In September As it comes towards the back end of the trout season, trout are starting to feed up before the colder temperatures start rolling in. If the wind is strong, the normal thing to do is swap the unweighted fly for a weighted one, but I often just shorten the leader to aid turnover. B Smo’s X-Leg Mini Leech Black Sizes: 12 ACDPBS1012. Fish the inflow or outflow of the lake. These lower temperatures don’t deter the trout though as water temperatures usually sit between a steady 8-10 degrees, it creates the perfect habitat of activity. Your main job is judging the depth of which you need your flies.Typically, you should tie your first fly on a few feet below your indicator on a 9-foot leader. Top 10 Permit Flies from Peter McLeod! Posted under Game Fishing Guides on 04.10.2019, Need help? I consent to Catch Fly Fishing collecting my … « Dry flies, how big should I use them to induce a take? Foam flies like snail patterns work well in autumn but it is the core patterns above that always catch trout when they are on the surface looking for naturals. We are looking to target pelagic trout that are actively hunting in an open water environment. Great fly fishing in Washington continues in the month of October. Black Quill shuttlecock. October thru December, brown and brook trout spawn. With these flies anglers will ready for just about any lake fly fishing scenario. That question is impossible to answer so I generally try to feel out what is most important to someone: nice weather, lots of action, dry fly fishing, big trout, etc. Whilst these flies can, and do work, throughout the main body of the season, for various reasons they certainly excel in cold winter. Trout will patrol these structured areas throughout the month. I like a bead head style as it will quickly reach the depth required, particularly if you are fishing one on the point of a team of nymphs or under an indicator. Hatches of insects begin to slow down during October with only a few smaller buzzer hatches occurring as water temperatures begin to cool. At the moment there are 12 different categories with plenty of patterns in each. 1. If your top priority is catching big brown trout the answer is easier: October. My new website contains my full range of stillwater trout flies from giant lures for pulling to super heavyweight tungsten patterns for stalking at close range. Too high a breaking strain will result in an unnatural presentation. MEMBERSHIPS; ... it is a reliable trout fly in streams, rivers, and stillwater. Here is a look at some of the popular October fly fishing options and some ideas for places to go wet a line. Top Level > The best recommended Seasonal flies > The best recommend flies for. Going to light can result in break-offs as you well inevitably encounter double hookups fishing a team of flies. Doc-Spratley In my opinion this is the best searching pattern out there. A fluorocarbon leader of 8-10lb breaking strain is our go-to choice for fishing the washing line. Five Flies for October 2020 || Stillwater Brookies October 10, 2020 October 14, 2020 moldychum For this month’s edition of Five Flies, Trouts own Tanner Smith met up with Umpqua Signature Designer Bob Reece in a little slice of brookie heaven up on Horse Creek Ranch in Wyoming. Spooning fish to match naturals. Huge trout in the ten-pound range are not out of the question. Originally a damsel imitation, it also entices trout that are hell bent on targeting caddis and believe it or not, baitfish! Perch fry, roach fry, sticklebacks. A standard black zonker is a great pattern when the fish are looking for a strong silhouette which is often very important if the water is coloured after rain or snow melt. temperate regions particularly the UK. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases. This site uses cookies for marketing, personalisation, and analysis purposes. Fished like this, they can imitate fish eggs or daphnia, whilst in coloured water, the fluorescent yellow can stand out very well. The Adams is one of the best all round dry flies, I prefer to tie the body with Mole fur but any form of blue/grey dubbing can be used. The best trout flies to use in October are pin fry imitations, such as snakes, humungous, booby and fry patterns. This selection is recommended for (but not limited to!) We sell dry flies, wet flies and nymphs for trout as well as flies for pike and saltwater fishing flies. The stronger leader is also beneficial when targeting larger fry feeding trout. Are these the best 6 Stillwater Fly Patterns for Winter Success? When fish are feeding on or near the surface a buoyant pattern can provide some great sport as the takes can be extremely aggressive and visual. Whilst some flies are famous for catching fish all year round, the vast majority of fly patterns have certain times of the year when they just work better than others, and this is certainly true of winter fly patterns. In preparation for winter’s onset, big rainbow trout will cruise the shallows, feeding voraciously. One point worth noting when fishing an indicator is that you will often get lots of interest as the fish mouth the fly. A stillwater classic in all its variations. Top tip: Be sure to hang your flies at the end of the cast as many fish will chase all the way in but not actually take the fly until the last second when you are about to lift your line out of the water to make a new cast. Thinking outside the box and trying various flies and covering various depths will help you decipher what the trout want on that specific day. During this month, trout start to feed up heavily for the winter months ahead. The great thing about targeting October fry feeding trout is that it increases your chances of hooking into a specimen sized trout. These stillwater lake flies include patterns like the Carey Special, damsel nymphs, scuds, the Olive Willy, Denny Rickard flies, Callibeatis nymphs, and more. Try a few pauses in-between, this pause not only allows the trout to hone in on your static fly but soon as there is any movement imparted into the fly after the pause will usually result in a reaction strike. AUTUMN AUTUMN Here is a selection of autumn fishing flies that you may wish to try during the months September, October and November in the UK Look for surface activity as it’s not uncommon to see the water boil as fry show off their acrobatic display to evade capture. Fish smaller suggestive patterns from the droppers. The beauty of a zonker is that it can be fished slowly and still give lots of movement, which is why it has the edge for me during cold days when the fish are less likely to want to chase a lure. With water temperatures cooling down, features such as margins and solid structure like rocks etc tend to warm up a lot quicker and provide a safe habitat, making these key areas the best place to initially target. N'T really … Russell Owen Picks His top Ten deadly stillwater trout flies. A hopper pattern will ready for just about any lake fly fishing opportunities peak best stillwater trout flies for october different... Fishing scenario in all its variations September, October and November, split by type water. Type is certainly olive and amber cat bug ’ can be deadly stillwater season yet its variations that will. Colours but sunburst, coral, orange and fluorescent yellow would be my main.... 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