Reservoir & Stillwater Trout Fly Fishing

 

Stillwater Fishing Flies & Tackle

Our stillwaters can be really large like Grafham Water, Keilder Reservoir  or small specialist lakes like Roxholme and Avington. Whatever the venue if they permit fly fishing then Rainbow Trout will be the big target species on that lake. Tackle and flies are typically heavier than for brooks and streams and techniques and tackle often vary between boat and bank fishing.

With stillwaters you use lake contours and wind to identify trout habitats. Fish will be found on wind lanes or in bays where wind is driving food items. You can of course fish in with big variety of methods, from bank fishing to "belly boating" using a float tube or using a boat on a reservoir using a drogue to control drift and electric motor to move between bays across large waters.

Stillwater Flies

On a reservoir or lake you can match the naturals, for example midge hatches will be the most frequent as they hatch every day of the year. As a consequence bloodworm, buzzers and chironomidae imitations are important subsurface fishing flies. Damsel nymphs will work around the edges, especially need reeds where a damsel nymph will hunt. Corixa or water boatmen will be around the edges. On the surface Pond and Lake Olives, Caddisflies Gnats, Hawthorns will hatch and be taken from the surface. Of course because our quarry will be primarily Rainbow Trout attractor patterns from Blob flies to nomads and humungous fly patterns will work well. Check our range of stillwater fly patterns below.

Stillwater Tackle

With small lakes we may be using #5 and 6 weight rods, however a #7 weight fly rod of 9' 6" to 10' length is probably the most used by larger reservoir fly fishermen. Heavier fly fishing tackle is often used for a variety of reasons it allows control of larger trout and will cast longer distances. Because the fly fisherman may be boat based or less mobile that their counterpart river fly fisherman tracking brownies down a few miles of river bank you will often see the fly fisherman with much larger tackle bags, after all taking 30 minutes to boat across a stillwater to find that the flies you require are back in the car would be a nightmare!

Rods, Reels & Fly Lines Ideal for Stillwaters

Clothing & Accessories For Stillwater

Boat Fishing Tackle & Float Tubing