Best dropper knot

[piffilus]

I will use that tactic from now on. It makes good sense to go to them instead of them to me. How about the size? Is size 8-10 hooks good or should I go bigger or even smaller?

That they are close to the edge is very true, I've had three of them about a rod length or two out or even less at one occasion where there's a steep edge, which is most of the lake. But I often see them rise/jump closer to the middle when they are active. Not so today though.

I usually try to cast into the water lilys, where possible since I have had a few in there too. Water depth in close should be between 1-2 meters with a few parts up to 3.5 meters further out and there are two pits in the center of the lake that are 5 meters.

The low depth takes its toll on the flies though and I always lose a couple each session but that's how it should be, I guess? Or use lighter weight flies?

There's not much insect life visible most of the time. Pond skaters galore, some midges but only a few vulgata, when they hatch, I've seen bibios once. The sedges I've seen could be counted on my ten fingers...

[Paul Arden]

Damsel size 8 or 10. http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... ymph.shtml
White Bunny 8 http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... hite.shtml - also with a lime green fluorescent body
Black Rabbit 8 http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... lack.shtml

From your last post I might be more inclined to fish the damsel. Maybe lightly leaded http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... aded.shtml
This is a great fly in smaller sizes too - as in 12 and 14 and dressed lightly, maybe two turns of lead. You have to fish this more slowly of course.

What is the bottom of the lake like? Rocky? Weedy? If there is not much fly life what about subsurface? Corixa, shrimp? Are there baitfish?

What strength tippet are you using? Do you know the water temperature?

Cheers, Paul

[piffilus]

Thank you for fly suggestions. Damsels should work even though I haven't caught any fish on them yet. There are a dragonflies around but I haven't seen Damselflies, I guess they are harder to spot but the nymphs are quite similar between them, aren't they! I have seen mayfly nymphs, Ephemera vulgata, under rocks and they were really big and I mistook them for damsel nymphs before I saw the long tails.

Except for some patches of reeds at the soft low lying edges and water lilys close to the edges but also in the middle of the lake, vegetation seems very sparse. The lake is oligotrophic - low on nutrients. I haven't seen corixa nor shrimps but that doesn't mean they aren't there, I haven't looked that close. The water is a clear brown but you can't see very deep down, less than a meter I would guess.

Depth chart:

Depth chart

Here's a chart of the hardness of the bottom. Over 85 is pure rock, around 50 is grit or grit/clay, around 20-30 is fine sediments.

Bottom hardness

For tippet I use Rio Powerflex. 3X-8.2 lb, 4X-6.4lb and 5X-5lb. I use 3x the most. Should I go for smaller flies maybe?

[Paul Arden]

Funny, I imagined it was clear. Maybe it would be worthwhile pulling some flies as well. Some of these mini-lures can be quite useful for finding out what is in there, especially in the deeper water.

http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... lure.shtml http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... icat.shtml

You have some interesting drop-offs. I would probably fish the 6.4lbs for most of the fishing, using the 8.2lbs for single streamers.

Last resort, just to cover all bases, http://members.sexyloops.com/members/op ... ooby.shtml on a fast sinking line fished into those holes.

They stock rainbows. Are there browns too? How often do they stock and how many at a time?

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

Maybe two of those mini-lures on the droppers and a gold headed damsel on the point, on an Intermediate line, thrown into those blue spots. It's not the most subtle method but hopefully it should find some fish. Strip quite quickly, making sure that you hang the flies before you lift them off and expect smash takes. It may not be upstream dry fly, but it should work and hopefully you can find some real fishing later on when they are being more friendly. At least if you can start getting fish then you'll know where they are. Fishing damsel nymphs around the lilies does sound like more fun of course!

Cheers, Paul

[piffilus]

They stock rainbows and once in winter, brook trout but not this winter because they couldn't get any brook trouts. In the cooler period they usually stock around 200 kg every two weeks or so. Otherwise there are small roach and perch and some pike.

I'll have a try with the bunny and lure to see if I can get some reaction from that. And yes damsels around the lilys of course.

The place you marked on the right side is good for casting, the left has a jetty but is otherwise unfishable due to steep rock sides.

[Paul Arden]

On the reservoirs we used to have is weekly stocking. The fish got hammered for the first few days and then disappeared for a few weeks. It's a bit of a mystery. Are you sure there's not a plug at the bottom? Are cormorants a problem there?

We talked about night fishing. Have you tried this yet? Black lures, a muddler, or even a lumi-fly in the shallows and around the edges may be a good option. Certainly for the next couple of months.

There has to be an answer, Piffen!

Cheers, Paul

[piffilus]

I haven't done any night fishing yet but I will try that. I don't think there's a bottom plug and I haven't seen any cormorants there.

I tied a couple of white bunny cats yesterday and tonight I will make some black ones. It was easy and fun to tie. I have got quite a few of your damsels in various variants, unleaded, leaded, ball chain eyes etc but I might need to tie some 14:s of them too.

[Paul Arden]

The way I look at this is that you have two populations of fish. You have the regular stockings of trout that when first introduced are likely to hang together and be completely naive for a few days at least.

Over a period of time, the ones that are left, become the residents and can be very difficult (and of course much more interesting). I don’t know the quality of the fish that are stocked in Sweden but in the UK it’s very easy to tell which fish is which.

On a busy fishery the first population of fish are best caught with colour, movement etc and the second population of fish by more natural patterns. However that’s very much a generalisation because colour and movement can be very effective at times for resident fish and recently introduced fish “stockies” will eat natural flies too - particularly Hare’s Ears which imitate what they were used to eating

You could try floating a big dry fly out there, and maybe it would work, but that lack of surface activity really means that you need to explore.

I look at two pulling methods. Drab, fairly imitative - maybe Soldier Palmér, Bibio, and a Damsel. Or nymphs - Buzzers and a Damsel. This approach is good particularly for the resident fish.

The other pulling method - ie dazzling them with hypnotic colours and teasing them by pulling them away erratically - may be surprisingly effective.

What I wouldn’t do is treat them as being very smart fish, Piffen. I’m sure there will be smart fish in there but with numbers of fish regularly going in - these fish aren’t smart.

Also mate, there are lots of fisheries that don’t fish well during the day but are spectacular at night. Who knows, maybe you meet a poacher with eels down his trousers!

Cheers, Paul

[piffilus]

I'll have a go at your suggestions for sure. Definitely try night fishing with some black bunnies, glow in the dark flies and so on. What do you think of fishing with the Lumiline, do you think it would spook them? Otherwise I only have a barstool intermediate that's way too heavy. I will investigate when they last stocked up.

There are poachers who bait fish there but I seriously doubt that they will have eels in their pants since eels are very hard to find nowadays