The Greater Yellowstone Region is known for its legendary blue-ribbon trout streams. Rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, and Henry’s Fork offer some of the best trout stream fishing in the West. Because of these famous rivers, many of the region’s productive stillwaters fail to get the attention they deserve from traveling and local anglers.
I have a soft spot for stillwater fly fishing in this region. Spending a day on one of the many lakes offers beautiful views, big trout, and less pressure than surrounding streams. However, when I talk to many anglers, they describe their struggles with stillwater trout fishing.
While I am no expert stillwater angler, I have spent many days learning stillwater fishing on lakes like Hebgen and Henry’s Lake for the last six years. In this article, I will share a few tips for stillwater fly fishing that have helped me succeed.
Stillwater Fly Fishing
Where To Start?
The biggest obstacle in stillwater fly fishing is knowing where to start. This may be intimidating to the fly angler who spends most of their time on moving water. Choosing a spot to fish may seem difficult, but this region offers many productive stillwater fisheries that hold fish in various water types. If you can overcome the mental barrier to fishing a lake, you’d be surprised at how many different locations trout can be found in a productive stillwater.
When looking at a new lake, I look for key characteristics to determine where I will fish for the day. Some of my most productive spots include steep banks, points in the lake, wind-protected bays, inlets and outlets, submerged weed beds, and rockslides. Areas of the lake I tend to avoid are shallow beaches and deep water (over 20ft deep), though these areas can fish well at certain times of the year.
Using one of the many mapping resources we have nowadays, one can locate these areas before ever setting foot on the lake. Being prepared with a few locations in mind before arriving at the lake will set you up for success. Here are a few examples of places I look for on a map when planning to fish a new stillwater.
Be Prepared For Everything
There are many variables to consider when going on a stillwater fishing trip. Whether hiking into a backcountry lake or fishing a famous reservoir, each day can provide various fishing opportunities. When fishing a new stillwater, I do my best to be prepared for multiple techniques and presentations to take advantage of whatever the fishing brings that day.
The number of times I have come to bobber fish a lake only to be ill-equipped for the dry fly fishing that ensues is embarrassing. You don’t want to hike up to an alpine lake and be unprepared for the once-a-summer flying ant hatch that brings every fish to the surface.
I bring gear that will allow me to indicator fish, strip flies in shallow water, strip baitfish patterns in deep water, and for any dry fly fishing I come across. Lakes are diverse fisheries and offer some incredible fishing. Coming prepared for a stillwater fishery is one of the most critical factors in a successful stillwater fishing trip.
Depth Is Key
You’re in for a slow day of stillwater fishing if you’re not fishing the depth at which the fish are feeding. Here are a few things I consider when choosing what depth to fish on a stillwater.
What time of year is it?
The general timeline I have for most stillwaters in this region is as follows: Fish shallow water in the spring, deeper water in the heat of the summer, and move back to shallow water in the fall. In the spring, trout tend to cruise shallow, where most of the food is available early in the year. As water temperatures warm into July and August, fish move to deeper water to feed (10+ feet). Once the first cold spell hits in the fall, fish return to the shallows and feed aggressively until ice begins forming. This though process may not always apply, but is a starting point when considering where to fish a lake.
How deep is the lake?
Knowing how deep the water you are fishing is essential to finding fish. There are many ways to check water depth, such as using an electronic depth finder or attaching a heavy weight to your leader and measuring the depth. Once you determine the depth, you can be confident fishing one to two feet above the bottom, which is where many fish feel comfortable feeding.
Where are my flies?
Once you know the depth, you must know how deep your flies are and keep them in the zone. Measure the depth from your indicator to your flies or count down your sinking line to know what depth you’re fishing and where fish eat your flies. The more consistent you are able to present your flies effectively at the proper depth, the more fish you will catch.
What water depth should I target?
Lucky for us fly fishermen, most feeding trout in lakes actively feed in water less than 20ft deep. In the stillwaters I fish, rarely do I fish deeper than ten feet. There may be fish in deeper water, but more often than not, those fish are feeding less heavily and are more challenging to target on a fly rod. I love the six to eight-foot zone when fishing flies subsurface and highly recommend this is where you start.
Lastly, check the shallow water (1 to 3ft deep) for fish cruising in the shallows. Many lakes offer incredible sight fishing for those willing to put the time in to spot fish in shallow water. With time, you will understand the most productive depth of the lake you enjoy fishing.
Find Feeding Fish
The lake may be full of fish, but as stillwater fly anglers, we have our greatest success finding actively feeding fish. How do you know if there are actively feeding fish in the area? Most of the time, you will see them! Look for fish rising or even fish cruising in the shallows. This is a telltale sign that many fish are feeding in the area.
When I choose a location on a local stillwater, I give it about half an hour to forty-five minutes. If I do not hook a fish or see any fish rising in that time, I get up and move. No matter how good the spot looks, fish may not be feeding in that area, and finding a new place is best.
Stillwater Leader Setup
The leader is crucial in stillwater fly fishing. They are often the difference between a successful day of fishing and a slow day. Here are a few diagrams and descriptions of my lake leaders. While there are many ways to fish a lake, here I go into using an indicator leader and a stripping leader.
Indicator Leader
The most effective indicator leaders are ones that incorporate a level leader. This means that a majority of the leader is of the same diameter. A level leader allows your flies to sink and stay directly below your indicator, which detects strikes more effectively. This makes a drastic difference on the water, often resulting in many more fish for the angler with a level leader. I have seen it first-hand how much of a difference a level leader makes. Here is my standard leader for local lakes that I highly recommend as a starting point.
Stripping Leader
When creating a leader for stripping flies, you must consider the sink rate on the line you plan to use. I use a standard nine-foot leader as a starting point for my intermediate sink line. I may lengthen or shorten it depending on how deep I want my flies. The longer your leader is on a sinking line, the higher in the water column your flies will sit (assuming your flies are unweighted/lightly weighted). It is the opposite if stripping flies on a floating line where you want a longer leader to allow your flies to sink deeper. When stripping two flies, I tend to use a tag end rather than connecting flies via the hook shank. This allows the flies to move independently from each other.
Consider Buying a Boat
While not necessary, some type of watercraft can drastically help on many stillwaters. I am not one to tell you that you need to buy more things to have success on the water. Fishing from the bank is very effective on many stillwaters in this region, and I still prefer to fish many from shore.
But if you are going all in on stillwater fly fishing, I highly recommend at least a one-man boat for your adventures. I have fished out of an 8-foot pontoon boat for years and love its versatility on stillwaters. A boat opens up more of the lake, gets you to deeper water, and frees up room for your backcast. It is also just a whirl of fun to fish out of.
For less than $500, you can have a one-person boat ready for any stillwater outing. Check around online marketplaces or for sales at your local outdoor store.
Flies For Stillwater Fishing
Flies for stillwater fly fishing are unique and a rabbit hole in themselves. The most common food sources in lakes include leeches, scuds, midges, baitfish, terrestrials, and maybe a few mayflies or caddis. There are a wide variety of stillwater-specific patterns to imitate these food sources.
Stillwater flies can be broken into two categories: imitative flies and attractor flies. It is important to have a variety of both styles as each serves a purpose.
Flies designed to imitate specific food sources are tied to match the color, size, and profile of the trout’s natural food sources. Some examples of these would include balanced leeches, pheasant tails, chironomids, ant patterns, and a variety of other effective lake flies.
There are also many lake patterns designed to attract fish and illicit a reactionary bite out of the trout. These patterns are often designed with materials that move a lot in the water, bright colors, and sometimes flash. Attractor patterns may not imitate any food sources seen commonly in the lake. These would include booby’s and blob flies.
Some attractor patterns are designed to imitate a wide variety of potential food sources in the lake rather than one specific insect. A few examples of these would include the wooly bugger, Rickards stillwater nymph, and the hippie stomper.
There are a wide variety of effective stillwater flies. Here are a few that I keep stocked in my lake fly box no matter what lake I am fishing.
I hope you learn something from this article as lake season heats up here in the Rocky Mountain West. Stillwater fishing is an exciting way to get away from the crowds and expand your skills as a fly fisherman. If you have any further questions or would like me to dive deeper into a topic, please reach out. I enjoy talking about lake fishing and would love to offer any insight so you can have more fun on the water.
As always, thanks for following along!
-Nick
2 thoughts on “A Beginner’s Guide to Stillwater Fly Fishing”
Nice work, lots of info for someone like me who has never fished a lake. Gregg
Thanks for reading Gregg! I hope you can apply one topic from the article if you ever venture onto a stillwater!
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