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[Floon]

Fly fishing the long line.

Well we’ve heard it before and we’ll hear it again: Trolling isn’t fly fishing.
While it’s not truly in the clinical sense fly fishing, i.e.: casting and retrieving from an anchored boat, it IS an effective way to target trout in a lake. Not only is it a good technique but it at times out produces any other method both in size and in numbers of fish!
Here’s the deal.
How many anglers can cast their entire line?? Not many. Trolling is a way we as anglers can utilize the full potential of the longest cast and retrieve your line will allow. Positioned correctly this way of fishing can and is one of the most deadly of all fly fishing.
What I am talking about is using flies, lines of different weights and fly patterns that simulate a few if not many aquatic foods to catch fish in many if not all bodies of water.

Lines


There are many lines on the market designed to sink at different rates that enable a troller to target fish at different depths in the water column. The ability to get and keep your fly in the fish “zone” is critical when casting and retrieving and when trolling it is no different. Keep in mind the depths listed are based on have ¾ to all the line off the spool.

Floating line

This line is the ticket for anchored fishermen targeting still sitting aquatics that barely/seldom move at all. In my opinion this line is best left out of trolling because of surface disturbance when it is being pulled along. Not that it won’t catch fish, but more that big educated fish are wary of anything that is breaking the surface tension and thus can spook the more schooled guys from your offering. (Read big ones)

Type 1

This is the line a troller should use in lieu of a floater as it fishes the same depth(s) as a floating line without the surface disturbance. These lines are the most productive in the interior when fishing among trophy trout. This line will run in the top of the water column, from 1 to 5’ down.

Type 2

This line is my go-to line in the trolling. With all the line out (70’) your bait is running about 8 to 12‘deep. This is ideal for transition areas at shoals above drop off areas. Most of them are clear (Stillwater, slime line) so they are great for clear water found at these vantage points.

Type 3 through 6

These are for targeting fish in deeper lies, such as the drop off areas and deep water from 14’ down to just about as deep as your line is long, depending upon the speed you are running your craft at. A type 3 line will run from 12 to 14’ deep, a type 4, 14 to 16’ deep, while a type 6 will go down to 20’or more. Again this depends upon the speed you are traveling during your presentation.

Trolling speeds

The biggest problem most fly fishermen have regardless whether they are casting and retrieving or trolling is that they move their offering much faster than the naturals. The best thing an angler can do is SLOW DOWN!!! If you find you are snagging up, instead of increasing your speed, a change of line to something with a slower sink rate is a much better option. The best thing that has come along in a long time for the trolling angler is the float tube because it forces you to go slower. When trolling in a boat, try to match your speed with that of a tube angler. Once you have it down you can maintain it by keeping your eye on the shoreline to gauge your progress and speed of movement. After a time you will be able to almost ignore the shore all together and use the bend in your rod blank to tell just how fast you are moving. This won’t happen right away but as you perfect your technique with practice it will become almost second nature.
When using oars, try to keep away from constantly oaring but rather use short even strokes every few seconds with plenty of glide time in between. It is even beneficial to let the craft come to a standstill before dipping the oars again.
When using an electric motor, rather than using one constant speed, use a bit higher setting and “bump” the boat along with short bursts, again maintaining the approximate speed of a tuber.

Coping with wind

Remember keeping your offering in the proper area is the key to your success. When faced with wind, the best thing is to use your mode of propulsion to hold not only your speed but also to keep you in, on, or around the structure you are trying to cover. You have probably heard the term quartering into the wind, well this is in fact a way to hold your position while the wind is at your back. You propelling measures are then utilized not only to move you along the water but also to hold your position off shore. If the wind is coming from the rear then “back trolling” is in order to maintain your desired position. This can be done with either oars or an electric motor. The electric can be used in reverse or even spun around 180 degrees, and the oars can be used to scull backwards. In the float tube, it becomes a little more difficult because you haven’t a reverse option. Instead try extending your legs out and pointing your flippers down to create as much drag in the water as possible.

Where to fish

The ideal thing to do is to find the transition area where the shoal area drops into deeper water. The fish will cruise in the deeper water and move on to the shoals to feed and you want to intercept them as they make this journey. The way to identify this area is to be able to see bottom on one side of your craft and darker, deeper water on the other. If you feel the fish are deeper then change lines and move off the shallower water a bit and resume your search. This will take a bit of practice to judge just how far one should be for each line used without snagging but once you get the knack of it, the fun really begins. Of course a depth sounder is handy for this but definitely not an essential. Most lakes I fish I know the bottom depths through trial and error so well that I never use one unless I am fishing a new lake.

Flies

It is best to choose patterns that are suggestive of many different trout food sources rather than exact imitations. Animated materials such a mohair, pheasant rump and marabou are great choices for lively patterns and beads and forward weight on flies are great for getting an undulating motion. Don’t forget flash and sparkle. They simulate motion too. Here is a short list of my favorite patterns. There are many more to choose from, but this is just  to give an idea of what to look for.

Leech patterns
Wooly Buggers
Hares ear nymphs
Sparkle shrimp
52 Buick
Carey Specials
Doc Spratley
Georgi Damsel
Tom Thumb (This is the only fly that I recommend trolling on a floating line. It can be and is deadly when the traveling sedges are about!)

[Randog]

Good read, thanks floon

[newsman]

Hey Floon I don't know where you get your info from. Must be from the elitist fly fishing fraternity. On page 8 item 21 reads:

Fly Fishing ... angling with a line to which only an artificial fly is attached.

No mention of presentation style, rod or line type.

One of the first myths I address in my fly fishing classes is the difference between fly fishing (fishing a fly) and fly casting. I believe it does not matter how you choose to present your fly; fly cast, hand line, spincast, drift, troll, or float, if there is a fly at the end of the line, you are fly fishing. While fly casting may be an effective method of delivering a fly to the water, it is no guarantee that you will catch fish. It's how you fish that fly that catches the fish.  

[newsman]

Oops that was item 21  page 8 of your BC Freshwater regulations synopsis

[leadbelly]

Well if thats called fly fishing then what do you call the guy at Lafarge lake tonight standing in front of a buisy walkway full of people with his back cast flicking in between people dogs and kids? Moron.
 And thanks for the read Floon.

[leadbelly]

laughing out loud

[Floon]

First let me say I was unaware this board was broken up in this way. Secondly I would like to thank the readers of this post and the feed back. I am toying with writing a book on just this subject. As for the hair splitting when it comes to what IS and IS'NT flyfishing, well I choose to do what WORKS and maximize my time on the water. Granted, these days I do almost ALL of my fishing from an anchored craft, but until you can cast 75 to 90% of your line you are at a strict disadvantage as a fly angler on still waters. Thats just the facts.
This post was meant to encourage the use of flies in the trolling arena. Simply put, with Kamloops trout you are more likely to hook a good 'un with these methods than spoon or bait fishing and even at times, out fish the anchored elitest as you are simply covering more water.
Remember they are (Kamloops strain) bug eaters first and foremost.
Thank you for checking this out. I really enjoy the feed back!
Flooney*

[flyfisherman]

Great read R,

namhsuB

[canoe man]

thanks for the info floon
its something im trying to work on lol
but im going to read that a few times more
  cnm

[Dynamite kid]

Fly trolling in the belly boat ,has worked wonders for me over the years.

[Floon]

Well if thats called fly fishing then what do you call the guy at Lafarge lake tonight standing in front of a buisy walkway full of people with his back cast flicking in between people dogs and kids? Moron.
 And thanks for the read Floon.

I call him a cross between fanatic and foolish.
One time I heard that Trout Lake in Burnaby had a stocking of broods and I figured what the heck.
I got out there at about 6 am and figured I would have some time before the dog walkers showed up. I managed 5 nice trout of about 1-3 #s before I was in danger of casting someone's palmeranian into the drink from it chasing my back cast.
We all get a little stir crazy at times. Don't blame the angler, it's an addiction.
That being said I don't believe in flycasting when it endangers people around you. Could be also why I gave up casting barbell weighted flies. THAT was a danger to ME!

Flooney*

[Terry Bodman]

I don't have a Ford. Will a Chev fender work.  

[Floon]

You know I can't think of a single reason why you couldn't troll a fly behind a flasher at all. Not a foolish question by any means. Of course if you have a Chev fender and it's attached to the truck I suggest it would be better off as an ANCHOR anyway!
The only thing you would be lacking, and this is purely a point of veiw because I have NO business telling anybody how to catch fish unless they are doing so outside the regulations, is that the whole thing about using fly rods, and lines, less any hardware, is the connection one feels with the fish and the light tippet involved so as to enhance the action of a fighting fish to the point that it's just you, the rod, and frail tippet, and your skill to land them under these hair raising circumstances. Whew, that was one Looong fricken sentence!!!
Usually the fight of a fish is somewhat dampened by a willow leaf or flasher if you prefer because you have to have line heavy enough to handle both so the fear of breaking off is much less though definitely not non existant. Also when fishing with the fly you have two things working against you from the out set. One being the tippet strength which we have already covered and the other is the fact that you use a single action reel. This means you have to A: strip the fish in and deal with the possibility of tangles when it decides to run, B: do a combination of strpping and alternating reeling to get the fish on the reel to play it using the drag system and when you do, C: your reel has the ability to regain about 4" of line per revolution rather than a multiple pick up so you have to be on the ball to say the least!!
Combine all these things and for me it lends itself to a hair raising experience that is similar to the rush when you ride a roller coaster. You figure you know the out come but there is always that possibility of things going horribly wrong.
This feeling of helplessness and power in the same instant is what hooked me and keeps me coming back so often! Once that line straightens out weather I am trolling or casting and retreiving the feeling of "anything can happen" is the rush that is the be all end all. The fish are just a bonus, the trepidation of the hunt is everything.
Cheers!!
Flooney*

[markyboy]

Nice read  

but until you can cast 75 to 90% of your line you are at a strict disadvantage as a fly angler on still waters

I think this hints at why you recommend trolling a type II line versus the type III. Previous advice I was given, was to troll a type III as the 'go to' line, but no mention of how far out to troll the fly. So my guess is that you troll the fly as far as you can from the boat to give enough time between you splashing past and the fly being presented. So a type II on a long line would fish the same depth as a type III on a shorter line?

[Sandy]

Good thread guys