151 Fish Hatchery Road Republic, WA 99166 (509) 775-3226 info@trollingfly.com |
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| HOW TO FISH WITH A TROLLING FLY ABOUT TROLLING FLIES: Trolling flies are underwater flies meant to be submerged in the water and presented to the fish as a moving piece of food. All of the Lake Trolling Flies were designed to be trolled underwater. What makes them different from other flies? DESIGN: The trolling fly is designed to look its best when moving underwater. Where dry fly tyers struggle to reproduce a fly that looks just like the real live variety of bug, the trolling fly does not. The important elements in the design of the trolling fly is to attract the attention of the fish. The suggestion of prey shape, bold use of color, glitter and movement are elements that attract. SIZE: LAKE TROLLING FLIES are all tied on size 6 hooks in several styles to match the fly design. Testing over the last 50 years has shown this size is tempting to fish. The KOKANEE FLY, the STREEKER FLY and the #2 MARABOU LEECH are tied on size 2 hooks in several styles to match the fly pattern. These flies are for deep fishing where fish are bigger and need a big fly to tempt them. MATERIAL: All Lake Trolling Flies are tied with materials such as Chenille. Chenille soaks up water and makes the fly heavy. A heavy fly is necessary to keep the fly from trying to float toward the surface of the Lake. The fly needs to stay on the same plane as the leader that is pulling the fly for the perfect presentation to the trout. Flies are also tied with many glittery material like krystal flash, flashabou and bead heads to increase their visibility to the fish. COLOR: Trout may see color, or they may see the light reflected off objects. However they see their prey, for the trolling fisherman, color is important. Visibility is determined by light waves that color re-emits. The fluorescent colors, fluorescent orange, fluorescent green and fluorescent pink re-emit the longest light waves, blues and greens are shorter and red, violet and brown have the shortest wave lengths and quickly fade to black. The amount of change will depend on the amount of light present. There is also a biological phenomenon that occurs regularly each day that renders the forage prey of the fish invisible, conditions of the environment cause this occurrence. Trout are voracious eaters and they would soon eat all their prey without these periods of invisibility. The trolling fisherman can take advantage of this phenomenon by choosing colors with the most light emission to prolong somewhat the visibility of their prey offering. GLITTER, MOVEMENT AND OTHER ATTRACTANTS The main purpose of the trolling fly is to attract the attention of the fish. Most of the time the fly itself is the most important attractant. There are times though when more is needed. Movement in the form of a beaded spinner such as the BEAD LINE SPINNER or the LAKE SPINNER can be attached to the fly. Other attractants that work are a bit of worm or powerbait added to the hook. Remember though these flies do work very well without any other attractants. USING LIGHT TACKLE: Probably the best method devised for trolling with flies is the Light Tackle set up. This consists of a trolling rod or any rod to which a level wind reel or drag reel can be attached. Use 50 to 100 feet of backing and metered lead core line on the reel. The 18 lb. Colored leaded line works well and the colors help you to judge the depth at which your fly will be presenting. Attached to the colored leaded line should be at least 20 to 40 feet of leader. The leader needs to be this long to get the fly far enough away from the leaded line, and the boat, so it will not spook the fish. It also allows the fly to work naturally. A good weight for the leader in most trout fishing lakes is four to six pound test. Be sure to Troll the fly slowly and at various depths until you have located the fish. A good plan when fishing a lake new to you is to check a topography map of the lake. Find out where the shallows are, the deep areas and the places most likely to have fish congregating. For maps of Washington lakes check out washingtonlakes.com USING A DOWNRIGGER: The Down Rigger is a very good way to get the trolling fly to the level of the fish. It can be used for shallow fishing as well as for fishing deep in lakes and reservoirs especially during the summer months when fish go deep seeking cooler water. Both the kokanee fly and the streeker fly are effective when fished with the down rigger. These large trolling flies can be fished alone without any added tackle or attractors with good results, but many fishermen add spinners or flashers with the trolling fly. Another option that works well is to tie on a 3-0 or 4-0 dodger about three feet in front of the fly. It is a good idea to let out about 200 feet of line before attaching the fly line to the down rigger, this allows the fly to be far enough away from the boat not to spook the fish and allows the fly to work naturally. |