[Shep25]

I'm not a stillwater guy at all, I dabble when the rivers are high, but that sounds fairly normal? Just maybe need to get a bit quicker at leader changes, maybe consider a second rod set up?.

Bad eyesight and shaky hands makes fiddling with knots quite a chore!! I think a second rod is the answer.

 

[Shep25]

and was the guy that was catching changing?

LOL no! If I was getting a fish every 15-20 minutes I'd not be swopping about either, he was in the right peg at the right time, a down wind gentle breeze had pushed quite a few of the lake's fish into the corner and he was the only one able to take advantage.

 

[Shep25]

When I'm fishing stillwaters, especially from the bank I'll always take 2 rods. 1 set up with a single dry fly (usually an emerger or suspender buzzer in size 18-20) to cast to rising fish and another rod with a couple of nymphs or wets on either a floating line or sink tip (muskins, buzzers or spiders sizes 12-16). Or if they're not catching I'll change the nymphs to a couple of apps worms usually black and red or red and olive. Having 2 rods saves the need to swap leaders.

I think this is the way I need to go, it makes a lot of sense, I'm not happy dragging lures through on Di 3's so two floating lines would keep me happy enough. BTW why & how do you use a sink tip line effectively?

 

[Shep25]

Finding your own way of adjusting the leader to suit your method is part of the game.

I often use a 12' 4x tapered leader (the very cheap ones are fine) as a base. I usually cut a foot or so off the butt and point and add a few extra feet of 4x tippet with a figure-8 knot. I can use the downward knot tag as a dropper and the point fly is around 3' away, total length about 13'.
I usually start with #12-16 flies and if I ever feel I need to go smaller I can add a couple of feet of 5x, again with a dropper if needed.

If I decide to go to heavier, say to a big sedge or to pulling wets, it's easy to clip off everything back above the the highest knot shortening the tapered part back further - until it's as thick as 6lb Ultragreen - and add that as tippet/droppers.

The bit you clip off can be stored on a foam rig spool complete with flies - always carry a couple.
I love the idea of having a few premade leaders on spools like Ohanzee, but never remember what is on the spool and the base leaders I use are cheap as chips. I buy the multi pack cheap ones off Amazon.

At the end of the session I clip off back to the tapered butt so next time I add whatever is needed for the day. I will still have the foam spools with the flies from last time so if I think they are still ok I will tie these back on - a figure 8 is possible with flies tied on - you can pull them through the loop OK.

You just find what works for you on this!

Some great ideas there, thanks!

 

[Shep25]

45 minutes of leader faffing in half a day of fishing on stillwater seems perfectly reasonable to me. If you are chopping and changing with no plan just in the hope of something happening that is a bit different but if you are reacting to conditions or observations that is what it is all about.

While it is true that the flies have to be in/on the water to catch fish it is also true that giving the water/fish a rest while you are adjusting your set up can be a very good thing too. While you are retying this and that and choosing flies the water in front of you isn't being disturbed by your casting, fish may move back into the area. Also, when you are actually fishing you tend to only focus on what is going on directly around your flies. Time spent faffing gives you a chance to look around a bit more widely.

There is also the question of fatigue and maintaining concentration. If you do eight hours straight casting and retrieving you will take your eye off the ball at some point, almost always when a fish takes! A change of set up or even stopping for a cuppa gives you a chance to relax and stay sharp.


Andy

That pretty much how I see it, this venue is tough going especially when trying to fish 'naturals' and its catch and release and I've figured out that you get half a dozen good casts before the fish spook, or indeed one or two bad casts before you need to rest the swim. With a few anglers on the Lake the 'rests' get less and less effective and after a few hours I tend to target individual fish on the dry or emerger patterns, at the moment just catching fish is less important than how I catch them, I'm not too sure how long that will last but for now I'm happy enough fishing the top couple of feet of the lake. Thanks for your input!

 

[Shep25]

This is probably going to sound really lame but I have to ask, from the rod tip down the line to the leader then the tippet is the first fly the 'point fly' then others after that droppers? Or does the point fly sit on the end of the tippet and the droppers are tied in between that point fly and the tapered leader? Sorry if this sounds a bit basic but .....

 

[Shep25]

I wouldn't use a tapered leader with droppers, point fly should be the largest fly, this will aid turnover. When fishing droppers go up a line size for your dropper: e.g 7lb mainline 8lb dropper, this will greatly protect against dropper tangling.

Don't go to light on your tippet on a stillwater, I'll go down to a size 16 on a 8lb dropper.

If I fish a dropper I tend to just tie a tippet on the leader and don't trim the knot back and tie a dropper on that 20-30 cm (mainly because I don't know better!)

 

[Shep25]

So 'position' was everything?

In my own fishing world I became a lot better when the anxiety you described in your first post lessened to almost being extinct.
Took me three decades though.

Oh I can't wait for that!!! Many years attending coarse fishing matches has led me to observe every thing (and every angler!!) around me! I just can't help it, I'd love to be able to relax and ignore the world, but still, every time I hear a splash my head pops up out of the reeds like a meerkat on crack cocaine.........'whatwasthattttt?'