Still Water Solutions - Fly Fishing NZ

Alex got in touch with me recently seeking some help with his still water fly fishing techniques...
"Hi Chris,
Have been fishing the lake edges quite a bit lately and having a bit of success on everything from dragonflies to damsels to stimulators and hares ear emergers and these have been faster more actively moving / feeding fish. But have also noticed a lot of the fish cruising slowly with their noses pointed downwards looking at the bottom, especially over the sand. Have you got any idea what they are looking for / eating? Have tried pheasant tails in #18, bloodworms, snails in #18 with no luck - quite often they will come right in and look at it / circle but no eat. Any advice would be much appreciated. These blog entries and articles are excellent by the way. Cheers
Regards,
Alex"

PHOTO: Stu Hastie
HERE ARE MY FIVE STILLWATER FLY FISHING TIPS
Hey Alex. Are you retrieving these flies? In bright / calm conditions I find fish often shy away from moving flies. Instead I often try and drop a lightly weighted pattern in their path, far enough ahead so not to spook them but close enough that they cruise in on a slowly sinking fly. The other option is sitting it static on the streambed and imparting a minute twitch as they approach, or suspending it just above the bottom under a wee dry.
Here's five tips to help your still water fly fishing:

Drop down in tippet size if you havenäó»t already, and use Loon Snake River Mud to dull any shine, particularly on bright days. It does make a difference!
Choose a soft hackled pattern / version of your flies. Your patterns sound on the $ but maybe they lack the impression of life to keep them interested?
Try a weighted pattern sitting on the streambed with a short dropper leading to a foam backed pattern? This will suspend just above the bed and a twitch of the line will make this point fly dive, rather than lift? A small snail, pheasant tail type or chironomid would work well tied this way
Fish an Airflo Clear Camo Intermediate . It will change the angle of your retrieve as well as eliminate any line shadow
Just throw them a woolly bugger, you know theyäó»ll eat it

Hope this helps!

PHOTO: Kyle Adams