Rainbows In Spring/Early Summer: Stillwater Tips

[WalkersKiller]

So all the spawning has stopped, the trout have been feeding heavily and now the "conventional" stillwater fly fishing can resume once more 

 

Fish Activity & General Habits During This Period

Early Morning

Mornings during this period are difficult to fish as not many hatches happen early morning in the Summer months, especially in the Highveld. The Rainbows generally feed and rise close to the surface just before sunrise and, on sunny mornings, will go quiet after about 30 minutes after sunrise. They feed in the dark picking off all the food items that might of drowned during the night that they hadn't "felt" (with their lateral line) during the night time period.

Mid Morning - Afternoon

October, November and early December can be some of the most testing and difficult months to catch stillwater Rainbows as instead of aggravating them you now need to move more to imitating what they are currently feeding on. Damsel fly and dragon fly larvae are now starting to appear in stillwater systems in the Highveld, and these insects often have large mi day underwater hatches, that many fly fisherman cannot see in deeper dams, weirs and lakes. It is during this time when the Rainbows hug the weedy bottom of the stillwater systems in anticipation of these hatches. Surprisingly the middle of the day can produce some of the best Rainbow Trout catches and action, during the hottest hours.

Late Afternoon - Evening

This can be some of the most frantic action a fly fisherman can be involved in. Spring and early Summer hatches are not as big as mid summer hatches in terms of the amounts of water insects hatching, which makes it easier to catch fish during this period, compared to mid summer hatches which happen in their thousands. Hatches can happen between 4pm and 6pm and even well into the early dark hours. All sorts of insects are hatching during this time, they are mainly "nymphs" which could be any insect in truth, as the term nymph is often given to an emerging insect larvae.

 

What Techniques To Use When

Morning

Early morning, as mentioned above, can be tough. Your best bet it to fish a light tippet, no more than 5lb, with a large dry fly before the sun comes up. After that you should try look for a reaction bite with floating line and a attractor fly such as an Aggravator Nymph, with a quick jerk-pause-jerk retrieve. Alternatively an intermediate line with a natural pattern such as a Mrs Simpson or Walkers Killer retrieved in a figure of 8 just above the bottom.

Afternoon

You can use a heavier tippet here, no more than 8lbs, on a fast sinking line, and let the fly sink right to the bottom. Damsel and Dragon imitations and the trusty Woolly Bugger should be fished during this period, with either a short slow retrieve (when using a damsel imitation) or a medium to fast retrieve (when using a Woolly Bugger). If you can feel your fly hitting the bottom or coming through weeded areas you are in the strike zone...

Evening

With the hatches going on, light tippet on a floating line should be used here. Small dry flies, nymphs and emerger patterns and imitations are the way to go during this period, it can be frustrating if the hatches are large, so you have to keep changing flies until you find one that is working, or keep making your leader longer and your tippet weaker.. When the light starts to fade, a small black wet fly retrieved on intermediate or floating line quickly will often produce a few fish before the light fades completely.

 

Fly Selection

Morning

Dry Fly: DDD, Humpy, Hopper, Royal Wulff
Wet Fly: Walkers Killer, Mrs Simpson
Nymph: Aggravator

Afternoon

Dry Fly: DDD
Wet Fly: Lake Dragon, Red Eye Damsel, Woolly Bugger
Nymph: Dragonfly Nymph, PTN

Evening

Dry Fly: White Wulff, Goddard's Sedge, RAB, Adams, Grey Duster
Wet Fly: Zulu, Woolly Bugger
Nymph: Buzzer, San Juan Worm, Mayfly Nymph, Flashback GRHE, Caddis

 

Colours & Sizes

Remember low light or dark conditions: dark fly... Sunny and bright conditions light coloured fly...

Morning

Size 10, 12 Dry Fly
Size 14 Wet flies and Aggravator

Colours: Black, grey, orange, olive.

Afternoon

Size 8 - 12 Damsels & Dragons
Size 16 Nymphs

Colours: Olive, brown.

Evening

Size 18 - 22 Dry Fly & Nymphs
Size 14 Wet fly

Colours, white (during hatches) brown, grey, black

   

WK 

[Gerhard]

On the High Veld still waters the following works for me when I am hunting trout...

Mrs Simpson, Walkers Killer, Hammils Killer, Red Eye Damsel and ND Dragon on 6lbs tippet with sinking line works for me throught the year on still water.


With a float tube I am able to go hunt them on still water depending on the conditions or time of day.

[Lichia amia]

Nice one Walks 

[E.T.]

In Mpumulanga Stiilwaters any fly will work as long as it's an Epol fly.
Why? Cause they get stocked regularly and stockies loves dog pellets.
This is the biggest contributing factor why I hate fishing Stillwaters.
Does all Stillwaters in S.A. contain stockies? Yes and no as there are quite a few dams/lakes with wild fish in them. Fish that has reproduced by themselves for a number of years.
Most of these lakes are far and going there for just a weekend is not viable.
So to me it makes sense to fish waters in Mpumulanga as they are closer, but it's just not the same.


People tend to nail fish at a stocked venue and then they get to a place like Thrift or Kouebokkeveld and all of a sudden it's a different ball game.

[E.T.]

No Elk hair Caddis?
No Hoppers?
No Beetles?


For Dries these are the flies you want to fish #12-#16.
Spring time is Terrestrial time.

[WalkersKiller]

No Elk hair Caddis?
No Hoppers?
No Beetles?


For Dries these are the flies you want to fish #12-#16.
Spring time is Terrestrial time.

Mentioned Hoppers and Caddis emergers 

Just sharing my experience and what has worked for me during this time.

Also this is not aimed at the stillwaters that get over stocked and get stocked every week. There are lots of tough stocked stillwater systems, that only get fed every 4 weeks.

[WalkersKiller]

On the High Veld still waters the following works for me when I am hunting trout...

Mrs Simpson, Walkers Killer, Hammils Killer, Red Eye Damsel and ND Dragon on 6lbs tippet with sinking line works for me throught the year on still water.


With a float tube I am able to go hunt them on still water depending on the conditions or time of day.

Do you ever have any success on dry fly in the waters you fish Gerhard?

[E.T.]

No Elk hair Caddis?
No Hoppers?
No Beetles?


For Dries these are the flies you want to fish #12-#16.
Spring time is Terrestrial time.

Mentioned Hoppers and Caddis emergers 

Just sharing my experience and what has worked for me during this time.

Also this is not aimed at the stillwaters that get over stocked and get stocked every week. There are lots of tough stocked stillwater systems, that only get fed every 4 weeks.

Well done, you did a good job putting this together
Back in the day when I started there wasn't any clear indicators, I had to figure out a lot of things for myself. Yes there were mags and literature available and I read just about anything I could find. The more time you spent on water, the more you learn.


You sure are giving the newbies an edge here

[Gerhard]

On the High Veld still waters the following works for me when I am hunting trout...

Mrs Simpson, Walkers Killer, Hammils Killer, Red Eye Damsel and ND Dragon on 6lbs tippet with sinking line works for me throught the year on still water.


With a float tube I am able to go hunt them on still water depending on the conditions or time of day.

Do you ever have any success on dry fly in the waters you fish Gerhard?

I dont fish with dry flies.


I will use intermediate or floating line.


But I hunt the fish below the surface where they hunt 95% or more of their food.

[Gerhard]

In Mpumulanga Stiilwaters any fly will work as long as it's an Epol fly.
Why? Cause they get stocked regularly and stockies loves dog pellets.
This is the biggest contributing factor why I hate fishing Stillwaters.
Does all Stillwaters in S.A. contain stockies? Yes and no as there are quite a few dams/lakes with wild fish in them. Fish that has reproduced by themselves for a number of years.
Most of these lakes are far and going there for just a weekend is not viable.
So to me it makes sense to fish waters in Mpumulanga as they are closer, but it's just not the same.


People tend to nail fish at a stocked venue and then they get to a place like Thrift or Kouebokkeveld and all of a sudden it's a different ball game.

Dont really agree with the statement.


I have fished a lot of waters where the water gets stocked once every 3 to 6 months...


You need to work hard for your trout and use the same tactics as in the KZN and Easter Cape Lakes where they are stocked and left to fend for themselves.

[WalkersKiller]

Thanks Koos 

[E.T.]

In Mpumulanga Stiilwaters any fly will work as long as it's an Epol fly.
Why? Cause they get stocked regularly and stockies loves dog pellets.
This is the biggest contributing factor why I hate fishing Stillwaters.
Does all Stillwaters in S.A. contain stockies? Yes and no as there are quite a few dams/lakes with wild fish in them. Fish that has reproduced by themselves for a number of years.
Most of these lakes are far and going there for just a weekend is not viable.
So to me it makes sense to fish waters in Mpumulanga as they are closer, but it's just not the same.


People tend to nail fish at a stocked venue and then they get to a place like Thrift or Kouebokkeveld and all of a sudden it's a different ball game.

Dont really agree with the statement.


I have fished a lot of waters where the water gets stocked once every 3 to 6 months...


You need to work hard for your trout and use the same tactics as in the KZN and Easter Cape Lakes where they are stocked and left to fend for themselves.

Gert, thats a bit of tongue in the cheek......
Sure hooked you on the first cast....

I know that there are places up in Mpumulanga that is extremely tough. But there is also venues that is extremely easy and these are the ones I refer to as an "any fly will work as long as it's an Epol Fly" venue

[WalkersKiller]

 

[Gerhard]

In Mpumulanga Stiilwaters any fly will work as long as it's an Epol fly.
Why? Cause they get stocked regularly and stockies loves dog pellets.
This is the biggest contributing factor why I hate fishing Stillwaters.
Does all Stillwaters in S.A. contain stockies? Yes and no as there are quite a few dams/lakes with wild fish in them. Fish that has reproduced by themselves for a number of years.
Most of these lakes are far and going there for just a weekend is not viable.
So to me it makes sense to fish waters in Mpumulanga as they are closer, but it's just not the same.


People tend to nail fish at a stocked venue and then they get to a place like Thrift or Kouebokkeveld and all of a sudden it's a different ball game.

Dont really agree with the statement.


I have fished a lot of waters where the water gets stocked once every 3 to 6 months...


You need to work hard for your trout and use the same tactics as in the KZN and Easter Cape Lakes where they are stocked and left to fend for themselves.

Gert, thats a bit of tongue in the cheek......
Sure hooked you on the first cast....

 I have...

The one specific fish I can remember...

The place...


Location X up at 6500ft above sea level in the Steenkamps mountains...


It was in July a couple of years ago.

The farmer stocked fish the previous November and left them to fend for themselves.


I did not take my float tube on this occation.


I made the 1st cast with a Mrs Simpson for the morning.


You know when you make the 1st cast and the fly is nice and dry it will lay on the surface for a couple of seconds before the sinking line takes it down...


A cheecky hen fish took the Mrs Simpson on the surface and gave me a great fight.   


That morning I caught 10 trout if I remember correctly...


I was the second angler up on that dam for the year.


The other was one of the farmer's son's with his daughter a couple of months before... 


That was one of those red letter days... 

[WalkersKiller]

That sounds awesome!

[E.T.]

I won't mention the name of this venue, but they advertise in one of the Fly mags.
So beginning of January before we opened shop, I decided to take my wife and boy there as the accommodation is good. Now they have dams and they have a stream running through the property. Now I like fishing the stream as opposed to the dams.


I have caught plenty of fish at this venue in the past. Now the main goal was to put my 3 year old boy into some fish. So we fished the dams. I fished just about anything in my box, no trout. We caught a kazillion Kurper and it didn't matter whether you fished dry, nymphs or anything else for that matter we kept on nailing the Kurper.


I did not mind this as Xavier loved catching the Kurper. For two days I saw 3 Trout and I caught one of them. The dams were all dirty because of the rain, but that is no excuse as I caught fish here in worse conditions.


This is a Trout fishing venue and we paid a pretty penny to stay there and we caught one Trout and probably a 100 Kurper. When we left the auntie asked me how the fishing was. I replied terrible!!! She was dumbstruck!!! She said that she can't understand as she stocked it with 3 Tons of fish before X-mas. I then suggested that she gets rid of the Kurper cause they grab the fly before anything else can get to it.


Bottomline....It was the most money I ever paid to catch Kurper.
Not all the people at these venues are honest, they would rather hide certain facts like conditions, water quality, poor fishing, etc. to get you there, take your money and then just shrug their shoulders afterwards.


I do understand that people fishing these venues aren't always honest either as they take fish and only pay for that which they wrote up on the catch report. Yes they have problems with otters and other critters too, but not to the extend that these factors would deplete fish stocks in a weeks time.


Will that venue ever see me again?

[Rory]

Super article Gareth, plenty good tactics there - I reckon they'll work on most stillwaters regardless of the stocking policy in place!
 
Have some cred!!! 

[Gerhard]

I won't mention the name of this venue, but they advertise in one of the Fly mags.
So beginning of January before we opened shop, I decided to take my wife and boy there as the accommodation is good. Now they have dams and they have a stream running through the property. Now I like fishing the stream as opposed to the dams.


I have caught plenty of fish at this venue in the past. Now the main goal was to put my 3 year old boy into some fish. So we fished the dams. I fished just about anything in my box, no trout. We caught a kazillion Kurper and it didn't matter whether you fished dry, nymphs or anything else for that matter we kept on nailing the Kurper.


I did not mind this as Xavier loved catching the Kurper. For two days I saw 3 Trout and I caught one of them. The dams were all dirty because of the rain, but that is no excuse as I caught fish here in worse conditions.


This is a Trout fishing venue and we paid a pretty penny to stay there and we caught one Trout and probably a 100 Kurper. When we left the auntie asked me how the fishing was. I replied terrible!!! She was dumbstruck!!! She said that she can't understand as she stocked it with 3 Tons of fish before X-mas. I then suggested that she gets rid of the Kurper cause they grab the fly before anything else can get to it.


Bottomline....It was the most money I ever paid to catch Kurper.
Not all the people at these venues are honest, they would rather hide certain facts like conditions, water quality, poor fishing, etc. to get you there, take your money and then just shrug their shoulders afterwards.


I do understand that people fishing these venues aren't always honest either as they take fish and only pay for that which they wrote up on the catch report. Yes they have problems with otters and other critters too, but not to the extend that these factors would deplete fish stocks in a weeks time.


Will that venue ever see me again?

Let me know when you wanna go again.


I will reffer you to an awesome place with a good population of healthy hard fighting trout.

No kurper...


And in the near future the property will have access to river fishing as well.

[E.T.]

Thanks Gert, I will keep that in mind. It might only be in the new year as we are swamped for the rest of the year.

[Gerhard]

Thanks Gert, I will keep that in mind. It might only be in the new year as we are swamped for the rest of the year.

Join the club with regards to work...


No problems let me know when you are looking and I will try and help.  I have fished these waters and they are awesome.