Hi fellow fishermen and women!
(First excuse my English, I’m a French guy living in Montreal, Quebec)
I began my fly fishing journey 3 or 4 years ago (in France) where a took a casting lesson and how to fly dries and nymphs.
I now live near Montreal QC, where waters are really different!
I have a 5wt 9’ Orvis Clearwater (a good rod that meet my expectations for river fishing) but in Quebec a lot of trouts (brook) fishing take place in lake so I want to try streamer and maybe some bigger terrestrial.
I’m a total newby in streamer and lake fly fishing and I also want (more than need) to buy a new rod so is a 7wt 9’ a good choice for streamers in lake (size from 12 to 6 I think 🧐)?
What kind of line? A floating one with some weight putty for when I want to fish deeper? An intermediate one? But how can I fish terrestrial with that kind of line?
I would like to stay reasonable and have only one line!
I’m used to wade fishing in river/stream so fishing in lake seems intimidating! Do I need a boat or fishing from the shore can be effective/fun?
So basically I need a : fly fishing for trout in lake 101 lesson!
Posted by GrosTony
2 Comments
Your 5 wt will work fine for most lake fishing. You may want a heavier rod if you fish in higher winds or throw heavy flies, however. If you only want one line get a floating line. You can fish down several feet with weighted flies, and a couple feet deeper with a sinking polyleader. They also make sink tip kits which let you loop some sinking line onto the business end of a floating fly line for more depth. That will be easier to fish with a heavier rod than your 5.
There’s many ways you can fish lakes. One of my favorite ways is to use a pontoon boat or float tube to get out in the lake and throw small buggers back towards the shore and around structure. This also works for many other species you may encounter, like smallmouth bass. You can fish from shore if there’s not too much forest in the way.
Lots of videos on YouTube.
I mainly lake fish and you should be able to throw almost everything in that box with a 5wt. I prefer an intermediate or a sink tip fly line for my streamer fishing. I throw terrestrials a few times a year but I do use them for hopper dropppers. For that I use a floating line. You can bank fish it will just be a little slow during the summer but spring and fall it is some pretty good fishing.
I’ve throw weighted size 6 bunny leeches on a regular basis on a 5 wt rod and fish for trout, walleye and bass with it. I’m about to get a 8wt for pike and when I go back to Florida to visit my parents.