Flyfish Fanatic

There are some flies that all fly fisherman will have in their box. Some fisherman will have many of these and some will have only a few, we all have our personal choices. The flies that i am going to list off are the Staples that you will need when fishing the lakes of B.C. I will start by listing off wet flies.

1- Leeches. Leeches are one of my favorite flies to use, they are a year round staple of trout in B.C. lakes. There are many different ways to fish a leech, the 2 most common are by trolling (slow) and casting and doing a slow but jerky(2-3″ pulls) retrieve. Usually the fish will hit this fly very hard so hang on to your rod. You should have a few different colors in your box( black,Red, and Brown)

2-Scuds (shrimp). Scuds are another staple of trout in B.C lakes. This bait is available year round for trout. Scuds are fished similar to leeches, only you will need to make smaller twitches on retrieving them(1-2″ )

3-Dragons. Dragons are yet again available to Trout all year long. Dragons are by far my favorite fly to use, i find the the fish seem to not be able to swim by these juicy morsels. Dragons hang out on the bottom of the lake and when ready to emerge they usually head toward the shore where weeds are available for them to climb onto. The Trout will hit these flies very hard ( I think because they can bite back) and will take off like a rocket. Dragons are fished by very very slow troll or by casting and doing a very slow irregular retrieve ( 1-3″ long pulls)

4-Damsels. Damsels are again a year round staple of Trout. They also hang out at the bottom and have similar habits to the Dragon. Damsels can be trolled but i have found that casting is way more affective. Damsels are dainty and they act like it in there movements. Best ways to fish damsels are to cast with a wet line and do a slow retrieve(1-2″) pulls or to fish them almost like a Chronie off a dry or sink tip line with very very very slow figure 8’s around your hand. This is a very common retrieve with Chronies and will be explained in the books that i recommended previously.

5- 52 Buicks , 1\2 backs & Spratlys.These are flies that don’t really represent anything, they are what we call search patterns. They are good way to sweep the lake and look for weed beds drop off’s and shoals. 1\2 backs and 52 Buicks are a olive green in color Spratlys come in many colors (Black,red,brown,green,and even yellow) I usually troll these on new lakes,or until i get a fish. once i get one i will usually pump their stomach to see what they have been feeding on.

I hope that this helps you with the start of your Fly Fishing experience. At first i recommend that you buy your flies, after you get to know the sport a little better you should tie your own. I always have my field fly tying kit with me when i go to a lake. You never know, you might ask a fellow fisherman what he is using and you don’t have it in your box, this way you can always tie up a few.

NEXT: Dry Fly Patterns

Wishing everyone tight lines and tons of fish.

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