Beyond the shoal: targeting the weed beds in early spring
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By Jack Simpson
Aquatic weed beds are the ‘bottom’ of the stillwater food chain: the producers of oxygen during the daylight photosynthesis periods, the plants that pump nutrients from the sediments and release them into the water to support zooplankton, the structure that feeds and provides cover for aquatic insects and an area that provides both hiding places and a food supply for trout.
Weed beds: also the stuff that snags flies, tangles lines and leaders and drives fly fishers crazy with frustration! BUT, with some preparation, observations and deductive reasoning, they are a hugely-productive area for fly fishing that can be identified and yield success--in any stillwater.
My target weed beds are ‘chara’: the ones that hug the lake bottom, stretching out like a thick, green mat in water depths of 6 to 25 ft. Chara does not grow vertically like milfoil or the various other vertically-oriented weeds (which are the bane of a fly fisher's life, unless you're chucking weedless poppers for pike!) If water clarity is sufficient to see bottom, look for open areas of bottom among the chara beds, which sometimes indicates an underwater spring, which will attract bugs and feeding fish.
Trout are famous for hiding in the bottom vegetation and waiting for dinner to come along. Strike indicator, floating line, long leader and weighted fly to just off the bottom is a simple and very productive technique for open areas among the chara.
Above the chara weed beds, the water surface is also the place where the first midges will begin to emerge and take flight.
(Lady McConnell)
These chironomid adults will struggle to clear themselves of the surface film and are a prime target for cruising trout. The first dry fly action of the year is usually at the exact time when deciduous trees (aspen, willow and cottonwood) are sprouting their leaves from the branch buds. Watch for this ‘sign’. The only fly to use in these conditions was developed and tied by Brian Chan, it resembles an adult chironomid, called a ‘Lady McConnell.’
Many fly fishers will use sinking or sinktip lines with floating nymph patterns, such as dragon, damsel, scud or mayfly to lay the line onto the weedbed and ‘float’ the nymph above the weeds. Great technique and can be very productive. My preference, in order to avoid snagging weeds, is to use an intermediate sink line with long leader and a very slightly weighted nymph. (I find that a 6/0 or 8/0 glass czech bead for a ‘bead head’ is just about right). I cast out from the shallows into the deep, patiently counting the line down to 3 ft off bottom, then a 6 inch strip and pause retrieve allows the line (and nymph along with it) to undulate up and down as it travels across the top of the chara.
The other very productive fly for use above the chara is the slightly weighted micro leech. Both the trout cruising above the weedbeds and those that are lurking in it, will attack the potentially juicy morsel so aggressively that ‘setting the hook’ is not required.
My line of choice is an SA Stillwater Clear Intermediate Sink (probably because I have grown comfortable with its consistent sink rate of 1-1.5 inches per second); however, the all new SA Nymph Indicator is a very close second.
Jack Simpson
Williams Lake
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