Fly-fishing on small lakes
Start by checking the latest report and also talk to the fishery manager as it's likely they will be able to tell you which areas of the lake have been producing fish regularly. The fishing is likely to be difficult due to this fishing pressure but whilst the fish may be more difficult to tempt they are unlikely to move far, so the areas that fished well the previous days will probably still hold the most fish.
Fishing a team of lures will usually only fool recently stocked fish, even when fishing small nymphs, so try a single pattern. It means changing flies regularly but it will be worth it. Fish can see teams of flies moving together which raises alarms or that the droppers wrap around the main and can be easily spotted by the wary fish.
Lakes with high fishing pressure usually respond better to patterns which do not contain bright colours. If you are fishing lures it is often best to fish plain drab colours such as olive and black. If you are fishing nymphs try those without the bright head colours.
The majority of food taken by fish in still water fisheries is small, often far smaller than the standard patterns we use. Try fishing a small nymph or dry pattern in size 16 or even 18 and you will often fool fish which have been caught and returned and are feeding naturally.
On small heavily fished waters that fine leaders produce more takes as finer leaders are not only less visible to the fish but also give a more natural movement to your flies. This means that as fish are likely to have seen many patterns on relatively heavy tippets fishing fine can make a big difference so try fishing a leader in the 0.14 to 0.16mm range.
With heavy pressure over the weekend fish are likely to be pushed out from the banks, although this is not always the case, it often pays to have a distance outfit to hand, particularly for lure fishing and my recommended ...
