How to Fly Fish on a Lake

Why a lake is a line problem

A river carries the fly for you. A lake does not. There is no current to deliver a nymph to a fish or to swing a streamer across a seam, so you have to put the fly at a chosen depth and move it yourself. That is why the line choice and the countdown matter more on a lake than almost anything else.

Orvis puts it plainly: for stillwater trout, start with three lines. The rest of the technique hangs off them.

The three starter lines

A floating line. Orvis calls it an ideal lake line. Use it with leaders of 15 feet or longer for slow nymphing, or with strike indicators. Indicators control the speed of the retrieve and the depth of the fly, and you can suspend chironomids, leeches, minnows or scuds under them. The line you already own for rivers may be the right line here. Browse floating fly lines if you are buying.

A clear intermediate. A slow-sinking line. The stillwater guide I read notes that intermediate and midge-tip lines fish closer to the surface than faster lines. It suits fish cruising near the top.

A fast-sinking Type 3 full-sink line. Orvis's third recommendation, for when the fish are deeper. The Vail Valley Anglers guide calls the Type III (3 to 4 inches per second) the most versatile in the author's view and says it covers about 70 percent of scenarios. That is one guide's judgment rather than a rule, but it supports Orvis's choice.

You do not have to own all three on day one. A single spare spool with a sinking line gets you from the surface to the deep water. See fly lines to compare weight, taper and sink behavior, and the types of fly line guide for the codes on the box.

How sink rates work

Sinking lines are rated in inches per second, often abbreviated ips. Orvis says the type number matches the rate: a Type 2 sinks about 2 inches per second, a Type 3 about 3, and lines run from slow intermediates up to Type 6 and 7. The Vail Valley guide gives a similar range, from under 1 ips to 7 or 8 ips.

Faster is not better. Orvis says to avoid a line that sinks faster than your fly moves through the water, and notes that slower-sinking lines often work best. A line that sinks too fast pulls the fly down and lets it hang there.

The countdown

This is the habit that turns a lake from a mystery into a system. After the line lands, count the seconds as it sinks, then begin the retrieve. If the fish take the fly on, say, a count of 20, you can return to 20 on the next cast.

Orvis gives a worked example. With a Type 3 line, which sinks about 3 inches per second:

• one foot (12 inches) takes about 4 seconds;
• ten feet takes about 40 seconds.

The Vail Valley guide gives another: with a Type III line and fish thought to be 2 feet deep, let the line sink for 6 or 7 seconds. It also says to strip out slack immediately, so the line sinks at its full rate. A slack line sinks slowly and ruins the count.

Change depth in steps. If a count of 10 gets nothing after a dozen casts, try 15. If you hit weeds, try 8.

The retrieve

Vary it. The Vail Valley guide says to vary speed, length and pauses, because natural prey rarely moves in uniform strips, and that pauses often trigger follows. It also says to slow the retrieve as the water temperature drops. Orvis adds that active fish are more likely to chase a fast-moving fly. Put those together and you have a plan: start irregular, see what gets attention and repeat it.

For the take, the Vail Valley guide says to keep the rod tip in the water during the retrieve and when a fish takes, strip hard until the line tightens and then raise the rod. Lifting early pulls the fly out of the fish's mouth. That is the one part of the technique that feels backward to river anglers.

Rod, leader and tackle

The Vail Valley guide recommends a longer, heavier rod than you would use on a river: 9.5 or 10 feet in a 6 or 7 weight, with a faster action for wind and distance. The rod also keeps the line and fly above a boat's gunwales and lakeshore foliage. Treat that as one guide's preference. Our fly rods page lets you filter by length and line weight, and the fly rod length guide explains what the extra feet buy you.

The same guide says split shot should always be avoided on lakes, because it hurts casting and strike detection. For flies, it says depth and retrieve matter more than the pattern, and names black, olive and brown buggers in sizes 8 to 12 as consistent, with damselfly nymphs, midges and chironomids as key food sources.

What this guide does not cover

Neither source I opened covers where to look on a lake, and I would not guess. Weed lines, drop-offs and inlets may be the answer to that question, but I have no source for it. Wind, safety around boats and local rules are also out of scope. Check the rules for the water you plan to fish, and wear a life jacket in a boat or float tube.

From technique to gear

Start with the line. Compare sink rates in fly lines, and if you are building from scratch, our guide to fly fishing for trout places the setup in context.

Fish don't read spec sheets. You should, and on a lake the spec sheet is the sink rate printed on the line box.