Customer Reviews

Strategies for Stillwater

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I used to think that there was no strategy, per se, to fishing a lake--a big tub of water you trolled until you got an arbitrary hit.

This book takes an almost forensic view of a lake's features--water layers, vegetation, etc.--and shows how to read them and catch fish. It's much more detailed than I expected and I came away with a real sense of how to find trout as quickly as possible.

The typical flyfishing book concentrates on fishing streams of one sort or another. But trout lakes and ponds are often easier to find than good trout streams. Those who have spent any time fishing lakes know that there are some significant differences between the two venues. In this expansive tome Hughes covers stillwater flyfishing from top to bottom.

The book is broken into three parts: "reading stillwaters" which discusses the nature of the lake environment; "strategies for stillwater" which equipment, boats, trout behavior and fishing techniques; and "lake food forms and their imitations" which describes each class of fish food along with how to both select (or tie) an imitation and convincingly fish it.

The book is well organized and complete without being tedious; Hughes' prose provides pleasant reading. I know that I'll be a better lake fisher for reading this book.

Dave Hughes has successfully published a number of books on trout fishing. Strategies for Stillwater gives cogent, concise information concerning the way lakes "work" and tips on how to locate trout in them. I wish, however, that Hughes would update the book. A lot has happened since it he wrote it.

For example, pontoon boats on lakes are now very popular. While Hughes describes the pros and cons of prams and float tubes, he doesn't touch on pontoon boats because they weren't around (at least in any great numbers) when the book was written.

There are now a lot more line options for stillwater. I would like Hughes' take on them.

Finally, the patterns described in the book, while venerable, have given way to more "modern" imitations. For example, the patterns for the nymphs of damsels, dragonflies, and callebaetis have changed substantially in the last ten years. Beadhead flies, which have become a flyfishing staple, get no mention because they were not in common use when the book was written. The tremendous work done by Brian Chan, Phil Rowley, and others on understanding and imitating chronomids has been of great benefit to flyfishers. This information also post-dates the publication of the book and would be welcome in a new edition.

Hughes is a good writer and the many tips he gives on finding trout are as valid today as when he wrote them. Be aware, however, that this is not the latest and greatest work on stillwater tactics. Hopefully, Hughes will update it soon.

This is the author's advice on going after trout in lakes and ponds. He notes, "It might seem that the need for protection from predators couldn't mean much when it comes to reading water and finding fish in lakes. But it becomes very important once you recall that you're the predator. You have to get past a trout's defenses before you can coax it to the fly and feel its weight dangling pleasantly in your landing net".

Catching trout is tough, regardless of the circumstances. Even though they may have pea-sized brains, they're wired for survival, and the fisherman has necessarily ceded the home field advantage to the fish. But in streams, the locations where they may be lurking can be easily spotted, water depth can be discerned, and the speed of the current requires the trout to make a fast decision to bite or not to bite. Furthermore, fish "hold" in preferred locations - you can go back to them again and again.

None of this applies to fishing stillwaters. Think about it; in an expansive lake or pond of uncertain depth the trout can move around at will. They can be here today, and gone tomorrow. They have all the time they want to study our carefully tied flies and detect any deficiency in form or presentation prior to pouncing. And they'll use all their innate cleverness to full advantage in their effort to foil the fisherman.

Hence the need for Strategies for Stillwater.

Dave Hughes, perhaps my favorite fishing author, delivers a science that sets up the challenge: intellect versus instinct. Armed with the information in this book, the angler can level the playing field in a contest that otherwise affords full advantage to the other contestant.

The book opens with a discussion of trout behavior along with a study of the structure of stillwaters and the effects of plant life. From here we go on to learn about necessary gear and means of getting around lakes and ponds, and basic approaches using dry flies, nymphs, wet flies and streamers. Hughes then goes into detail on the most important food forms in lakes and how to imitate them.

I still only catch one trout in a lake or pond for every ten in a stream, but without this book my average would be even worse.

This book has many wonderful pictures of trout in their natural habitats. It tells you all you need to know about bringing in trout in lakes and ponds. I am amazed by the quality of this book. It is a wonderful book that you won't regret to buy.