I spent the last two days fishing a small, 15 acre local lake for Rainbow Trout. This was my first time fly fishing stillwater and I've heard great things about this lake. One end is filled with old, fallen tree snags and the other is the more shallow end - relatively. Average depth is roughly 15 feet.

Yesterday proved fruitless with the fish, however I did learn a lot about paddling a pontoon boat and how to fish a lake; my first time for both. I borrowed a used pontoon - try before you buy - and it is much different than wading or fishing from a larger vessel. The wind was up today and it makes controlling the small boat difficult, unless you use the wind to troll in your favor. Having fins along with paddles makes controlling the pontoon in the wind much more amicable (thanks Ed). Now I'm in the market for a pontoon boat I can call my own.

The majority of yesterday was spent trolling some form of Wooley Bugger (possibly the greatest trout fly ever invented and a staple for any fly fisherman's box). The ticket seemed to be white and olive which I have noted seem to be good colors for trout in general. I tied up a fast sinking ver sion in white with lots of flashabou (due to the lake's dark tannin color) and barbell eyes. Both fish to hand today were caught on this fly. Today's tactics included nymphs on indicators and the winning technique: casting streamers to the snag-lined bank and retrieving with varying speeds.

Two fish were brought to hand, one brute exceeding 24 inches (photo to the right) and the other 18 inches or so. There were about 6 to 7 other fisherman on the lake (it was like a festival) during the bright-skied day and jost were bringing decent sized fish to hand. Quite a great social event. All in all it was an amazing day to be on the water.

Rumor is chironomid fishing can be great on this lake, however I stuck to streamers all day. I'll try that next time. Moral of the story: try new things and be adventurous - it'll pay off.